Luke Littler isn’t to blame but darts can’t afford another era of solo dominance | Other | Sport
It was the outcome everybody expected, but the match nobody wanted. A dominant display from Luke Littler on the Ally Pally stage saw the mercurial Gian van Veen put to the sword by the world No.1. From an entertainment point of view at least, it was a somewhat sleepy end to what had been a sensational World Darts Championship.
From the heroics of David Munyua and Motomu Sakai in round one, to Justin Hood’s quarter-final run, with the James Wade vs Ricky Evans classic sandwiched between, the 2026 Worlds will be remembered as one of the best in a long time. That is, of course, until the final.
It’s not Littler’s fault he’s head and shoulders (and then some) better than the rest of the field. But after another World Championship win for the Nuke, where it didn’t look like he ever really had to get out of third gear, it’s only natural that conversations surrounding the competitiveness of the sport have begun to pop up.
World No.2 Luke Humphries has done a wonderful job at keeping pace with Littler across the last two years, but in the current order of merit, the 2024 world champion is currently closer to zero than he is to the indomitable teen. That raises a separate question about the legitimacy of the current ranking system following the prize money increases for the World Championship, but it paints a very clear picture… nobody can, or likely will, get close to Littler for a very, very long time.
Of course, it isn’t the first time darts has dealt with an era of solo dominance. Phil Taylor reached a whopping 14 finals in a row between 1994 and 2007, meaning Littler has some way to go if he’s to equal that particular record. The irony is though, Littler’s impact on the sport has shifted the goalposts when it comes to attention and interactions with darts, and while the Warrington-born ace wiping the floor with opponents garnered plenty of attention to begin with, fans are fickle and the novelty could soon wear off.
There were signs of this during the fourth round match against Rob Cross, when pockets of the Ally Pally crowd began jeering Littler after he’d clicked into gear and shrugged off the challenge of the 2018 world champion. Each individual motive can’t be known, and while respecting players should be considered a non-negotiable as far as crowd behaviour is concerned, it was an eyebrow raiser for many, including Littler, who, despite firm protestation, certainly was bothered by the hostile treatment.
You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the enemy, and after two years of almost unmatched dominance, Littler could be about to enter his villain era.
