That’s it for our coverage of an historic night at Alexandra Palace, where Luke Littler confirmed the bleedin’ obvious: that he is a multi-generational talent who could become the greatest goat of all time. Oh, and that there has never been a worse time to be an aspiring male darts player.

I’ll leave you with Jonathan Liew’s report from Ally Pally. Thanks as always for your company and emails. Goodnight!

“Witnessing history, right?” says Krishnamoorthy V. “Many years later you will be regaling your drink buddies, ‘I was there that night’.”

Erm, at the risk of pulling back the curtain…

Luke Littler is announced as world champion “for the first time in his career”. He looks far more relaxed now: he receives the trophy, does a little wiggle and then lifts it high above his head. That takes some doing because the trophy is the size of a house.

For the first time all tournament, Luke Littler looks like a boy. He’s struggling to take it all in, doesn’t know what to do, can’t believe what he’s achieved. As a great sports commentator once said, I swear you’ll never see anything like this ever again.

Littler almost finished it in astonishing style, hitting two bulls before missing D16 for a 132. He was back to hit the same double and complete an astonishing triumph. He almost breaks down, embraces a smiling Van Gerwen – who is always so sporting in defeat – and finally utters one simple word to himself: “Wow.”

Littler 6-3 Van Gerwen (legs 1-0) Littler hammers in D10 to move within two legs. Van Gerwen is still fighting and briefly threatened a 137, only to miss his first attempt at tops for a double double.

Littler 6-2 Van Gerwen (legs 1-2) Van Gerwen doesn’t get a shot from 66. For once he’s okay, with Littler back on 251. He returns for a 13-darter.

The game has now settled into a familiar rhythm – hold after hold after hold. Van Gerwen will be haunted by his doubles in the first four sets because the rest of the game has been close. There are only two points between them in the averages as I type.

Littler 6-2 Van Gerwen (legs 1-1) Van Gerwen can’t get near breaking Littler. He leaves 20 after 15 darts, which would be fine if only he were playing against a human being. Littler hits tops for a 16-darter.

It’s not just Littler’s natural ability, or his competitive instinct, that boggle the mind. He has the timing of a veteran, the aura of a serial winner.

Littler 6-2 Van Gerwen (legs 0-1) Littler almost brings the house down by missing the bull for a 164 against throw. Van Gerwen cleans up 89 in two darts. He’s played really well in the last few sets; but he left it far too late.

Littler’s overall performance hasn’t been an all-timer – he averages 102.96, which is excellent rather than eye-watering. But within that there have been several genuinely awesome moments. Also – I’m not sure if anyone has mentioned this – he’s sevenbloodyteen.

In the eighth set, Michael van Gerwen averaged 108.92. Didn’t get a dart at double. Littler averaged 112.73 and hit three of his four checkout attempts.

Littler breaks! Littler 5-2 Van Gerwen (legs 2-0) This will be Van Gerwen’s third successive final defeat: he lost to Peter Wright in 2020 and Michael Smith in 2023.

Littler hits 177 to leave 50 after nine against the darts. Van Gerwen makes a mess of 128, starting with a single 4, and Littler cleans up with a frightening nonchalance.

Littler 5-2 Van Gerwen (legs 1-0) Littler has the throw in the eighth set. He misses the bull for a 130, but MvG can’t set up from 158 and Littler hits you-know-where for a 14-darter. Death, taxes, Littler on D10 and all that.

Littler 5-1 Van Gerwen (legs 2-2) Van Gerwen is first to a finish on the Littler throw, although it’s a tricky 139 and Littler then sets up 46.

Van Gerwen can only hit 41 and Littler does the needful on tops. Another deciding leg – if Littler breaks here, he will be one set away.

Littler 5-1 Van Gerwen (legs 1-2) Van Gerwen’s scoring remains outstanding in the circumstances. He hits D6 for a 12-darter, having already missed one at D12. But he needed to take it because Littler was lurking with chilling intent on 170.

Littler 5-1 Van Gerwen (legs 1-1) Van Gerwen gets down to an even hundred for a potential break. That’s all it will ever be: Littler assaults the bullseye to complete a 124 checkout.

Littler 5-1 Van Gerwen (legs 0-1) Van Gerwen won’t give up. He almost makes a mess of 36, hitting D4, but eventually cleans up on D14.

Littler 4-1 Van Gerwen (legs 2-2) Van Gerwen holds in 15 darts to take the set to a deciding leg – but only after Littler misses the bull for a 127. If MvG is to have any chance, any chance, he has to break in the next leg.

Littler 4-1 Van Gerwen (legs 2-1) Littler keeps MvG at arm’s length by starting with four perfect darts on throw. The eventual result is a comfortable 12-dart hold. This is quite dizzying.

Littler 4-1 Van Gerwen (legs 1-1) Van Gerwen hits another 180 – he’s 9-8 ahead on that score – en route to a very uncomfortable hold. He needed Littler to miss one dart at tops, then had to go out on D1 himself.

Littler 4-1 Van Gerwen (legs 1-0) It was all a mirage. Littler starts after the break with back-to-back 180s, just to remind Van Gerwen that he is trapped in a world of pain. The seventh dart sneaks into T1 but he eventually goes out in 13 darts with Van Gerwen back on 94.

“My five- and seven-year-olds are thoroughly jetlagged here in Dubai after getting back from the UK this morning, so here we are, chugging through the toast at 1am with me explaining the sport as we go,” writes Luke Thompson. “The eldest just said ‘Luke is definitely a jedi name, and he is using the force’. For Van Gerwen: ‘These are not the darts you are looking for’.”

“It’s Littler’s mentality that strikes me the most,” says David Howell. “He’s literally in a tournament whose title sponsor – and a secondary one whose logo is prominent right below the dartboard – provide goods and services that people his age are prevented from legally using over entirely valid fears of the consequences of them doing so with their brains still developing. And he’s winning it with more than a little help from his mental toughness! As his Gen Z peers might put it (I think), he’s just built different.”

Littler averaged 107 in that set to MvG’s 100. But he only had one dart at double to MvG’s eight. And for the first time in this match, MvG’s set checkout percentage was half decent: 37.50 to be precise.

Littler 4-0 Van Gerwen (legs 1-2) Littler hits another 180 against throw. After 12 darts, MvG is on 80, Littler 101. MvG strikes on D10 to win successive legs on throw. It’s a start.

The last whitewash in a PDC final was in 2006, when LUKE LITTLER WASN’T ALIVE Phil Taylor reminded Peter Manley of the natural order. He did it to Manley four years earlier, too, and John Part the year before that, and Dennis Priestley in 1994. But he was an established great, a grown man.

Littler 4-0 Van Gerwen (legs 1-1) Littler pops tops for a jaunty 130 finish, with Van Gerwen waiting on 196. And why not?

Littler 4-0 Van Gerwen (legs 0-1) Van Gerwen misses four at double for a hold and is a bit lucky to hit D10 via a deflection. Mind you, he earned the chance with some superb scoring – it’s a minor miracle, in the circumstances, that this part of his game is still in good order.

Let’s be clear about this: Luke Littler is not a generational talent. He’s a multi-generational talent, one of the most astonishing things we’ve seen in any sport. Any kind of victory tonight would have been extraordinary. But a potential whitewash? At the age of 17? Against Michael van Gerwen? I can’t think, never mind spake.

Van Gerwen breaks! Littler 3-0 Van Gerwen (legs 2-1) Van Gerwen’s umpteenth 180 leaves him on 70, with a chance to break Littler for the first time. He misses D16, only to get a rare reprieve whewn Littler misses two at the same double for the set. Van Gerwen wheezes over the line on double eight.

Littler breaks! Littler 3-0 Van Gerwen (legs 2-0) What day is this? Littler is taking a truly great player to the cleaners; he leads 11-2 in legs!

Littler 3-0 Van Gerwen (legs 1-0) Not for the first time in this tournament, the TV director zooms in on treble 20 for Littler even though he’s not on a 180. It’s an easy mistake to make.

Littler is taking the mickey now. He takes out 70 in two darts – bull and double 10 – after MvG fails to set up from 124. This is brutal.

The match averages are similar, both around 97, but Van Gerwen’s doubling has been disastrous.

Littler breaks! Littler 2-0 Van Gerwen (legs 2-1) Van Gerwen’s checkout percentage is down to 18; that was supposed to be his trump card. He’s in all sorts of bother here because Littler has nicked the darts and leaves 70 after 12.

Littler misses two for a break, tops and tens, yet he still has time to return and take out D10. He’s now throwing for a 3-0 lead – and he has the darts in the fourth set.

Littler 2-0 Van Gerwen (legs 1-1) Van Gerwen is still scoring really well – but his double woes continue when he misses three at tops for what would and should have been a really impressive break. Littler punishes him, last dart in hand, on D5.

Littler 2-0 Van Gerwen (legs 0-1) Littler’s scoring is such that his opponents hardly ever get a peaceful leg. Van Gerwen hits D12 for a 13-darter and a much-needed hold. Littler was lurking with intent on tops.

The second set was so much better, exhilarating in fact. MvG averaged 114 and didn’t win a leg. If he doesn’t take the upcoming third set on throw, he will be in an ocean of doodoo.

Averages
Littler 115.62
Van Gerwen 113.67

Checkouts
Littler 60% (3/5)
Van Gerwen 0% (0/3)

180s
Littler 2
Van Gerwen 2

Littler breaks! Littler 1-0 Van Gerwen (legs 2-0) Littler has returned from the break with his scoring boots on. MvG is scoring beautifully now, too, but he has been very poor on the doubles. He misses two at tops – both by a long way – to take out 100 for a 12-darter. Littler punishes him, and rubs it in, by hitting tops for an 11-dart break. MvG is in trouble, already.

Littler 1-0 Van Gerwen (legs 1-0) Van Gerwen pops his third 180; Littler responds immediately with his first to keep control of the leg on throw. He misses the bull for a 121, Van Gerwen gets nowhere near 170 and Littler returns to do the necessary on – you guessed it – double 10.

It was a low-quality first set, in truth, which makes it even more concerning for MvG that he lost the throw.

Averages
Littler 93.28
Van Gerwen 91.35

Checkouts
Littler 50%
Van Gerwen 25%

180s
Littler 0
Van Gerwen 2

Littler 0-0 Van Gerwen (legs 2-1) Neither player is scoring fluently; nowhere near in fact. Littler misses two set darts for a clean sweep (14 and 7), which allows Van Gerwen to pin D16 and get his first leg on the board.

Littler 0-0 Van Gerwen (legs 2-0) That really is a stinker of a first leg for MvG, the sort that could derail a less experienced player. (Remember Robert Thornton against Phil tTaylor in the 2013 Grand Slam final?)

The second leg isn’t great either but Littler is first to a double. He misses tops and – shock, horror – hits double 10 at the first attempt.

Littler breaks! Littler 0-0 Van Gerwen (legs 1-0) A very nerby first leg is stolen by Luke Littler against the throw.

Van Gerwen starts with 100, 115 and 81; Littler with 58, 134 and 89. That allows MvG to bang in a 180 and leave 45 after 12 darts.

Littler leaves 140 – and he gets a shot because MvG busts by hitting D16 rather than D8. He hits the first treble 20 but not the second. It doesn’t matter because Van Gerwen misses D8 and D4 on his next visit. Littler cleans up 55 for a 17-dart break.

“Michael to throw first… game on!”

The walk-ons

Littler isn’t smiling as much as usual; that could be nerves or laser focus. There are some boos when Van Gerwen first appears on the big screen but they don’t last long. MvG also has his business face on.

There’s a brief embrace between the players, no more than that. Unless there’s a nine-darter, don’t expect any congratulatory fistbumps tonight.

“I’m at a puzzle,” writes Andy O’Shaughnessy, “with only your blog to keep me up to date on the darts.”

Andy did attach a picture of a half completed puzzle, featuring an old-fashioned telephone and an army of adorable black labs, but there isn’t time to upload it. Mainly because the walk-ons are about to begin.

Start time

As I said all along, it’ll be around 8.15pmish. I’m off to get a coffee and a cold flannel, after which it’ll be time to watch two geniuses assault treble 20.

“I suspect I’m pretty much alone in expecting a runaway winner tonight,” writes Gary Naylor. “Watching the excellent Robbie Williams biopic on Tuesday (bear with me now) reminded me of the power of Impostor Syndrome.

“Darts is a psychological battle and both players will have strong voices in their heads if they go a couple of sets down: ‘I’m not ready for this after all’; ‘I’m past it, have been for years’. Silencing the internal chimp when it starts whispering those thoughts will surely be the deciding factor.”

I don’t expect a runaway winner but it wouldn’t shock me if Littler averaged 108 and won 7-2 or 7-3. The bull could be really important in terms of psychological momentum. Littler can be a brutal frontrunner so MvG would love to throw first, take the first set without drama and see what happens.

It’s also worth noting that only one of the last eight finals has gone to 12 sets, never mind 13. These are the scores: 7-3, 7-2, 7-3, 7-3, 7-3, 7-5, 7-4, 7-4.

Finally, what is Imposter Syndrome? I have never heard of this concept and it certainly is not squatting in my subconscious.

This has been an excellent World Championship – not the best yet, but still a cracker. There has been one huge negative, though: the absence of Wayne Mardle, a man whose expertise, charisma, enthusiasm, generosity of spirit and facility with language enrich every single game on which he commentates.

Mardle has been absent from Sky’s coverage due to the tragic death of his wife Donna, aged just 52, on the eve of the tournament. We won’t hear his voice tonight, but let’s hope we have another ‘I can’t spake’ moment.

From the archive: sporting prodigies

There are some superb entries here, none better than Georgina Turner’s on Martina Hingis.

The best that most of us can hope for from the year we turn 16 is a decent set of exam results and a dinner out at TGI Fridays (milkshakes allowed). Hingis, meanwhile, competed in all four grand slam singles finals, winning three of them

The head-to-head record is Littler 6-6 Van Gerwen. MvG won the biggest game to date, scrapping to a 10-6 win in the first round of the Matchplay, but since then Littler has won their two games by a combined score of 17-5.

What tonight means for the world rankings

It’s pretty simple. If Littler wins, this will be the top three.

1. Luke Humphries

2. Luke Littler

3. Michael van Gerwen

And if Van Gerwen wins, this will be the top three.

1. Luke Humphries

2. Michael van Gerwen

3. Luke Littler

Rob Cross will stay fourth regardless of the result.

Read Jonathan Liew on semi-final night

Eric Bristow, Phil Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld, Michael van Gerwen: turns out this was the preamble. When the chroniclers of the future come to write the tale of this sport, they will recognise two eras: before Luke Littler, and after.

“So glad you are doing the honours here, sir,” says Ian Copestake. “I bet when you were 17 you were knocking out pretend commentaries on your ZX80! And now here we all are. Clearly the PDC trophy designer is also a cricket fan!”

I was 18, so bad luck. And it was a ZX81.

As the former BDO world champion Mark Webster pointed out on Sky Sports last night, this match are echoes of the 2013 final. Van Gerwen was the emerging sensation – he hit 17 perfect darts in the semi-final, still the most spine-tingling bit of darts I’ve ever seen – and Phil Taylor, 52, was the old don trying to delay the inevitable.

Taylor hadn’t won a world title in three years, the equivalent of a millennium for most players. Van Gerwen led 4-2, missed a dart for 5-2 and was made to pay. Taylor won the last five sets to take the match 7-4 and become world champion for the 16th and final time. It was, as Barney Ronay wrote in this paper, “all about Taylor reasserting his venerable qualities of era-domination in the face of the younger generation”.

Van Gerwen may not have dominated like Taylor, but he’s still been the best player of the era. And even at the age of 35, he’d love to reassert his venerable qualities.

Previously on … darts

You’re new round here aren’t you? It’s okay, we’re all darts fans now. All you need to do to confirm your bona fides is fill in the missing word in this popular chant: “boring boring ______”.

Hang on, the start time is 8pmish, not 8.15pmish! This is also the fault of AI and emphatically not a cock-up on my part. Blimey, we’re 45 minutes away.

Apple news summary says Littler is world champion

Not content with the thrilling progress of Project 2030, the year by which the entire human population will be wiped out, artificial intelligence is now starting to ruin what years we have left. Earlier today, as reported by the BBC, an Apple news summary – written by our old friend Artie Foucault – reported that Luke Littler was the new darts world champion.

Did I say 2030? Enjoy tonight’s final, let’s leave it at that.