Luke

Luke Littler missed out on the chance to hold the senior and youth world titles simultaneously after suffering a surprise semi-final defeat at the World Youth Championship.

The 19-year-old world number one was beaten 6-5 by world number 68 Cam Crabtree, who will face German Jan Schmidt in the final on 29 November.

That match will take place on finals day at the Players Championship Finals in Minehead – an event Littler has also yet to qualify for having skipped the majority of Pro Tour events this season.

He is currently ranked 126th in the Players Championship order of merit and only the top 64 qualify.

Four Players Championship events remain, but two of those are in Den Bosch in the Netherlands – where Littler withdrew from events recently after being subjected to boos by the crowds.

Littler has won successive full World Championships and won the youth title as a 16-year-old in 2023, but the semi-final loss to 23-year-old Crabtree was his second successive exit at that stage having lost to Beau Greaves in 2025. He could though enter four more times, with the tournament open to players aged 23 or under at the start of the season.

The loss is the latest in a series of surprise exits for Littler, who was knocked out of the World Grand Prix in the first round by Luke Woodhouse and lost to Jonny Clayton in the quarter-finals of the World Series of Darts finals.

Price, who was playing in a fourth Grand Prix final, claimed the first set with a stunning 132 three-dart average.

He raced into a 3-0 lead and Humphries admitted afterwards that avoiding a 6-0 clean sweep was on his mind such was the brutality that Price was producing.

The fourth set saw the momentum swing however. With Price waiting on tops to move to within two sets of victory, Humphries nicked it by taking out a brilliant 105, with what he said “felt like the biggest shot of my career”.

From there his levels started to rise and he claimed the following three sets to lead.

Price rallied in set eight and won three successive legs to force a best-of-three finale, but, after a short break, Humphries found another gear.

Set nine went to a deciding leg, but unlike the previous four sets in the match where that had happened, there was a break of throw, with Humphries finishing in 10 darts.

That left Price dejected and Humphries won three unanswered legs to claim a ninth major PDC title.

“The sport is in such a special place that when you pick these trophies up they mean a lot more,” said Humphries.

“When I was winning, I don’t think there were so many good players. I’m happy to win a couple a year – one a year is great.

“To go on and win like I did is going to be tough. I don’t think I can’t do it, I’m just trying to pick up as many titles as I can.

“I worked incredibly hard, showed a lot of grit and determination. I think these are a lot sweeter than the ones you win with ease.”

World number two Luke Humphries secured his place in the World Grand Prix final with a 5-3 victory over James Wade.

Humphries averaged 96.92 and threw 10 180s as he reached the final for the fourth successive time.

The 31-year-old Englishman will face Welshman Gerwyn Price on Sunday evening in Leicester after he beat Nathan Aspinall in the other semi-final.

“I’ve got to do it again because there’s so many major finals I’ve let slip. Gezzy [Price] is playing well but if I play like that again, it’s going to be a cracking game and I hope it is,” Humphries told Sky Sports.

“To make four Grand Prix finals on the trot is super special. It’s history for myself and I’m proud of that but unless I pick that trophy up, unfortunately that history doesn’t mean anything.”

Humphries, who won this title in 2023 but has lost in the past two finals, took the opening set of the semi-final but Wade produced a brilliant 141 checkout en route to drawing level.

The pair exchanged the next two sets before Humphries took control of the contest to move 4-2 ahead.

Wade refused to go quietly and pulled one back to keep the match alive but Humphries held his nerve in the eighth set to seal victory on double top.

In the other semi-final, Price beat a spirited Aspinall 5-2.

The Welshman took a three-set lead as Aspinall struggled to reproduce the form that had seen him average 105.15 in his quarter-final win over Ryan Joyce.

Aspinall briefly rallied and produced a superb 132 checkout – the highest of the match – to get a set on the board.

The 35-year-old then threatened to turn the match around when he reduced the deficit to one set at 3-2.

However, Price regained his composure and closed out the next two sets without reply to secure his place in the final.

Price said he was “frustrated” by Aspinall’s antics during the match as he interacted with a partisan crowd at the Mattioli Arena.

“I’m glad to come through the game. Nathan was complaining about the crowd, but they were on his side,” Price said.

“He’s performing a little bit on stage. I’m great friends with Nathan, but take it on the chin sometimes when you’re losing.”

World number two Luke Humphries breezed into the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix with a 3-0 victory over Niels Zonneveld.

The Englishman did not quite hit top gear against the Dutchman – averaging 85.91 and throwing four 180s – but was clinical at the key moments with a checkout success of 33.33%.

Humphries has yet to drop a set in this year’s tournament having whitewashed Dave Chisnall and Jermaine Wattimena in previous rounds.

The 31-year-old will face compatriot James Wade in the last four after he knocked out third seed Gian van Veen with a 3-0 win.

“The way I’m practising, I feel really good, it’s just not been coming out this week. Against James, I know I need it to come out, it’ll be a tough task,” said Humphries, who won the tournament in 2023.

“To make four World Grand Prix finals on the trot would be super special. There’s not many players that will ever do that and James will know he’s got a tough game as well.”

Elsewhere, Nathan Aspinall produced a stellar performance at Leicester’s Mattioli Arena to secure his spot in the last four with a 3-0 victory over Ryan Joyce.

He will play Gerwyn Price in the semis after the Welshman’s superb 3-2 comeback success against his compatriot Jonny Clayton, who spurned a two-set lead and match darts in a thrilling tie.

World champion Luke Littler’s hopes of defending his World Grand Prix title were dashed as he fell to a shock first-round defeat by Luke Woodhouse in Leicester.

Littler, 19, had been looking to bounce back from his quarter-final exit to Jonny Clayton at the World Series of Darts Finals just over a week ago.

But despite taking the first set, he was distinctly below par throughout the best-of-three encounter, averaging just 82.41.

That allowed Woodhouse to level the match and deliver a checkout of 75 to win the deciding set 3-1 in legs.

Woodhouse will face 2022 runner-up Nathan Aspinall in the last 16, who edged past Dutch debutant Kevin Doets 2-1.

Earlier on Monday, six-time winner Michael van Gerwen lost five legs out of the last six as 2024 semi-finalist Ryan Joyce fought back to win 2-1.

England’s Joyce will play Dutchman Danny Noppert, who advanced past Germany’s Niko Springer by the same scoreline.

Elsewhere, Wales’ Gerwyn Price only lost a single leg as he comfortably beat Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki 2-0 to set up a meeting with England’s Ross Smith, who came from behind to triumph 2-1 against Scotland’s Cameron Menzies.

Welshman Clayton edged past Krzysztof Ratajski 2-1, and he will take on the Netherlands’ Wessel Nijman, who overcame 2018 world champion Rob Cross in straight sets.

At just 19, Luke Littler has won every major trophy in darts.

He is a multi-millionaire with lucrative sponsorship deals and his own TV show.

But has his rapid rise turned some against him?

This past weekend the teenager was once again subjected to boos and whistles from sections of the crowd as he took to the stage at the World Series of Darts in Amsterdam.

What is surprising though is that it came as ‘The Nuke’ was on a quest to complete a darts clean sweep by becoming the first player to win all 10 major televised tournaments in a calendar year.

Littler suggested afterwards that, if the booing continues, he will not attend events held in the Netherlands.

But Samuel Gill, editor of Dartnews.com, suggests Littler’s future in the sport could be at stake.

“There’s a real fear that within a few years he’ll just turn around and walk away from the sport,” Gill told BBC Sport.

“So, I think for fans, ‘Don’t bite the hand that feeds you’. If people keep taunting him and don’t want him to win, he might end up just walking away and not bothering anymore.”

Amsterdam was the latest tournament where Littler has faced what some might describe as an overly hostile reaction from fans.

A vibrant pantomime-style atmosphere is part and parcel of the darts experience and Dutch and German crowds are amongs the most raucous – but it is clear Littler believes he has been unfairly targeted.

The referee stopped the match during his narrow win against Nathan Aspinall in the last-16 on Saturday to warn the hostile crowd about its behaviour, before play resumed.

It followed Littler also being booed during his win against home favourite Danny Noppert on Friday.

The teenager’s quarter-final defeat to Jonny Clayton ended Littler’s quest for the clean sweep, but the Warrington native clearly felt fans had been unduly harsh towards him.

Littler has now withdrawn from a series of upcoming events.

“Just no point in me travelling, wasting my time while I’m getting booed,” said Littler.