Luke Littler is focused on the World Championships (Image: Getty)
Luke Littler insists that his focus remains on the World Darts Championship, despite missing out in the Players Championship Finals to . The 17-year-old darting titan has made waves in the last year or so, winning the , World Series, and Grand Slam of Darts – plus a whole host of other PDC events.
While looked dead set to add the Players Championships Finals to his list of growing accolades on Sunday, he ultimately found himself bested by Humphries. Littler made light work of Rob Cross, Ritchie Edhouse, Danny Noppert, Mike De Decker, and Ross Smith to make his way to the finals at Minehead Butlins.
And while many fans expected him to go all the way, old foe Humphries proved too much for him. In a game which ran out 11-7 in Humphries’ favour, the 29-year-old averaged 103.69 to take home the title.
Speaking on his victory, Humphries said: “I’m really proud of that one because I didn’t feel myself this week playing-wise.” He added: “There’s something Luke does to you, he really drives me and makes me want to be a better player. I enjoy playing him.”
And while many players may have saw their focus drop after such a humbling defeat, Littler has evidently remained as calm, cool, and collected as ever as he turns his attention to next month’s . Taking to after his loss, Littler shared a photo carousel of himself and Humphries, writing: “May not have won this one but proud to be in another final.
“Always know a match against @lukehumphries180 will be tough and congrats to him for defending the title. Next up worlds.” Humphries opened up a 5-1 lead during the contest, before Littler managed to bring it back to trail by just one leg.
Luke Humphries was in tremendous form (Image: Getty)
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Speaking after his loss, Littler admitted: “It was tough, I missed a few doubles. If you don’t take chances early on, it takes a lot to come back. I didn’t have enough in the end.”
Humphries raked in a cool £120,000 thanks to the win, while Littler took home a reasonable £60,000 cash pot. Humphries remains as the world no.1 on the order of merit, with earnings of £1,804,250 over the last two years.
Littler still has work to do should he wish to bridge the gap and overtake Humphries anytime soon, sitting below Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen in fourth place with total two-year earnings of £618,500. All eyes will now be focused on the World Championships, which takes place between December 15, 2024 and January 3, 2025.