Luke Littler has completed a successful defence of his World Matchplay title by thrashing Gerwyn Price in the final.
The two-time world champion clinched the Phil Taylor Trophy with an 18-9 win at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool on Sunday night.
Littler has now won 14 PDC major events in less than three years as a professional, with 29 total titles to his name.
Meanwhile, the Nuke remains the current holder of five premier event titles.
It leaves the teenager on course to hold all ten titles simultaneously later this year.
History maker
Ahead of that, Littler made yet more history during his final victory over Price.
With 180s being thrown by Littler on 12 occasions in the final, he surpassed his tournament record of 64 from last year.
The Nuke also ended this year’s event with a tournament average of 111.04 to set yet another record, beating Phil Taylor’s record of 106.31 in 2010.
His 111.53 average in the final is also the fifth highest in the history of the World Matchplay.
Only Littler himself and 16-time winner Phil Taylor have previously produced a higher three-dart average in a single match at the event.
Littler reacts
Speaking on stage after lifting the trophy, Littler admitted: “It’s been a crazy week, one of the best weeks of my life.
“The darts I’ve played… it’s been tough. The stats may look like it’s easy but when you’re on stage and how hot it is but I threw some of the best darts of my life.”
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He continued: “Two years ago, a first round defeat wasn’t the best result. But the last two times we’ve come here and I’ve got it again.”
Littler was beaten in his opening match by Michael van Gerwen on debut at the World Matchplay in 2024.
He has since won all 10 matches he has played at the Winter Gardens to become a back-to-back champion.
Tournament plans
As for breaking records, he admitted: “I feel like it’s been the best version of me.
“It’s been hard but I’ve been playing well… I don’t think my dad’s too happy as we were supposed to be going to Spain but now we’re going to Leicester but it is what it is.”
Littler revealed earlier in the tournament that winning the World Matchplay would see him play at Players Championship events in order to qualify for the Finals in November.
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He has yet to appear at the PDC floor events in 2026, but now plans to do so for the first time at Players Championship 27 in Leicester on August 25.
By beating Price, who had claimed Littler’s opponents make life easy for him ahead of the final, he has scooped a further £225,000 in prize money.
It comes after he had become the first player in PDC history to surpass the £3million mark on the rankings ladder.
Littler’s run to glory this week included wins over Niko Springer, Nathan Aspinall, Josh Rock and Dirk van Duijvenbode.
His second round triumph over Aspinall even included a nine-darter in the opening leg.
It marked the sixth televised nine-dart finish of Littler’s career and his second at the World Matchplay.
