Rampant Luke Littler thrashes James Wade to land maiden UK Open title

Luke Littler stormed to his first UK Open title courtesy of an 11-2 demolition of James Wade in the final in Minehead on Sunday.

The teenage sensation dismantled three-time champion Wade to continue his remarkable rise and make it five major televised titles in the space of ten months.

Littler registered a ton-plus average in five of his sixth matches en route to glory at Butlins Minehead as he romped to the £110,000 top prize, surpassing Wade as the youngest ever winner of the event, aged 18.

“This is a tournament I really wanted to win,” admitted Littler.

“It’s my third time at the UK Open. I came here as a 16-year-old a couple of years ago, I made the quarter-finals last year, and now I’ve gone three better this year to win it!

“I had a job to do tonight. I just wanted to pick up the trophy, and it’s one that I can tick off the list now!”

Littler began his campaign with a thrilling 10-9 victory over 2017 champion Peter Wright in Round Four on Friday, averaging 108.7 in the process.

He produced another ton-plus average to dispose of Jermaine Wattimena, though he was forced to defy a late onslaught from Krzysztof Ratajski to seal his place in the quarter-finals.

Littler continued his scintillating form on Sunday, averaging 107 and 106 in emphatic wins over Gian van Veen and Jonny Clayton respectively.

Having swept aside Van Veen in a repeat of the 2023 World Youth Championship final, Littler then won six of the last seven legs to dispatch Clayton 11-6 – avenging his defeat to the Welshman at last month’s Winmau World Masters.

Littler had whitewashed Wade in eight straight legs when the pair met in the recent World Masters, and history appeared to be repeating itself when he raced into a 9-0 lead in the final.

The left-hander, who appeared in visible discomfort on stage, halted his 17-leg losing run against Littler to avoid another whitewash, but ‘The Nuke’ soon sealed the deal to become the latest new name on the UK Open trophy.

UK Open ever-present Wade performed superbly throughout the weekend, producing some nerveless displays to progress to a first major ranking final since October 2023.

The left-hander began his run with victories over Scottish duo William Borland and Cameron Menzies, overturning a 9-7 deficit and surviving five match darts to deny Menzies.

Following a battling 10-8 win over former semi-finalist Robert Owen in the Last 16, Wade then won through a deciding-leg epic against world number one Luke Humphries in the quarter-finals.

The 41-year-old fired in six 180s in the final three legs of a fiesty affair with Humphries, before putting in a merciless display to demolish a below-par Josh Rock 11-2 in the semis.

“This is a great step in the right direction for me,” insisted Wade, who is closing in on a return to the world’s top ten.

“I played well in the semi-finals, but in the final Luke just blew me away.

“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.”

Rock reached his first major semi-final by following up wins over Ross Smith and Rob Cross with a 10-7 victory over 2019 champion Nathan Aspinall.

The afternoon’s other quarter-final saw Clayton run out a 10-8 winner against 2022 runner-up Michael Smith, as the Welshman produced a hat-trick of ton-plus checkouts to complete a terrific comeback.

UK Open 2025 Day Three Results

Sunday March 2

Afternoon Session

Quarter-Finals
Luke Littler 10-4 Gian van Veen
Josh Rock 10-7 Nathan Aspinall
Jonny Clayton 10-8 Michael Smith
James Wade 10-9 Luke Humphries

Evening Session

Semi-Finals
Luke Littler 11-6 Jonny Clayton
James Wade 11-2 Josh Rock

Final
Luke Littler 11-2 James Wade