Luke Littler and girlfriend Faith Millar cry live on TV after World Championship triumph | Other | Sport

Luke Littler and his girlfriend Faith Millar were both reduced to tears after he demolished Gian van Veen to win his second World Darts Championship title. The teenage superstar cruised to a 7-1 victory against his Dutch rival to collect the Sid Waddell Trophy and a record-breaking £1million in prize money. He surrendered the first leg but quickly clicked into gear and didn’t look back as he strolled to glory at Alexandra Palace.

After completing a 147 checkout to wrap up the match, emotions took over as Littler screamed with joy before collapsing on his table in tears. Millar, who was watching from the crowd, was also shown bawling with delight after seeing her boyfriend become the first back-to-back champion since Gary Anderson in 2015 and 2016.

Littler needed a few moments to compose himself before receiving the Sid Waddell Trophy from Sir Chris Hoy, who was invited to Alexandra Palace to hand out the biggest prize in darts.

Afterwards, the champion said: “It feels amazing. First of all thanks to John McDonald and John Noble, what a fantastic career they have had. In my first year Russ Bray retired, now these two legends! I’m a bit late to the party!

“I’ve been wanting to say this. Everyone knows what happened with Anthony Joshua and his guy and his team and his friends. But just like AJ said: ‘The first time was so nice, I had to do it twice!’.

“I started playing better from the second set. The first set, I wasn’t happy going into the break but I had to kick on from there.

“I said to myself: ‘Give it time, you will find it’. I started off from the left of the oche and moved over to the right. It all came to plan.

“Gian, what a tournament, he can be very happy. Every set he was there and behind me. I had to take my chances.”

Asked if he felt any nerves on stage, Littler replied: “You just can’t think of it too much. You have to keep going and I’ve done it.”

At one point during the match, the 18-year-old was attacked by the notorious Ally Pally wasp but it didn’t put him off his stride as he continued to win leg after leg.

He suggested that foul play was involved, though, saying: “Someone has to put a wasp in here. They don’t just come out of nowhere, no chance.”

On winning the record-breaking £1m prize, Littler added: “It is life-changing. Even for this tournament, the first round was doubled. This win has increased that gap from Luke Humphries and I’m in the clear for No 1.”