Man United fan Luke Littler wants to parade World Darts Championship trophy at Old Trafford after victory over Michael van Gerwen – as teen sensation aims cheeky dig at Liverpool
- The Nuke defeated his Dutch rival 7-3 to become the youngest ever winner at just 17 years old
- He averaged just over 102 and threw 12 180s in an imperious display on Friday
- Stephen Bunting wanted to take the trophy to Anfield, but Littler beat him in the semi-final
Avid Manchester United fan Luke Littler has turned his attention to parading his World Darts Championship trophy at Old Trafford after becoming the youngest person in history to win the prestigious honour.
He defeated three-time champion Michael van Gerwen 7-3 on sets on Friday evening and won the Sid Waddell Trophy at Alexander Palace at the age of 17.
The teenage sensation added the finishing touches to a remarkable year that started with his 2024 Alexandra Palace final against Luke Humphries – where he lost 7-4 – and recorded victories. in Bahrain, Austria, Belgium and Poland to earn £1 million in prize money.
He also won the Premier League trophy before edging past the likes of Stephen Bunting and Nathan Aspinall at the World Cup.
Littler averaged just over 102 and threw 12 180s in an imperious display in London. He also managed to double a whopping 56 percent of his attempts.
It all meant he practically had the trophy in his hands before the Ally Pally punters had finished their first throwers, but now he’s told Air sports he plans to give fans of another sport a chance to see the shiny silverware.
Luke Littler wants to show off his World Darts Championship trophy at Old Traffprd
The Nuke was unperturbed at the oche in a dominant victory over Michael van Gerwen
He broke the Green Machine’s record as the youngest winner ever, winning the title at the age of 17
He said: ‘If they let me, I’m sure I’ll go to Old Trafford.
‘Yes [it’s an honour] I’m glad I beat Stephen [Bunting] yesterday as I’m pretty sure he was going to take it to Anfield this weekend.’
Littler beat Bunting 6-1 in the semi-final on Thursday evening, but ‘The Bullet’s’ Reds are doing a lot better than ‘The Nuke’s’ United, with Arne Slot’s men six points clear at the top of the Premier League with a game in hand.
Bunting had previously indicated he wanted to take the trophy to Anfield if he won it.
‘I don’t want to leave it [the fans] down,” he said. ‘We can do this, we really can. At Anfield we always say the crowd is like the twelfth man, and it’s no different here. These fans can take me anywhere. This year it will be a Bunting wonderland.
‘It would be a dream come true [to take trophy to Anfield]. It would be even more fantastic if we played against Man United, that would be incredible.”
Instead, it is Littler who can show off the trophy to his fellow United supporters after breaking Van Gerwen’s record as the youngest ever world champion.
Comfortably so: the Green Machine was a relatively older age of 24 when he claimed victory against Peter Wright in 2014.
There was also a subtle comment about Stephen Bunting, making it clear he wanted to go to Anfield
Littler’s beloved Manchester United will face red-hot Liverpool, who are at the top of the table, on Sunday
The Red Devils have had a disastrous campaign and are in fourteenth place under new boss Ruben Amorim
The rivalry between Van Gerwen and Littler may only have started in early 2024, but seeing the two clash in the top flight has become a box office thing over the course of the last twelve months.
The pair have met 12 times since their first match at the Bahrain Masters in January, with both finishing in the top six times each.
Littler have had the best of their recent clashes, beating the Dutchman in the semi-finals of the World Series of Darts and on the European Tour.
After the meeting, the teen sensation broke down in tears and shared a touching moment with Van Gerwen, with the pair congratulating each other.
United’s 2024 couldn’t be further away from Littler’s, with the Red Devils currently in 14th place after failing to improve under new manager Ruben Amorim.
The Portuguese replaced Erik ten Hag in November with the team in exactly the same position. They have lost three games in a row, including a humiliating 4-0 home defeat to Bournemouth.
It is the worst possible form ahead of the meeting with rivals Liverpool, who have lost just once all season and are also top of the Champions League group stages.
