Latest news with #WinterGardens
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
‘I can't believe that' – James Wade breaks etiquette in Luke Littler clash leaving darts fans fuming
JAMES WADE shocked fans by walking off the World Matchplay stage and choosing not to conduct a live post-final Sky Sports interview. The Machine was beaten 18-13 by sensational Blackpool . Advertisement 5 Luke Littler celebrated lifting the Phil Taylor Trophy on stage but Wade did not hang around for the live Sky Sports TV interview Credit: Sky Sports 5 James Wade lost a second successive major darts final to Luke Littler this year Credit: Getty 5 Littler earned £200,000 in prize money for the victory in Blackpool on Sunday night Credit: Getty It was the second time he had lost a major final to The Nuke, having been demolished 11-2 in the UK Open finale in March. The etiquette, but not protocol, is for the runners-up to receive their trophy on stage and then hang around to speak to the host broadcaster. In this case it would have been with the excellent reporter Polly James for Sky . Yet emotion clearly got the better of Wade who, once he received his silver plate off PDC chief executive Matt Porter, swiftly left the oche and went backstage. Advertisement READ MORE IN DARTS It surprised TV viewers who were treated to an interview with Littler but not with the 42-year-old Aldershot ace, a father of two. It means, quite unusually, there were not quotes from Wade about how he played or what perhaps he could have done differently. Littler's victory, aged 18, means he replaced Wade in the history books as the youngest winner of the World Matchplay, one of the most coveted events on the calendar. BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS Advertisement Most read in Darts There are no suggestions that Wade, the new world No.5, will be fined or reprimanded for his actions as there is no obligation to speak. Yet it is good form and good manners to speak to the fans and live TV audience. Or even hang around as Littler celebrated lifting the Phil Taylor Trophy in front of the Winter Gardens audience. This is exactly what Wade – a 11-time major winner – did when he lost in the UK Open showpiece occasion at Butlin's Minehead earlier this year. Advertisement Once this event, which was broadcast on ITV , was over, he spoke glowingly about the teenager that had just destroyed him on the oche. Wade said back on the night of Sunday March 2: 'I'm the senior dart player, but he absolutely smashed me to bits! 'What can you do against that? He was the far superior player. Fair play to Luke. At the moment, he is comfortably the best or second best dart player in the world.' You wonder if his decision to walk away early will impact his chances of being selected by the PDC for the Premier League Darts competition in 2026. Advertisement 5 Wade was surpassed as the youngest World Matchplay champion by 18-year-old Littler Credit: Getty 5 The Machine is one of the legends of the sport and is now up to No.5 in the world rankings Credit: Getty That is, of course, unless he breaks into the top next year's Prem. His absence from the stage as the ticker-tape fell on Littler's head surprised fans, Advertisement James O'Hara expressed his displeasure on social media by saying: 'I can't believe Wade left the stage before Littler even lifted the trophy!' Disappointed Tom Clayton wrote a sarcastic message on X, which said: 'Nice to see Wade stay on stage to watch Littler lift the trophy. Not! Piss poor that.' And darts fan Craig Milner commented: 'Walking off stage before Littler gets his trophy says it all about him. Bit of a p****. Well done the Nuke!' Littler – who has completed the Triple Crown set – posed for photos with his parents, management and new girlfriend Faith. Advertisement
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
Luke Littler sets sights on Luke Humphries' spot after World Matchplay triumph
Luke Littler is the youngest triple crown champion in darts after beating James Wade in the World Matchplay final and now wants to end the year as the sport's undisputed No 1 Luke Littler has his eye on ending the year as No.1 in the charts and defending his darts world title at Alexandra Palace as top dog by every measurement. After another spellbinding display to win the World Matchplay crown, despite giving James Wade a five-leg head start in the final, Luke the Nuke is on course to top the rankings in the Professional Darts Corporation order of merit before the end of 2025. At 18, Littler is by far the youngest player to win the triple crown - World Championship, Premier League and World Matchplay - and he admits current world No.1 Luke Humphries' perch is now within his sights. But Littler is already the de facto No.1 in all but name. He is the teenage whirlwind responsible for an explosion in prize money, TV rankings, replica shirt and darts sales and participation at grass roots level. His Nukeship is the man to beat at every tournament - and at the Winter Gardens he gave the punters value for money, scrapping through 13-11 against Jermaine Wattimena, 16-14 against Andrew Gilding and 17-14 against Josh Rock before his 18-13 comeback win saw off Wade. Littler nodded: 'I've looked at the rankings provisionally. I'm No.1 for the Worlds if Luke doesn't defend all that prize money - and obviously I don't want him to. 'But we'll just have to find out and try to add more prize money to my ranking. For now, I'm the youngest winner of another major title. At the start of my career I wanted to win one of every major - there's not that many to go now. 'It was in the back of my mind that I hadn't won a trophy for a while every tournament I went into and didn't win, whether that was a European Tour or a ProTour event. 'But now I've picked up another one it's a good feeling and hopefully there will be a few more towards the back of the year. I want to win every major once and then just build on it - get multiple of everything, triple of everything. Once I win one of everything, I won't pack it in.' Among Littler's greatest hits at Blackpool was his tournament record 64 maximum 180s, blowing Adrian Lewis's previous apex of 56 out of the water. He said: 'I played a lot of legs throughout the Matchplay so it's no surprise that I've broken the 180 record.' Littler will take a week off before heading to Australia for the World Series early next month. The next major where he could make a dent in Humphries' lead at the rankings summit is the World Grand Prix in Leicester from October 6-12. He will begin his defence of the world title at Ally Pally, chasing the first £1 million winner's jackpot in darts, on December 11. PDC ORDER OF MERIT: CURRENT RANKINGS Luke Humphries £1,797,750 Luke Littler £1,500,500 Michael van Gerwen £739,750 Stephen Bunting £620,500 James Wade £611,750 Gerwyn Price £533,000 Chis Dobey £520,500 Jonny Clayton £513,750 Rob Cross £505,500 Damon Heta £486,250
The Sun
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Why Luke Littler is still not world No1 despite best darts player on the planet completing Triple Crown within 15 months
LUKE LITTLER is the best darts player in the world at present – but why is he not the world No.1 according to the PDC? Midway through his second year as a professional player, The Nuke completed the Triple Crown set when he lifted the Betfred World Matchplay at Blackpool's Winter Gardens on Sunday night. 5 5 Within a 15-month period, the 18-year-old has taken possession of the Premier League Darts crown, the World Championship and now the Matchplay title – the three most prestigious and richest tournaments in the sport. Littler is Box Office material and his 18-13 victory in the final over James Wade was secured with a three-dart average of 107.24. That was the highest seen in the final since Phil Taylor was victorious in 2014 – the year he won his 15th of a record 16 crowns – with 107.19. The £200,000 winner's cheque means the Warrington teen has earned £1,500,500 in ranking money since the start of January 2024. That total does not include the HALF A MILLION pounds he has earned from competing in two editions of the Premier League. Luke Humphries is top of the standings with £1,797,750 but the gap is only £297,250 and there is a fair chance Littler will become the official world No.1 come the end of the year. In fact it might come sooner than that when the packed autumn schedule begins and there is a run of four major TV titles that carry lucrative cash sums. The PDC Order of Merit is based on prize money won over a two-year period by players in ranking tournaments. 5 List of all-time Darts World Champions BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year. The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions. That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once - Barney also won four BDO titles - and none of Eric Bristow's five BDO titles are included. 1994 - Dennis Priestley 1995 - Phil Taylor 1996 - Phil Taylor (2) 1997 - Phil Taylor (3) 1998 - Phil Taylor (4) 1999 - Phil Taylor (5) 2000 - Phil Taylor (6) 2001 - Phil Taylor (7) 2002 - Phil Taylor (8) 2003 - John Part 2004 - Phil Taylor (9) 2005 - Phil Taylor (10) 2006 - Phil Taylor (11) 2007 - Raymond van Barneveld 2008 - John Part (2) 2009 - Phil Taylor (12) 2010 - Phil Taylor (13) 2011 - Adrian Lewis 2012 - Adrian Lewis (2) 2013 - Phil Taylor (14) 2014 - Michael van Gerwen 2015 - Gary Anderson 2016 - Gary Anderson (2) 2017 - Michael van Gerwen (2) 2018 - Rob Cross 2019 - Michael van Gerwen (3) 2020 - Peter Wright 2021 - Gerwyn Price 2022 - Peter Wright (2) 2023 - Michael Smith 2024 - Luke Humphries 2025 - Luke Littler Most World Titles 14 - Phil Taylor 3 - Michael van Gerwen 2 - John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright 1 - Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler In the latter half of 2023, Humphries, 30, announced himself as the dominant figure, winning the World Grand Prix (£120,000), Grand Slam of Darts (£150,000) and Players Championship Finals (£120,000) – before lifting the Sid Waddell Trophy (£500,000) for the first time. In total, Cool Hand Luke has to defend £890,000 prize money between October 6, 2025 and January 3, 2026. Luke Littler, 18, plants kiss on girlfriend Faith, 19, during walk-on for World Matchplay Darts quarter-final In contrast, Littler is defending NOTHING right now because he is yet to complete a full second term in the pro ranks. Everything he gets is a free hit and will only boost his chances of being the top oche thrower. If Humphries were to keep losing in the early rounds – his Matchplay defence ended in round one in a 10-8 loss to Gian van Veen – and Littler continues to win, then the switch between the two Lukes will take place sooner than possible. It might happen in November at the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton, that is assuming Humphries is knocked out early at the World Grand Prix in Leicester. 5 There is a strong chance come the start of the 2025/26 PDC World Darts Championships, which begins on December 11 and is now a 20-day event, then Littler will return to Ally Pally, where he was victorious in January, as the undisputed best player on the planet. Do not forget, of course, that the prize money for the Worlds has doubled from £500,000 to £1million this time, which completely skewers the world ranking standings even more for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. I've looked at the rankings provisionally. I'm No.1 for the Worlds if Luke doesn't defend all that prize money." Luke Littler after winning the World Matchplay Littler has long said that his main ambitions in the sport are to win every major at least once and become world No.1. That might happen sooner than he wants – indeed this time next year he may tick off all those targets. Speaking on Sunday night with the Phil Taylor Trophy in his hands, Littler said that he had looked at the PDC website and had done the maths. He said: 'The start of my career I wanted to win one of every major. There's not that many to go. 'I've looked at the rankings provisionally. I'm No.1 for the Worlds if Luke doesn't defend all that prize money. 'Obviously I don't want him to. But we'll just have to find out and try and add more money to my rankings.' Asked if he would still have the hunger to win after potentially lifting every major title at least once, Littler replied: 'That's what everybody is probably thinking once I've won one of everything. 'But for myself, I have to build on it and get multiple of everything, triple of everything. Once I win one of everything, I won't pack it in just yet.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Luke Littler beats James Wade to claim World Matchplay crown for first time
Luke Littler won his first World Matchplay crown as James Wade's run in Blackpool fell at the final hurdle. Littler claimed a hard-fought 18-13 victory at the Winter Gardens to become the fifth player to win the PDC triple crown – Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Luke Humphries having also won World Championship, Matchplay and Premier League titles. Wade was in his seventh Matchplay final 18 years on from his solitary success in 2007, which came six months after Littler was born. Littler's scoring power in a high-quality contest proved decisive – he hit 17 180s to Wade's six in averaging 107 – and set a new tournament record of 64 maximums, beating Adrian Lewis' previous best of 56. 'It means absolutely everything,' Littler told Sky Sports after winning the last four legs to hold the Phil Taylor Trophy aloft. 'I idolise Phil, he's come here 16 times and won it. Now my name is on this trophy – and I can say I've completed the triple crown. 'Since I started on the tour and got my tour card I've always said to myself: 'As long as I win one of every major I'll be happy'. I've only got a few left to tick off and I'll definitely chase the majors I haven't won yet.' Littler had to mount another comeback 24 hours after losing the first five legs of his semi-final to Northern Ireland's Josh Rock. Wade stormed into a 5-0 lead but did not have a single dart at a double in the second mini-session as Littler levelled in style. The 42-year-old left-hander produced an 11-darter in the next, but Littler responded by winning successive legs to lead for the first time at 7-6. Wade managed to keep in touch, helped by a bull finish in the 19th leg, and fought back from a double break down to cut the gap to just one at 14-13. But Littler pulled away and crossed the line in style with a 115 out shot (20-57-38), the biggest finish of the match. 'A little bit,' Littler said when asked if he had felt in control. 'Five-nil down once again, I said: 'I've been here before, what are you doing?' But I managed to pull it out of the bag and win the next five. I've shown I can come back from 5-0 or 7-3 down. I'm happy I can pull myself out of these scorelines, but I don't want to be 5-0 down again. James started to drop off a bit and I started to find my best darts.' Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion By winning the title 18-year-old Littler became the youngest ever champion in Matchplay history, six years younger than Wade when he lifted the title.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Darts fan shows off extent of her injury after being kicked out of Matchplay event for protesting against transgender star Noa-Lynn van Leuven
A darts fan who was kicked out of the World Matchplay event in Blackpool for protesting against transgender player Noa-Lynn van Leuven has revealed bruising she claims was inflicted by security during her removal. Jean Hatchet was one of three women removed from the Winter Gardens on Sunday after holding a banner reading: 'He's a man' and the other wearing a shirt which said: 'Save women's sport.' The women were escorted out the building for attempting to protest as van Leuven made her entrance. Van Leuven, 28, who began her gender transition as a teenager, has stormed up the women's rankings in recent months by winning multiple titles, and completed her hormone therapy in 2022. Following the incident, Hatchet took to social media, revealed bruising on her arm she claimed was inflicted by security and offered a defiant defence of her actions. 'Hello PDC... This is what your security did,' she wrote on X. 'I offered to walk out if they gave me my bag. WARNING : Strong language Darts fans have claimed they were kicked out of the Women's World Matchplay for protesting against Noa-Lynn van Leuven 'This is for standing up while a man played in women's darts. This is all your work. #NoMenInWomensSport.' In a series of posts on Monday morning, Hatchet revealed new images of the encounter, accusing the security of 'abuse' and alleging that she was on the end of 'shameful' homophobic slurs. 'All I did was say stand up, for a few seconds hold a sign saying "He's a man", attempt to get to my girlfriend who was also being assaulted by your staff to help her, and ask to walk out with my belongings without their hands on me,' she wrote in another post. 'Noa-Lynn Van Leuven is still a man. No flashbacks to abuse, no abuse from your men, will prevent me from saying it or standing up for women. 'Get used to women like me. If you hold us down, we get back up, we carry on. You have to kill us to stop us.' The incident took place when Van Leuven was set to make her entrance to take on Lorraine Winstanley - a game she won 4-0. The two protestors appeared to stand, with security leaping to them right away and appeared to take them out the premises. Hatchet also claimed that she, alongside her girlfriend, who was also removed, was at no point asked to leave and would have done so had she been asked. When approached by Mail Sport for comment, Hatchet said: 'We saw that PDC the organisers intended to allow Noa-Lynn Van Leuven to compete again in the UK despite the recent Supreme Court ruling clarifying the meaning of the word woman to mean, as it has always meant, "biological female". This is the footage of the moment we were removed. For standing up at Women's World Matchplay Darts who let Noa-Lynn Van Loeven play against women. We hadn't said anything when they attacked us with force. @OfficialPDC these are your security. — Jean Hatchet (@JeanHatchet) July 27, 2025 'We wanted to make a simple statement that Van Leuven is a man, he should compete as he used to in the men's competition. We sat quietly enjoying the darts. People held up many signs with different messages encouraged by the event. I don't know how or why but when I held up one saying "he's a man" within seconds I was grabbed hard by security and the sign ripped from my hands. 'My girlfriend didn't get a chance to hold hers up at all before we were attacked by more security. They grabbed us hard and pushed us and then more arrived. I shouted that I just wanted to get my bag and I'd leave. They refused and really grabbed me hard. I tried to struggle because they were really hurting me. I said "let me walk out, just give me my bag" but they all grabbed me harder. I have really serious bruises. At one point the man said "Why are you doing this homophobic s***?" 'It was painful and humiliating and they pushed and shoved me when they finally dropped me. It was disgusting. They handed me over to Winter Gardens Staff who looked a bit shocked but didn't intervene.' Van Leuven revealed before the World Championship last year that she had faced adversity in the build-up, receiving death threats, while team-mates Aileen de Graaf and Anca Zijlstra refused to play with her and English player Deta Hedman against her. She became the first transgender player to compete at the Grand Slam of Darts in November last year, and she has qualified to play at the World Championship at Alexandra Palace for the first time last Christmas. PDC chief executive Matt Porter insisted last year that the current policy on transgender players is 'fair', giving Van Leuven the green light to compete on the biggest stage. Still, both men and women compete equally in the tournament. Focus has generally been on the star competing in women's events, with Hedman arguing: 'People can be whoever they want in life, but I don't think biologically born men should compete in women's sports.' Van Leuven again opened up on the discrimination she has faced, suggesting she does not have an advantage over other women at the oche. 'Sometimes I'm accused of having an advantage over others because of my height,' she said. 'But look at Beau [Greaves]. We're the same height. Or look at Phil Taylor. He's beaten everyone and he's a small guy.' 'Others see an alleged advantage in the movements of my hips. I would stand differently than CIS women. 'Then there are people who come up with a study from handball, according to which there are differences between men and women in the throw, specifically in the backswing, and also in the lunge movement. 'So, the last time I played darts, I didn't do a backswing or a lunge. It's f***ing darts. What are we talking about?'
