Luke Littler celebrated overtaking Luke Humphries as world No 1 with an imperious 16-11 victory as he retained his Grand Slam of Darts title in Wolverhampton.
The final was given extra edge after it was confirmed that Littler would take the world No 1 spot from Humphries through booking his place in the big dance, switching their places in the rankings just before the final and marking Littler as the youngest world No 1 in the sport's history.
Then, Littler made sure to do the double over Humphries in one day as he came alive in the key moments, 167 and 160 checkouts plus five breaks of throw showing just why he is considered the best out there in the longer format.
The Grand Slam final marked the sixth major final the two Lukes have faced each other in, adding to the World Darts Championship final, two Premier League finals, the Players Championship finals, and World Grand Prix final.
With Littler's victory, the record is now level at 3-3, with Littler having the Premier League, World Grand Prix, and Grand Slam to his name.
It marks Littler's second time lifting the Eric Bristow Trophy, adding to his 16-3 drubbing of Martin Lukeman in 2024.
By going back-to-back, Littler has also joined the esteemed list of Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, and Gerwyn Price that have defended their title in Wolverhampton.
Not only that, he still remains undefeated in this major.
While it was Littler's night, Humphries was bullish and says he remains more motivated than ever to get back to top spot in the rankings and that will start with a Worlds win.
"I'm really proud. That's three finals on the trot I've lost. I'm ready for the Worlds now. I'm going to win the Worlds," Humphries said.
"I am [declaring war] because I'm obviously disappointed to lose last three finals, but I'm playing good, and the tiredness crept in at the end there.
"But one game a day suits me. We're gonna go to war.
"World Championships, me and him in a final. We're gonna see who's the number one there."
Littler made sure to respond though...
"Me and him are certainly going to battle for it," he said.
"Everyone's looking at the million quid [prize money at Alexandra Palace], but I'm sure Luke will want to get his world title back, and for myself, I want to go back-to-back.
"I think the money is probably the last thing we think of, because these world titles don't come very often."
A high level of darts was expected from the two best players on earth and that is exactly what was delivered in the opening five legs with both players averaging over 107, Humphries taking a narrow 3-2 lead as two breaks of throw helped him claim three legs on the spin after going 2-0 down.
The second session was not quite as dramatic as the first with levels dropping for the pair on the doubles to see them scrap their way to 5-5. Indeed, the highlight was Humphries coming in clutch with a 116 checkout to bring things level after Littler missed two darts for a 6-4 advantage.
There was truly nothing separating the two as the match edged out to 8-7 in Humphries' favour before the new world No 1 decided to set the stage alight.
After a massive 167 checkout to break throw, he got seven darts into a nine-darting, just missing T17 for the eighth.
The theatrics then hit further heights as Littler found further magic with a sensational 160 checkout on tops for the break of throw to move 11-9 ahead in the pivotal moment of the game. Littler let out a spiteful roar in the process, while Humphries jokingly punched him afterwards to reduce tensions.
From there, it felt inevitable that Littler would be picking up the trophy once again and after a break of throw to put himself one leg from victory after 25 legs, he took out D9 on his own throw to complete an historic defence.
Littler reeled off seven legs in a row in a 16-9 win over Danny Noppert to make it back-to-back finals in Wolverhampton.
In the early part of proceedings it was all Noppert as Littler became agitated with the crowd, the Dutchman moving 3-2 ahead then extending that to 6-4 with a big break of throw.
It then looked like Littler had started to go through the gears as he took out an 11-darter to level things up at 8-8 but Noppert just would not go away, a clutch 116 checkout helping to put him 8-7 up and halfway to the final.
But, it was then that Littler put his foot on the gas and took control with seven legs on the spin, Noppert's doubling falling away to allow The Nuke to grab his 13th consecutive victory at the Grand Slam.
Meanwhile, Humphries made it through to the final with an imperious 16-13 display against Gerwyn Price, hitting 16 180s with a 106.25 average.
'Cool Hand' got off to an electric start to race 5-1 ahead, his brilliant doubling and a top-drawer 142 checkout putting him on top.
Despite Price showing some real class, Humphries' incredible consistency paid dividends as he continued to nullify breaks of through from the Welshman, edging himself out to 11-9 ahead, a key break of throw in the 25th leg then moving him 14-11 in front.
That gave him enough breathing room to keep hold his throw, eventually clinching the game on D5.
The next TV major live on SportNews is the PDC World Darts Championship from December 11 to January 3 at Alexandra Palace.
