- Keely Hodgkinson capped off an incredible 2024 by winning the SPOTY award
- Luke Littler was forced to settle for second place with Joe Root coming third
- And the 17-year-old called out Man United hero David Beckham with a joke
Luke Littler has been given a boost ahead of his first match of the World Darts Championship on Saturday night.
The teenage sensation gets his tournament underway when he meets Ryan Meikle in the second round at Alexandra Palace.
It will mark the end of a busy week for Littler, who finished second in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year on Tuesday evening after being named the Young Sports Personality of the year.
The Man United fan had the Salford crowd in stitches as he called out his hero David Beckham at the ceremony.
The 17-year-old was asked what his highlight of the year had been – perhaps receiving a text from Manchester United legend David Beckham? ‘Yeah, he’s still not followed me, though,’ replied Littler – and that was enough to have the audience belly-laughing.
Beckham had texted Littler a message of good luck ahead of his appearance in the final of the last World Darts Championship, where he was beaten by Luke Humphries.
And his wish has now been granted with Littler taking to Instagram to reveal that Beckham had now followed him.
Luke Littler amused fans with a comment about David Beckham at the BBC SPOTY awards
The darts sensation has now revealed that Beckham has followed him on Instagram
Beckham had previously shown support for Littler but he was still waiting for a follow
The 17-year-old shared a screenshot of Beckham’s name in his followers tab while tagging the former England captain and adding the heart eyes and raised hands emojis.
Ultimately Littler had to settle for second at BBC SPOTY as Keely Hodgkinson capped her golden year with a silver trophy as she became the fourth consecutive woman to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
The 22-year-old memorably claimed her first global gold medal with victory in the 800 metres at the Paris Olympics in August. And after swapping her spikes for stilettos, she once again finished first as she collected the iconic silver four-turret lens camera at last night’s BBC bash in Salford.
Hodgkinson topped the public vote ahead of darts sensation Littler and England’s all-time leading Test run-scorer Joe Root.
Littler finished second to Hodgkinson in the main award after his stunning breakthrough year, in which he reached the PDC World Darts Championship final in January at the age of 16.
On winning Young Sports Personality of the Year, he said: ‘It shows how well I have done this year. I know how big the sport has got – and it just goes to show how much I have changed it.’