Littler Smashes Records to Retain Matchplay Title
Luke Littler has produced one of the most dominant tournament displays in modern darts history to defend his World Matchplay title, shattering a long-standing record held by Phil Taylor in the process. The reigning world champion defeated Gerwyn Price 18-9 in the Blackpool final to lift the Phil Taylor Trophy for a second consecutive year.
Across his five matches at the Winter Gardens, Littler recorded a tournament average of 111.04, surpassing Taylor’s previous best set in 2010. He also became only the third player, after Taylor and Luke Humphries, to average over 100 in every match of a single World Matchplay campaign. His performance against Nathan Aspinall in the second round, a 113.68 average, was the second highest in the event’s history, falling just short of Taylor’s 114.99 from sixteen years ago. Remarkably, all five of his individual match averages now rank among the fifteen highest ever recorded at the event, a testament to his consistency throughout the week.
The victory makes Littler only the fourth player ever to successfully defend the World Matchplay, and the first to do so since 2016. It also sees him become the first player to break the £3 million barrier on the PDC Order of Merit. Such sustained excellence has led many observers, including former professional Mark Webster, to label it the greatest single campaign at a major tournament. With his stated ambition to become the greatest player of all time, and a warning to rivals that he can “get a lot better”, few bookmakers are offering long best odds on him completing a clean sweep of major titles.
Greaves Wins Third Women’s Title in Decider
In the Women’s World Matchplay, Beau Greaves held her nerve to claim her third title with a dramatic 6-5 victory over Fallon Sherrock. The final went to a deciding leg after Sherrock fought back from 5-3 down to level the contest.
With the pressure on, Greaves found a crucial 56 checkout, finishing on double 10 to seal the win and continue her dominance of the women’s game. Despite the victory, Greaves admitted to feeling that “everybody wanted me to lose”, while Sherrock was left to reflect on another close final in Blackpool but took positives from her performance.
In brief
- Nathan Aspinall’s stag do in Ibiza, attended by fellow professionals Joe Cullen, Chris Dobey and Ross Smith, included an unexpected encounter with several members of the England Lionesses football team.
- A new television challenge from Netflix will offer amateur players the chance to win £501,000 by winning a single leg of darts against Luke Littler.
- Following the conclusion of the World Matchplay, Wessel Nijman is being widely tipped for a significant rise up the rankings, with some suggesting he is a future Premier League player.
