Luke Littler becomes the youngest world darts champion at 17

Luke Littler became the youngest world champion in darts history on Friday when the 17-year-old Englishman lived up to his billing as Britain’s latest sporting superstar.

Littler beat three-time champion Michael van Gerwen 7-3 in the final at a boisterous Alexandra Palace in London.

“Everyone dreams of lifting this trophy,” said Littler, who also took the winner's check of 500,000 pounds ($620,000). “I can't believe it.”

It completes the remarkable rise of Littler, a prodigy from Warrington in northwest England who first threw a dart as an 18-month-old toddler, was junior world champion in 2023 and reached the world final last year — at age 16 — before losing to top-ranked Luke Humphries.

That catapulted him to stardom, making him famous far beyond darts while lifting the sport into the mainstream like in its heyday in the 1980s.

Littler handled the huge pressure and expectation on him to return to the final 12 months later and powered 4-0 up in sets against Van Gerwen, a darts phenom himself as a youngster and with world titles in 2014, ‘17 and ’19.

The Dutchman made it 4-1, 5-2 and 6-3, but Littler could not be stopped and he was reduced to tears after he made the winning double.

“Wow, wow, wow,” he could be seen saying.

“At 2-0 up, I started getting nervous,” Littler said later, “but I said to myself, ‘Relax.’ To get it over and done with is special.”

Van Gerwen was previously the youngest world champion in the elite Professional Darts Corporation competition, winning the 2014 final at age 24. Jelle Klaasen won the now-defunct British Darts Organisation world title in 2006 at age 21.

Van Gerwen said losing his record “hurt” but was full of praise for Littler.

“Every 17 years a star gets born,” Van Gerwen said, “and he is one of them.”

Many were already wondering if Littler can reach Phil Taylor’s remarkable record of 16 world titles. Claiming a first title at age 17 will now super-charge that conversation.

“Luke Littler was forged into a winner, not just a great dart thrower,” John Part, a three-time world champion from Canada, told The Associated Press ahead of the world championship about Littler challenging Taylor’s 16. “He was the best at each age level he has gone through, so aware of how to win and he’s so comfortable with it. He doesn’t feel pressure at all.”

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

Luke Littler of England holds the trophy after winning the final against Michael van Gerwen of the Netherlands at the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Luke Littler of England celebrates after winning the final against Michael van Gerwen of the Netherlands at the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Luke Littler of England celebrates after winning the final against Michael van Gerwen of the Netherlands at the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Luke Littler of England holds the trophy after winning the final against Michael van Gerwen of the Netherlands at the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Michael van Gerwen of the Netherlands arrives for the final of the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Michael van Gerwen of the Netherlands grimaces during the final of the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Michael van Gerwen of the Netherlands throws his dart during the final of the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Michael van Gerwen of the Netherlands reacts during the final of the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Luke Littler of England arrives for the final of the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Luke Littler of England celebrates during the final of the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Luke Littler of England throws his dart during the final of the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Luke Littler of England stands before the final of the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Luke Littler of England celebrates during the final of the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Luke Littler of England celebrates during the final of the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Luke Littler of England throws his dart during the final of the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Luke Littler of England celebrates during the final of the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace in London, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he will again call on allies to boost his country's air defenses at a meeting this week in Germany, as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes over later this month with a vow to end the almost three-year war quickly.

Zelenskyy said that dozens of partner countries will participate in the meeting of the Ramstein group at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Thursday, “including those who can help boost our capabilities not only to defend against missiles but also against guided bombs and Russian aviation.”

“We will discuss this with them and continue to persuade them,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Saturday. “The task remains unchanged: strengthening our air defense.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin will attend the meeting, which had originally been due to take place in October and to be attended by U.S. President Joe Biden. It was postponed because of response to Hurricane Milton that battered the U.S.

In its last few weeks in office, the Biden administration has been pressing to send as much military aid as possible to Ukraine before Trump is sworn in Jan. 20.

Trump claimed during his election campaign that he could end the war in one day and his comments have put a question mark over whether the United States will continue to be Ukraine’s biggest — and most important — military backer.

Zelenskyy said last week that Trump is "strong and unpredictable,” and those qualities can be a decisive factor in his policy approach to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia controls about one-fifth of Ukraine, and capitalized last year on weaknesses in Ukraine’s defenses to slowly advance in eastern areas despite high losses of troops and equipment. The war’s trajectory isn’t in Ukraine’s favor. The country is shorthanded on the front line and needs continued support from its Western partners.

Zelenskyy said Saturday that Russian and North Korean troops had suffered heavy losses in the fighting in Russia’s Kursk region.

“In battles yesterday and today near just one village, Makhnovka, in the Kursk region, the Russian army lost up to a battalion of North Korean infantry soldiers and Russian paratroopers,” Zelenskyy said. “This is significant.”

Zelenskyy said last month that 3,000 North Korean troops had been killed and wounded in Kursk, where Ukrainian forces launched an incursion in August, dealing a blow to Russia’s prestige and forcing it to deploy some of its troops from a slow-moving offensive in eastern Ukraine.

The incursion didn’t significantly change the dynamic of the war, and military analysts say Ukraine has lost around 40% of the land it initially captured.

In other developments, local officials said one person was killed and another wounded in Russian shelling of the city of Nikopol in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region on Sunday. Downstream along the Dnieper River, at least six people were wounded when Russian troops also fired shells into the city of Kherson, capital of the region of the same name. Settlements such as these on the west bank of the river are subject to regular shelling attacks from Russian-controlled territory on the opposite bank.

Nine people were wounded in a Russian guided bomb attack on the border town of Semenivka in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region on Saturday evening, local officials said.

Moscow sent 103 drones into Ukraine overnight into Sunday, Ukrainian officials said. According to Ukraine’s air force, 61 drones were destroyed and 42 were lost likely due to electronic jamming.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that 61 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight into Sunday in five regions of western Russia. No casualties were reported but Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said residential buildings and cars had been damaged by falling drone debris.

Morton reported from London.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, Russian servicemen attend a combat training for assault units in an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, Russian servicemen attend a combat training for assault units in an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, Russian servicemen attend a combat training for assault units in an undisclosed location. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)