- The 16-year-old was felled by World No 1 Luke Humphries in a 7-4 thriller
- Teenager shot to stardom in his first-ever World Darts Championship this year
- REVEALED: Luke Littler’s new world ranking after world championship let-down
Luke Littler may have lost his maiden World Darts Championship final, but darts fans were in no rush to stop producing memes about the end of his fairytale run at Alexandra Palace.
The 16-year-old wonderkid fell at the last as World No 1 Luke Humphries ran away with the contest at four sets all, despite Littler recovering for a wobbly start to pull ahead 4-2 in the seventh set.
But after funking his throw for 5-2, Humphries showed no mercy as he clinched the set and pulled off a barnstorming 7-4 finish to claim the Sid Waddell Trophy on Wednesday evening.
Despite coming second place, the Warrington teenager will still pocket an eye-watering £200,000 in prize money, and his miraculous run has garned him legions of new fans.
Those on social media were prompt to respond to his defeat with a flurry of humourous memes, as users took to X (formerly Twitter) to discuss the thrilling clash.
Luke Littler was the runner-up in Wednesday evening’s World Darts Championship final
The teen darts sensation was out-thrown by World No 1 Luke Humphries in blistering form
Darts fans swarmed social media with a number of memes commenting on Littler’s journey
Certain users attempted to find cause for his defeat after round after round of nerveless matchplay, and poked fun at the Tottenham-Arsenal rivalry as if to explain why he had been defeated on the night.
One fan shared a picture of Littler posing with Gunners Aaron Ramsdale and Declan Rice, captioning the snap: ‘Luke Littler was bound to bottle it’.
But Arsenal supporters were quick to respond, sharing pictures of the darts prodigy posing with James Maddison when he invited Littler to watch their match against Bournemouth over the weekend.
One labelled a picture: ‘The moment Luke Littler lost the trophy (heartbreak emoji)’.
Another added the caption: ‘4-2 up in the final and lost 7-4. It all makes sense now.’
Others chose to poke fun at his youth, with one sharing a clip from The Inbetweeners suggesting that Littler would be unwilling to return to school after experiencing a meteoric rise through the darts world.
Arsenal and Tottenham fans sparred with both supporters looking to place the blame with the other club
A number of memes poked fun at 16-year-old Littler’s comparatively mature appearance
One user referenced the incongruity between Littler’s age and his visible maturity, sharing a picture of Nicholas Lyndhurst as Rodney from Only Fools and Horses with the caption: ‘Luke Littler going on a well deserved family break after the Darts World Championships.’
And a third compared 28 year-old Humphries’ defeat of the debutant to Michael Owen’s infamous 1999 Soccer Skills appearance, which saw him laughingly score past teenage goalkeepers at the height of his professional powers.
Another user poked fun at the number of new fans Littler’s popularity had attracted to the sport – and the partisanship that might come with their new-found interest.
Inevitably, some memes referenced Littler’s well-documented love of kebabs – a popular post-match celebration meal for the youngster – with one showing the now-notorious Tiger Woods ‘big dog’ meme with the caption: ‘Kebab man when Luke Littler walks in’.
Littler’s defeat on Wednesday evening sees him miss out on rising as high as ninth in the world rankings.
Instead, the teen sensation will receive a new ranking of 31st in the world, whilst Humphries’ rise to first in the standings was confirmed before a dart was thrown in the final.
Inevitably a string of memes referenced Littler’s well-documented love of post-match kebabs
Littler himself said that he was satisfied with his performances in his first-ever championship
But despite missing out on the top prize, Littler was satisfied with his first-ever World Championship, and said he was ‘happy’ with the result.
‘It’s been unbelievable,’ he told Sky Sports after the final.
‘I’m happy. I’m in the top-32 (in the world ranking) and I finished runner-up in my debut (at the PDC World Championship). It’s unbelievable.’
