'I refereed Luke Littler's world championship win – one thing he did left me breathless'
Referee Huw Ware had the pleasure of officiating Luke Littler's ascension to the PDC throne - and he knew just what was in store after a breathless first leg
by Ben Crawford · The MirrorReferee Huw Ware was left breathless after officiating Luke Littler’s nine-darter attempt in the second half of his remarkable 2025 world final win.
The Nuke took part in his second Ally Pally final earlier this month, this time facing off against Michael van Gerwen after his defeat to Luke Humphries 12 months ago. Littler started like a house on fire this time around, quickly opening up a 4-0 lead against MVG before eventually running out a 7-3 winner to get his hands on the Sid Waddell Trophy for the first time.
Littler never really looked in danger against the Dutchman, and he almost capped a memorable performance with a nine-darter in the sixth set of the game. The teenager managed six perfect darts, but the seventh missed its target, much to the disappointment of the thousands in attendance in north London.
Ware was in charge of the second half of the match at Ally Pally and described how Littler's attempt at a perfect leg left him out of breath before he even got going.
“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 on his blog. “That’s the feeling though.
“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.
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“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 entered the fray six sets in, taking over from fellow referee Kirk Bevins, who officiated Littler’s rampant beginning to proceedings.
“As the floor manager cues me in to start the sixth set, I had a quick thought of ‘Okay here we go’,” added Ware. "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 given 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 would claim the sixth set to stretch his lead to 5-1, and though Van Gerwen fought back in the seventh and ninth, he had no answer to Littler as he claimed his maiden world championship crown.
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