Luke Littler became the youngest winner of the World Darts Championship at 17 after a stunning 7-3 defeat of Michael van Gerwen at Alexandra Palace on Friday.

Van Gerwen was the previous record-holder, having won the first of his three titles in 2014 aged 24, but it has seemed inevitable that benchmark would be blown away by Littler for at least the past 12 months.

He lost the 2024 final to Luke Humphries on debut but quickly hit the front this time and never looked back.

The relentless Littler produced a number of stylish finishes and averaged 102.73 but was helped on his way by an initially out-of-sorts Van Gerwen, who busted his score at crucial moments in the first and fourth sets.

Those costly errors gave Littler a 4-0 advantage from which Van Gerwen could not recover, with his checkout percentage of just 36.8% also hindering his attempts at a fightback.

HISTORY. MADE.

LUKE LITTLER HAS DONE IT!!!

He is crowned the youngest ever champion as he wins the 2024/25 @paddypower World Darts Championship!

A special talent. pic.twitter.com/HVI8KtWrhh
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 3, 2025

"I can't believe it," Littler told Sky Sports. "Honestly, I can't believe it.

"I said I needed to get off to a quick start tonight and that's what I did. Michael was right behind me the whole way through."

He added: "I could end 2025 winning absolutely nothing [else], but I picked up the best."

Van Gerwen, now 35, said: "Every chance he got, every moment he had to hurt me, he did it. Fair play to him.

"I sometimes say: every 17 years, a star gets born, and he's one of them."