England's Luke Humphries defeated teenager Luke Littler 7-4 in a gripping final at Alexandra Palace to win his first PDC World Championship title.
Littler, 16, was aiming to become darts' youngest ever world champion after a remarkable run to the final.
But Humphries, the pre-event favourite who became world number one on Tuesday, saw off his challenge to claim the £500,000 first prize.
Trailing 4-2, the 28-year-old won five consecutive sets to close out victory.
"I could not put into words how great this feels," Humphries told Sky Sports.
"In the back of my mind throughout today, I was thinking 'get this one now because he's going to dominate world darts soon'. He's an incredible player. When I was on the brink of winning there, he was relentless.
"That double eight [to win], my hands were shaking like mad and it just fell in for me. I'm world champion and world number one and I can't ask for more."
Humphries has now won four of the past five major televised tournaments in the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation).
Littler's progress on his World Championship debut has captured the public's imagination in the past three weeks and he produced another exceptional, composed performance in the final.
However, Humphries' brilliance ensured the youngster fell just short of completing what would have been an amazing sporting fairytale.
Littler said: "The one negative was I lost too many legs on my throw, so Luke would break me, then hold and I'd be 2-0 down [in the set].
"Fair play to Luke, he deserves it.
"I've got to the final, I might not get to another final for the next five to 10 years, we don't know, but I can say I'm a runner-up and now I just want to go and win it," added Littler, who has climbed more than 130 places into the world's top 32.
Humphries appeared to settle the quicker of the two finalists as the first four sets were shared, with Littler finding his range by landing finishes of 142 and 120 in the second.
The teenager took the fifth to lead for the first time and appeared to have his more experienced opponent on the ropes when he raced through the sixth set.
But Humphries gained impetus from a 170 finish at the start of the seventh and took advantage when Littler missed a double attempt for a 5-2 lead, going on to level the match with a 121 checkout on the bull before moving clear.
Littler hit a 170 checkout of his own in the 10th set, but Humphries held his nerve, sinking to his knees after landing a shot at double eight to clinch the biggest win of his career.
Humphries hit 23 maximums and averaged 103.67 in the final, compared with Littler's 13 180s and 101.13 average.
BBC