Luke Littler closes in on Phil Taylor's World Matchplay record

Luke Littler’s 110.88 average after three matches put Phil Taylor’s long-standing World Matchplay record under real pressure at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. Littler reached the final by beating Josh Rock 17-14 in a semi-final that produced the tournament’s first nine-darter, while James Wade booked the other place in the final with a 20-18 win over Jonny Clayton.

Taylor’s tournament-average record stood at 106.30, set in 2010, and Littler’s numbers made that target look vulnerable deep into the event. Dartsnews said Littler was averaging 110.88 after three matches, and his run had already included a 126 finish and a 109 average against Ryan Searle, figures that showed his scoring power was holding across the draw rather than in a single burst.

Littler carried that form into the final and beat Wade to lift the Phil Taylor Trophy. Sky Sports said the victory made Littler the youngest World Matchplay winner in history and completed darts’ Triple Crown, placing him alongside Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Luke Humphries among the sport’s major winners.

The scale of the challenge was sharpened by Taylor’s own legacy. Reuters reported on 21 November 2023 that Taylor, the record 16-time world champion, said he would retire at the end of 2024, underscoring how a player still in the early stages of his career had forced one of darts’ most durable records back into view. Littler’s Blackpool run did not just deliver a title, it pushed the sport’s reference points toward a new generation.