I was in charge of Luke Littler’s world champs win – he left me breathless straight away

Referee Huw Ware was left gasping for air after overseeing Luke Littler's nine-darter bid during the second half of his sensational 2025 PDC World Championship win.

Littler entered his second Ally Pally showdown earlier this month, clashing with Michael van Gerwen following his previous year's defeat to Luke Humphries. The Nuke began with astonishing momentum, swiftly carving out a 4-0 lead against MVG and ultimately triumphing 7-3 to clinch the Sid Waddell Trophy for his maiden crown.

Darts' 17-year-old phenom appeared unstoppable against the formidable Dutchman, nearly sealing an unforgettable performance with a nine-darter in set six. Littler executed six faultless darts before the seventh veered off-course. Taking the reins for the match's latter stages, Ware recounted how witnessing Littler's pursuit of darting perfection took his breath away.

"So how do you describe refereeing the second half of a World Darts Championship final? It's going to sound silly, but it feels as if the match is halfway through, which of course it is!" Ware wrote in his blog. "That's the feeling though.

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"The players are settled, the crowd are settled, there's no walk-ons - they're all done - and everybody's right in the full swing of things and you're only just starting.

"So you just have to sync in with everybody else and do the job from there. Both of them are fast players who use the board very intelligently... So you have to keep up with them as best you can! "

Ware joined the action six sets deep, taking the baton from fellow referee Kirk Bevins, who had presided over Littler's dominant start, reports the Mirror.

"As the floor manager cues me in to start the sixth set, I had a quick thought of 'Okay here we go'," Ware shared. "First three darts? 180 from Luke. Not a bad start. Next three darts from Luke? 180. Kirk said to me afterwards that if he had handed me the microphone and the first thing I do is ref a nine-dart leg...

"Unfortunately Luke just misses with the seventh but it was a heck of a way to start for me! Out of breath and we're only one leg in! There's an advert break after the first two sets I referee, and once I come back from that I start to enjoy it a lot more."

Littler went on to secure the sixth set, extending his lead to 5-1. Despite Van Gerwen's comeback attempts in the seventh and ninth sets, he couldn't match Littler, who clinched his first world championship title.