England's Luke Littler poses with the Sid Waddell Trophy after victory over Netherlands' Michael van Gerwen in the PDC World Darts Championship final, at Alexandra Palace in London on January 3, 2025. Luke Littler became darts' youngest world champion at just 17 after thrashing three-time winner Michael van Gerwen in front of an adoring home crowd at London's Alexandra Palace on Friday. This time there was no stopping "Luke the Nuke" as he stormed past Dutchman Van Gerwen by seven sets to three. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP) (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images) (Image: Ben STANSALL / AFP)

'I refereed Luke Littler's PDC world championship win – one thing he did left me breathless'

by · Birmingham Live

Referee Huw Ware feared being left gasping for air after overseeing Luke Littler's nine-dart attempt during the second half of his stunning 2025 world final victory. The young darting sensation, known as 'The Nuke', returned to Ally Pally earlier this month for his second final, squaring off against Michael van Gerwen following his previous year's loss to Luke Humphries.

This time, Littler burst out of the gates, quickly establishing a 4-0 lead over MVG and ultimately clinching a 7-3 win to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy for the first time.

Littler appeared unthreatened by the Dutch legend throughout the match and nearly sealed an unforgettable performance with a nine-darter in the sixth set. He achieved six perfect darts, but the seventh veered off course, leaving the throngs of fans in north London wanting more.

Ware, who took charge of the latter stages of the match at Ally Pally, recounted on his blog how Littler's pursuit of darting perfection left him breathless before he had even begun. "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! That's the feeling though.", reports the Mirror.

"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 overseen Littler's dominant start.

"As the floor manager cues me in to start the sixth set, I had a quick thought of 'Okay here we go'. 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 went on to secure the sixth set, extending his lead to 5-1, and despite Van Gerwen's comeback attempts in the seventh and ninth, he couldn't match Littler as the latter clinched his first world championship title.