Luke Littler and Luke Humphries prepare for blockbuster World Championship finale
It will be a spectacle, as on Tuesday night both darters left their opponents in the dust. Luke Littler took some time to get up to speed against former world champion Rob Cross, but eventually pushed through in unprecedented fashion to a 6-2 victory.
Luke Humphries then cruised to a 6-0 win against Scott Williams. A bit of an anti-climax at this stage of the World Championships, but that will no doubt be rectified on Wednesday night.
Luke 'the Nuke' Littler (#164)
Littler was born on 21 January 2007, a few weeks after his childhood idol Raymond van Barneveld's last World Championship triumph.
In the 16 editions since, the PDC World Championship had only nine different winners: John Part, Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson, Rob Cross, Peter Wright, Gerwyn Price and Michael Smith.
The first two have permanently retired and Lewis has taken a sabbatical. Of the remaining six world champions, Littler managed to throw two - with playful ease - out of the tournament himself.
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Littler's achievements have been noticed at home and abroad.
With huge attention on the teenage star, Humphries was able to advance to the final match relatively under the radar. Littler has faced just about every media outlet in Britain, but his performance does not seem to have suffered at all yet.
He had a small dip in the semi-final, missing some of the trebles we had become accustomed to from him. But incredible checkouts at crucial moments (including a 149) got him out of trouble, highlighting his range of skill.
An average of 106.05 in the match against Cross was an example of his ability to pull up to the opponent's level as well. That skill will be needed tonight in an already historic final.
'Cool Hand' Luke Humphries (#3)
Humphries' story has been repeated many times in recent days, and the fact that he is on the oche in this final may be called a minor miracle.
Against both Ricardo Pietreczko and Joe Cullen, Humphries had to dig very deep and won in the seventh set on both occasions.
In 2024, Humphries seems to have found his absolute top form and seemingly had little to fear from Dave Chisnall (5-1) and Scott Williams (6-0).
After the three major wins in autumn 2023, Humphries now faces the biggest match of his career, so far.
Regardless of the outcome, he is the new number one in the world as he has passed Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen in the rankings.
An adult world title is the scalp still missing from Humphries' record. With averages of 103.50 and 108.74 from the last two duels, he has a great chance. But can he do it under pressure from the biggest youngster at the PDC World Championship?
