Luke Littler (Photo PDC)
Luke Littler insists there is better to come after bulldozing his way to a second Betfred World Matchplay title at the Winter Gardens on Sunday.
The two-time World Champion entered the tournament as the standout player having won every Premier title on offer in 2026, before elevating his status further with an ineffable campaign in Blackpool.
The world number one averaged 111.04 over 107 legs and five matches during one of the greatest tournament runs of all time to lift the Phil Taylor Trophy, shattering the previous record of 106.31 set by the trophy’s namesake.
“The past eight days, from round one up until this moment, have been crazy,” admitted Littler, with all five of his match averages ranking among the top 15 averages of the tournament’s 32-year history.
“I’ve surprised myself as the rounds have gone on. I couldn’t be happier.
“I wanted to win this trophy more than anything, to go back-to-back and put my name on that list, and that’s what I’ve done.”
The teenage phenom also broke his own record for 180s hit in a single tournament, striking 66 maximums across his five victories.
Remarkably, Littler won 68 of his 72 legs in 15 darts or fewer throughout the tournament, including 37 in 12 darts or fewer – more than half of his winning legs.
Despite rewriting the record books in Blackpool, the back-to-back champion – perhaps terrifyingly for his competitors – remains hungry to break more and keep improving.
“I can still get better,” affirmed Littler, whose 111.04 tournament average is the second highest of any Premier event, eclipsed only by Taylor’s 111.54 at the 2009 European Championship, despite Littler playing 49 more legs.
“The records are there to be broken. They will come with the performance and the trophy comes with the performance as well.
“Throughout the matches, I was up to 120 averages at some points but I didn’t stick at it. Maybe in a few years time I will.
“I wanted to break the average here for a game, but I’ll have to take the tournament average and the 180 record for now.”
Littler is on course to become the first player to win every Premier event in a calendar year, having picked up the World Championship, World Masters, UK Open, Premier League and World Cup of Darts before scooping his second World Matchplay title.
The Warrington star also became the first player to break the £3 million mark on the PDC Werner Rankings Ladder, now towering more than £2 million clear of his closest rival, world number two Luke Humphries.
Having yet to compete at a Players Championship event this year, the acquisitive arrowsmith may need to attend and win titles on the circuit in order to qualify for the Players Championship Finals if he is to complete the clean sweep of Premier trophies.
“I’m in a good place at the minute to hopefully go on and win every major in the year,” assessed Littler, with four Premier ranking events and the World Series of Darts Finals to go in 2026 before the World Championship.
“At the top now, Luke [Humphries] is £2 million behind me, but as long as I keep defending and winning the prize money and increasing that gap, I’ll be happier and happier.
“For the clean sweep, I’ve got to rock up to Leicester now and hopefully win a few ProTours, get to a few finals. But we will see how it pans out.
“It’s been a rollercoaster so far, but we’re far from done.”
