Luke Littler reveals pre-match pizza inspired him to second world title victory
By Jonathan Veal, Press Association
Luke Littler revealed a pre-match pizza inspired him to more World Championship glory and insisted he has the hunger for many more titles.
The 18-year-old cemented his position as a great of the sport by joining Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson in winning back-to-back crowns and he is the new king of Alexandra Palace.
Littler burst onto the scene with an epic debut run to the final two years ago and has not lost on that stage since after a masterful 7-1 win over Gian van Veen, which earned him a record £1million prize cheque.
Littler has been a tour de force over the last year, winning five of the last six major tournaments, and looks set for an era-defining period of domination similar to what Taylor enjoyed.
Whether he will be able to match Taylor’s 16 world titles remains to be seen, but Littler has the appetite for it.
“It’s so far away. Yeah, 14 to go. Another 15, 16, years, I’d say and I’ll start thinking about it,” he said.
“If it happens, it happens. I’ll be around for a very long time and I’m here to win.
“It’s something any darts player could do, myself, being so young and already picking up two of these.
“Who knows if I could reach it. If I get five or six, I’ll be happy.
“I think I could if I stay around for long enough, keep the hunger.
“Once the hunger goes, there’s no point playing. But there’s a lot of hunger left inside of me.”
On his pre-match meal, Littler revealed he was so nervous during the day, he forgot to eat until he arrived at the venue where a cheese and tomato pizza did the trick.
“In the build-up there were a lot of nerves in the household,” he added.
“I actually turned up to the venue and realised I hadn’t eaten anything all day. So I got a margherita pizza and scranned that. And yeah, I was good to go.”
The way Littler is dominating the rest of the field certainly suggests he could reign like Taylor did for 20 years.
Van Veen has presented himself as a potential rival after reaching his first final in a breakthrough tournament.
The 23-year-old beat former champions Luke Humphries and Anderson en route to the final but this was a match too far against a relentless Littler.
Still, he is looking forward to 2026, which will see him as the new world number three, earning a debut spot in the Premier League.
“2025 has been the best year in my career, the best year of my life so far, with everything that’s happened, it’s been fantastic,” Van Veen said. “Hopefully, 2026 is going to be as good a year, but it’s difficult to top 2025.
“I’m already looking forward to it. I’m going to enjoy every single minute of it, because you don’t know if it’s going to be the first or last time, or maybe many more years to come.
“I’m going to enjoy every single minute of it.”
Van Veen joins Littler, Humphries and Michael van Gerwen in the Premier League, which starts on February 5.
The remaining four players, who will be wild card picks, will be announced on Monday.
Josh Rock, Danny Noppert, Stephen Bunting, Nathan Aspinall, James Wade and Gerwyn Price are among those hoping for the call.