Darts has hit the jackpot with Luke Littler, and so have his rivals.
The Littler effect is still coursing through a sport that has been catapulted into the mainstream largely thanks to a teenage phenom who is bringing new audiences to darts.
Lots more money, too.
The upcoming world championship — where Littler will be defending champion after winning it as a 17-year-old in January — has doubled the prize money for the winner and in the overall pot.
The title prize fund handed out in events run by the top-tier Professional Darts Corporation has risen by more than a third this season, to 25 million pounds ($33.7 million).
One of those events is the World Grand Prix, a so-called “major” in darts that is taking place in Leicester, England, starting Monday and where Belgium’s Mike De Decker is the titleholder.
“The rise of Luke has definitely been a good thing for the sport,” De Decker said on a video call. “You can see with the prize money bumped up to a million (pounds) for the winner in the worlds.
“It’s mainly because of him. Because he attracts more people to the sport.”
Just like with golf (Tiger Woods) and snooker (Ronnie O’Sullivan), darts has a player who is transcending a sport that was already on the rise.
Indeed, De Decker believes it has truly gone global and is no longer just big in its traditional heartlands of Britain and the Netherlands.
“I played the World Series in Australia and New Zealand and the venue was packed there as well. That’s the other side of the world,” De Decker said. “It’s getting bigger everywhere.”
De Decker has noticed that darts has been booming in his native Belgium for the past four to five years. Winning the World Grand Prix, for his first-ever major title, saw him follow in the footsteps of compatriot Dimitri van den Bergh in competing for the top events in the sport.
He said he now gets recognized in the street, asked for pictures and has earned better sponsorship deals. It even allowed him to buy a house a few months ago.
“It’s been a real change in my life,” he said.
On how it changed him as a player, the 20th-ranked De Decker — who had never before reached the semifinals at a major — added: “It definitely made me more complete, on stage. Before that tournament, I wasn't really getting results in big TV tournaments, I was basically a very good floor tournament player but as soon as the cameras came on, I kind of buckled. That tournament made me realize I can play on stage as well.”
Now the quest is to win titles and compete at Littler’s standard more consistently.
“There’s people he brought into darts so it’s a good thing he has bumped it up,” De Decker said. “And it definitely means we have to up our level to compete with him so it’s not that easy for him to keep winning titles.
"It has been a big change in the darts world.”
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
FILE - Michael van Gerwen of the Netherlands celebrates after winning the semifinal match against Chris Dobey of England, at the World Darts Championship in London, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
FILE - Fans dressed in costumes arrive for the start of the round 4 match between Stephen Bunting of England and Luke Woodhouse of England at the World Darts Championship in London, Dec. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)
FILE - Luke Littler of England reacts during the semifinal match against Stephen Bunting of England, at the World Darts Championship in London, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia has not spared a single Ukrainian power plant from attack since its all-out invasion, Ukraine’s new energy minister said Friday, as a recent escalation of aerial bombardments left hundreds of thousands of people without heat or light for days during the coldest winter in years.
Denys Shmyhal said Russia conducted 612 attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure objects over last year. That barrage has intensified in recent months as nighttime temperatures plunge to minus 18 degrees C (minus 0.4 F).
“Nobody in the world has ever faced such a challenge,” Shmyhal told lawmakers in a speech at Ukraine’s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.
Russia has hammered Ukraine’s power grid, especially in winter, throughout the almost four-year war. It aims to weaken the Ukrainian will to resist in a strategy that Kyiv officials call “weaponizing winter.”
Securing from abroad new missile supplies for air defenses that can counter Russia’s power grid attacks is a difficult and exhausting process, Zelenskyy said, revealing that some of the country’s air defense systems were out of missiles and at Russia’s mercy until a new shipment arrived Friday morning.
Obtaining supplies requires intense diplomatic pressure due to minimum stockpile levels and national laws in allied countries, according to the Ukrainian leader.
“But honestly, what do those rules and laws mean when we are at war and we desperately need these missiles?” Zelenskyy said.
The grim outlook roughly halfway through the winter season coincides with uncertainty about the direction and progress of U.S.-led peace efforts.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that a Ukrainian delegation is on its way to the United States to try and finalize with Washington documents for a proposed peace settlement that relate to postwar security guarantees and economic recovery.
If American officials approve the proposals, the U.S. and Ukraine could sign the documents next week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Zelenskyy said at a Kyiv news conference with Czech President Petr Pavel.
U.S. President Donald Trump plans to be in Davos, organizers say.
Russia would still need to be consulted on the proposals.
In Ukraine, the hardship was acute amid extended blackouts.
“This is a critical moment,” Jaime Wah, the deputy head in the Kyiv delegation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said Friday.
“This is the hardest winter since the escalation of the conflict: punishing cold temperatures and the lack of heating and electricity are affecting millions who are already pushed to the edge by years of violence and economic strain,” he told a briefing in Geneva.
Ukraine's power shortage is so desperate that Shmyhal urged businesses to switch off their illuminated signage and exterior decorations to save electricity.
“If you have spare energy, better give it to people,” the energy minister said. “This is the most important thing today. People will be grateful.”
Ukraine has introduced emergency measures, including temporarily easing curfew restrictions to allow people to go whenever they need to public heating centers set up by the authorities, Shmyhal said. He said hospitals, schools and other critical infrastructure remain the top priority for electricity and heat supplies.
Officials have instructed state energy companies Ukrzaliznytsia, Naftogaz and Ukroboronprom to urgently purchase imported electricity covering at least 50% of their own consumption, according to Shmyhal.
U.K. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was in Kyiv on Friday to mark the first anniversary of the “100-year partnership” between Britain and Ukraine. To coincide with the anniversary, Britain announced a further 20 million pounds ($27 million) for repairs to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
A grinding war of attrition is continuing along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line. For all its military might, Russia has managed to occupy less than 20% of Ukraine since 2014.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Emergency tents are set up in a residential neighborhood where people can warm up following Russia's regular air attacks against the country's energy objects that leave residents without power, water and heating in the dead of winter, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vladyslav Musiienko)
