Luke Littler’s sister sent the darts sensation a touching message of support after he was left heartbroken in the World Darts Championship final.

A 16-year-old boy conquered the world of darts and almost made history. Victory over Luke Humphreys on Wednesday night meant he would become the youngest world darts champion. But despite winning 4-2 against the world number one, Humphries’ phenomenal comeback meant it was he who beat Alexander Palace.

But although he fell at the final hurdle, a tearful Littler won a legion of fans after starting the tournament as a relative unknown. On the way to the final he knocked out Brendan Dolan, Rob Cross and five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld, who the teenager admitted was his childhood hero.

He has had the support of a family of superfans throughout his young career, with his mom and dad attending every Ally Pally game and his sister Kaitlyn documenting his journey to the finals on social media. Despite the heartbreaking loss in the final, he offered another message of support for his younger brother, telling him: “We all love you so much.”

“I am extremely proud of what you have achieved, it is unreal,” she wrote on Instagram. “You arrived just wanting to win a match and reaching the final on your debut at 16 is the greatest achievement! We all love you so much, now is the time to relax and enjoy.”

It comes after Littler’s girlfriend Eloise Milburn was seen wiping away tears after Wednesday night’s final after seeing her lover’s dreams shattered in heartbreaking fashion. The 21-year-old beauty consultant has also faced criticism in recent days as interest in the 16-year-olds’ private lives intensified and fans were shocked by the couple’s five-year age difference. for six weeks.

Some people even claimed she was with the teenager for money after he won £200,000 in prize money by reaching the final. But before Wednesday’s ruling, Eloise’s mother came to the defense of her daughter, who is a keen darts player and reportedly met Littler while playing FIFA on Xbox.

Amanda Milburn has criticized the “vile” abuse of her daughter by online trolls, calling the comments “absolutely disgusting lies”. She told the Daily Mail: “A lot of horrible things have been posted online about my daughter and my husband Phil and I am very angry about it. She is not with him for any of these reasons. She doesn’t care about his money or fame, she’s with him because she likes him. It is so easy.

“It really hurts when we read these comments, many of them from so-called darts fans. My daughter is none of the things these vile people are posting. “She is a beautiful young woman in a new relationship and people should leave her.” “They continued the case.”