World Darts Championship: Luke Littler's teenage dreams ended by Luke Humphries in final - But what next for 16-year-old who 'has what it takes to return to the Alexandra Palace stage and win the World Championship'

In spite of the result, the 16-year-old set Alexandra Palace alight over the last fortnight and was one win away from producing one of the greatest sporting stories of all time by becoming the youngest world champion.

But he fell at the final hurdle as Luke Humphries showed why he is the new world number one with a scintillating 7-4 victory.

He may have fallen just short of achieving sporting immortality, but this is just the beginning for Luke Littler.

Speaking after the final he said: “It’s been unbelievable, I just wanted to win one game and come back after Christmas, that was the only goal I set, so this is a massive bonus.

“No one likes losing, I have not really lost much, so to lose on that stage I can’t really be angry, the only thing I am angry about is that I lost a lot of legs on my throw and I was just chasing Luke.

“I have won six games here so why can’t I go and win seven here in years to come? I have gained a lot of experience and stage experience, I am in the top 32 now so I could be in everything.

“The past three to four weeks have been unbelievable and now I just can’t wait to go home.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t give the crowd what they wanted.”

And Luke Littler’s former coach has hailed the 16-year-old’s efforts as “absolutely amazing” after his history-making run at the World Darts Championship.

Tournament debutant Littler, the youngest-ever finalist, was beaten 7-4 at Alexandra Palace by Humphries, who had just become world number one.

It came after a run that had included the Warrington-born teenage sensation beating former world champions Raymond van Barneveld and Rob Cross.

Where was the World Darts Final held?

The match was held at Alexandra Palace in London - where the competition has taken place since 2008.

Who won the World Darts Final?

Luke Humphries won the World Darts Championship for the first time at a raucous Alexandra Palace on Wednesday.

He fought back to end the fairytale run of 16-year-old Luke Littler.

How many sets in World Darts Final?

The final is a best of 13 sets, meaning the winner will be whoever is first to seven sets.

How do you work out points in a game of darts?

Each player starts with a score of 501.

The score for each turn is calculated and deducted from the players total.

Bullseye scores 50, the outer ring scores 25 and a dart in the double or treble ring counts double or treble the segment score.