Luke Littler vs Luke Humphries: Latest updates from World Darts Championship final

Here is a look at how the players match up:

The teenager created history in his first-round win over Christian Kist by recording the highest average of a debutant at the World Championship and that set the tone for a high-scoring performance.

Littler’s three-dart tournament average is 101.82, he has thrown 50 180s and crucially is operating at a 45 per cent success rate on checkouts.

Humphries’ average is slightly down at 99.33, but he has also thrown a half-century of maximums and has taken out 41 per cent of his double attempts.

Here is a look at how the players match up:

The pair have had differing journeys to the final. Despite his tender years, Littler has had the most serene path, dropping just six sets.

He proved he is already at a level to compete with the very best as he took out UK Open champion Andrew Gilding, walloped five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld and then beat 2018 title winner Rob Cross in stunning fashion.

Humphries’ route has been a little rockier as he was taken to a final-set decider against Ricardo Pietreczko in the third round and then needed a sudden-death leg to beat Joe Cullen in the fourth.

He looks to be coming into form just at the right time, though, as he whitewashed Scott Williams 6-0 in the semi-final, producing the 10th best three-dart average ever at the Alexandra Palace, with six 100+ checkouts.

Teenage sensation Luke Littler is seen throwing darts while still in nappies as the player shared an old family video.

The 16-year-old, who has captured the hearts of fans around the world with his performances so far at Alexandra Palace, is seen in the family video throwing darts at the board.

The footage of Littler when he was just 18 months old is believed to have been taken by his mother in 2008, and was shared by the player on his Instagram page.

As well as the Sid Waddell Trophy, there is £2.5m in prize money on offer for the World Darts Championship with the champion netting a cool £500,000.

The runner-up earns a cool £200,000 while semi-finalists will pocket £100,000 each and those that reach the quarter-finals winning £50,000.

Fourth-round and third-round losers earn themselves £35,000 and £25,000 respectively while there is £15,000 on offer for the 32 players knocked out in the second round and the 32 first-round losers will take away £7,500.

Luke Littler has been lighting up the junior darts competitions for quite a while but it’s been his run at the World Darts Championship this year that has really boosted his profile and plastered his name across the sports pages of the UK newspapers.

The CEO of the PDC Matt Porter spoke to Sky Sports about Littler’s rise to fame and how he believes the 16-year-old is ‘a generational talent’.

The World Darts Championship final is on Sky Sports’ dedicated Darts channel with coverage beginning at 7.30pm on 3 January. Sky Sports customers can stream the action online via the SkyGo app and website.

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The final session kicks off at 7.30pm GMT on Wednesday at Alexandra Palace with Luke Littler vs Luke Humphries.

The final is a best-of-13-set marathon and we can expect the two Lukes to take the stage around 8.15pm, but which one will become world champion?

Although impeccably controlled aim may be the key component to winning, darts is all about numbers. Players start with a score of 501 and have to try and get down to zero the quickest, by getting high numbers on the board – but they must end precisely on zero with a double, so there’s a lot of maths and mental gymnastics involved.

It may be a game we often associate with pubs – but could darts actually help us all sharpen our brains and get smarter?

Tonight’s World Darts championship finalists, Luke Littler and Luke Humphries, have met at the oche once before. Humphries took on a then 12-year-old Littler in a local competition back in 2019 and admits that Littler was ‘scarily good’ back then.

Humphries said: “The first time I played with him I think he was 12 and he was scarily good then. It was in a local competition and he missed a 164 to go ahead. I think I took out 64 and 3, see that says a lot that I remember what happened.

“I remember knowing that when you’re a 12-year-old playing that well, there is some talent there.

“A lot of people have come and gone, but he’s showed that he’s the real deal, and regardless of what happens tomorrow he’s got a massive, massive bright future.”

Speaking on Tuesday evening after his 6-0 victory over Scott Williams, Luke Humphries gave his thoughts on how he thinks today’s World Darts Championship final will play out and whether Luke Littler will be able to rise to the occasion at just 16-years-old.

“Nothing is going to faze him,” Humphries said of Littler. “If he plays like he did tonight, tomorrow is not going to faze him at all, so I will probably have to play the game of my life.

“I know what’s in front of me and what the task is. I’ve got to play at my best tomorrow but I’m hoping I make him play his best as well and we give the fans hopefully one of the best world finals we have ever seen.”