Littler wins Grand Slam to go fifth in world rankings

Teenager Luke Littler continued his sensational maiden professional year by winning the Grand Slam of Darts with a 16-3 thrashing of qualifier Martin Lukeman in Wolverhampton.

The 17-year-old trailed 2-0 after his throw was broken in the first leg but then won an incredible 15 legs on the spin to lead 15-2.

Lukeman broke the sequence and celebrated emphatically, with the crowd cheering and singing for the world number 45, who had to win four qualifying games just to reach the tournament proper.

Littler then broke Lukeman's throw in the 19th leg to win the Eric Bristow trophy and his first major ranking title.

He was serenaded in the warm-up - the crowd singing 'walking in a Littler wonderland' - and offered an apology after cheers turned to boos when spectators realised he had thrown 140 rather than 180 in one visit.

The win sees Littler move to fifth place in the PDC's Order of Merit, having been ranked 164 a year ago.

Littler takes home £150,000 for winning the title, plus £3,500 for winning this group, taking his prize money to £558,500 for the Order of Merit.

He has picked up £355,000 for winning the Premier League of Darts and World Series finals but, as those are invitational events, they do not count towards the rankings.

2023

3 March: Made senior debut at 2023 UK Open, reaching the round of 64, earning a PDC merit ranking

26 November: Won the PDC World Youth Darts Championship final

17 December: Retained JDC World Darts Championship

20 December: Wins on senior World Championship debut, beating Dutchman Christian Kist, averaging 106.12

2024

3 January: Beats former champions Raymond van Barneveld and Rob Cross on his way to reaching the World Championship final, where he lost 7-4 to Luke Humphries in final

19 January: Hits first televised nine-darter during World Series darts debut against Nathan Aspinall

19 January: Beats Michael van Gerwen to win Bahrain Darts Masters and earn his first PDC senior title

12 February: Hits a nine-darter against Michele Turetta and beats Ryan Searle to win PDC Players Championship final on debut

20 March: Wins Belgian Darts Open, beating Cross in the final, hitting his third nine-darter of the year

18 April: Won first Premier League Darts night in Belfast, beating Aspinall 6-4 in the final. Later went on to win in Manchester, Liverpool and Aberdeen

28 April: Wins the Austrian Darts Open, beating Joe Cullen in final

16 May: Ended the 2024 Premier League regular season with a record-equalling 40 points to top table

23 May: Wins the Premier League Darts title with an 11-7 win over Luke Humphries for his first major PDC title

15 June: Wins Poland Darts Masters, beating Cross in final

15 September: Wins the World Series of Darts title, with a 11-4 win over Michael Smith

October: Knocked out of Grand Prix in first round by Cross before an opening-round exit in the European Championship

17 November: Wins Grand Slam of Darts at first attempt to move into top five in world