Just a few weeks after becoming world champion, Luke Littler celebrates his 18th birthday on Tuesday.

Littler has transformed darts over the last 14 months after reaching the World Championship final on debut and captured a new audience.

The teenager from Warrington is riding a high wave which has seen him win the Premier League, World Series of Darts Finals, Grand Slam of Darts titles, plus becoming world champion after beating Michael van Gerwen in the 2025 final.

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"I haven't got anything planned really because there is a lot of darts around this time," said Littler regarding his birthday.

"I will probably just do something at home before the crazy schedule starts. But I gave myself the best early birthday present by winning the Worlds.

"My first year has been difficult, at the start of the year with the Premier League and travelling to the European Tours, I have been travelling up and down the country. It's at the start of the year when the crazy schedule is."

As Littler celebrates his 18th birthday and prepares for this week's Dutch Darts Masters, with the Premier League Darts around the corner starting on February 6, Sky Sports takes a look at 18 spectacular achievements from the youngster.

Youngest player to hit a nine-darter

If you have not seen footage of a 14-year-old Littler hitting a nine-darter, change that right now. At the JDC MVG Masters in 2021, Littler made a nine-darter to become the youngest player to pull off the perfect leg.

Littler did not even hit a 180, completing the nine-darter with a 150 checkout.

Winning World Youth Championship

Remarkably, it was only in November 2023 when Littler won the World Youth Championship as he beat Gian van Veen in the final.

Things would only get better...

World Championship final on debut

Luke Humphries won the 2024 World Darts Championship but Littler's run to the final will forever be looked back on as the tournament where darts took off.

The then-16-year-old thrashed Raymond van Barneveld, Brendan Dolan and Rob Cross before taking the runners-up spot to Humphries as he lost 7-4, having had darts to take a 5-2 lead in sets.

A total audience of 4.8m people tuned into Littler's final against Humphries - the highest non-football audience for Sky Sports.

Invited to Man Utd training ground

Littler is a big Manchester United fan and was invited to the team's training ground at Carrington, where he threw some arrows with Christian Eriksen and Harry Maguire.

He also met Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford during United's 2-2 draw with Tottenham.

First senior PDC title

Two weeks on from his final defeat, Littler won the Bahrain Darts Masters to claim his maiden senior PDC title.

He also recorded his first televised nine-darter in the quarter-finals against Nathan Aspinall - yes, he is the youngest player to make a perfect leg on TV at 16 years old - before beating Van Gerwen in the final.

Winning Players Championship events

Littler won his first European Tour title on debut at the Belgian Darts Open, making another nine-darter, and did the same in his maiden Players Championship appearance in February.

A nine-darter in his second match in Wigan led to winning the day in, arguably, darts' most unpredictable format. Littler would go on to claim another European Tour title in Austria, plus two more Players Championship event wins in 2024.

Winning Premier League Darts title

Some people thought Littler should not have been invited to the Premier League Darts because of his inexperience and age.

He silenced his critics by winning the series in style, topping the table and beating Luke Humphries with another nine-darter in the final in May 2024.

Jonathan Ross Show, Sidemen and more

Everyone wanted a piece of Littler by now. The darts wonderkid was a guest on the Jonathan Ross Show, Comic Relief, appeared on a podcast with social media stars The Sidemen and collaborated with other UK influencers, including AngryGinge.

Invited to WWE HQ

Ahead of the US Darts Masters, Littler was given a tour of the WWE HQ in New York. He received a video message from 'American Nightmare' Cody Rhodes.

It was Wrestlemania which inspired Littler to choose Greenlight by Pitbull as his walk-on song. As a 10-year-old, he went to WWE's biggest event in 2017 and heard the song, which is now sung by thousands of darts fans when Littler is playing.

Appearing in Forbes' 30 Under 30 Europe list

Littler was named alongside England footballers Jude Bellingham and Alessia Russo and F1 driver Lando Norris in Forbes' 30 Under 30 Europe Class of 2024.

The list by Global media brand Forbes highlights "the latest class of young disruptors and changemakers who are redefining their respective fields".

Grand Slam champion

After first-round exits at the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix, some questions were asked of Littler but he responded in November by winning the Grand Slam of Darts with a dominant win over Martin Lukeman in the final to set himself up nicely for Alexandra Palace a month later.

Second at Sports Personality of the Year

Littler was runner-up to 800m Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson at the 2024 BBC Sports Personality of the Year and won the Young Sports Personality of the Year.

In the main award, Littler received more votes than Joe Root, who became England's all-time leading Test run-scorer, para-cyclist Sarah Storey, triathlete Alex Yee and footballer Jude Bellingham.

Massive social media following

Littler had 4,000 followers on Instagram prior to the 2024 World Darts Championship, which rose to nearly half a million by the final.

After the 2024 season and becoming world champion, Littler has 1.9m followers on Instagram as of January 2025.

Littler was followed by former England footballer David Beckham after he came second at SPOTY, with the darts sensation screenshotting the evidence with a heart eyes and raised hands emojis.

Most-searched athlete of 2024 in UK

Littler was the third-most-searched person on Google in the UK in 2024, ahead of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and King Charles.

The teenager was only behind the Princess of Wales, searched as Kate Middleton, and US President Donald Trump.

Littler topped the standings for the most-searched athlete in the UK in 2024, ahead of Spanish teenage sensation Lamine Yamal, who helped Spain win Euro 2024, and gymnast Simone Biles, who won three golds at Paris 2024.

Youngest world champion

The pressure on Littler nearly got to him on his return to Alexandra Palace as he overcame a scare against Ryan Meikle in the first match, before fending off Ryan Joyce in a deciding set in the fourth round.

He comfortably saw off Nathan Aspinall and Stephen Bunting to reach the final, where he was largely dominant against Michael van Gerwen to become the youngest world champion.

Record-breaking set average

Littler was seriously tested by Meikle at the 2025 World Darts Championship, revealing he "just couldn't do it" when the match started.

He fought hard though and showed an explosion of emotion which we had not seen, leading to an epic final set where he averaged 140.91, winning the set in just 32 darts after two nine-dart attempts. That set-average record may not be beaten for a long time.

Rise to world No 2

Littler's success in 2024 means he is second on the PDC Order of Merit behind Luke Humphries. Littler is on £1.1m, with Humphries nearly £700,000 ahead on £1.8m.

The world ranking in darts is dictated over a two-year period so Humphries could be caught by Littler at some point in 2025, particularly due to the current world No 1 needing to defend the money he earned in 2023, which will be wiped away as the year goes on.

Creating a new audience

Darts has become one of the most popular sports in the UK over the last 12 months, mostly due to Littler. Most major events are sold out and record audiences are tuning into tournaments throughout the season.

Children wear purple and yellow clothing, which we associate with Littler, and people of all ages are taking up darts.

"There is always something else to achieve," said Sky Sports Darts' Mark Webster.

"He will never think he has completed anything. You have just got to applaud his dedication. He has been dedicated for a long, long time."

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(c) Sky Sports 2025: Luke Littler at 18: Darts world champion celebrates birthday ahead of 2025 Dutch Masters and Premier League