World Matchplay darts 2026 results: Luke Littler defends title and smashes Phil Taylor’s average record

Speaking after the final, Little reiterated his intention now was to try to claim a clean sweep of the PDC ranking titles in the calendar year – a feat never achieved before.

The Players Championship Finals in November are a sticking point.

It would mean needing to play in, and likely win, some Pro Tour events, and Littler has skipped the first 24 and has already pulled out of the two in Hildesheim this week.

That leaves just eight left for him to feature in Minehead. A total of 64 players qualify for that event and the final player currently has £22,750 in prize money.

A win is worth £15,000 and a runner-up spot £10,000, so Littler has some work to do.

“I don’t think my dad’s too happy because we were going to go to Spain and I think we’ve got to go to Leicester now and play some Pro Tours, but it is what it is,” Littler added on Sky Sports.

“I’ve been checking the Pro Tour rankings and whoever is in 64th just keeps going up and up and up. I know there are four in Leicester that I’ve got to go to now and we’ll see what happens.

“If I don’t qualify then I’m going to get grilled and if I do, I’ll get grilled anyway. Who knows what’s going to happen?”

Former BDO world champion Mark Webster said he “half expects” the teenager to achieve the clean sweep.

“Who is going to stop Luke Littler?” he added.

“You could argue the first round of the Grand Prix because of the short format (best of three sets), but Gian van Veen threw everything at him last year and he had all the answers.

“At the minute his game just holds up in any format and scenario. He wants to break records. You definitely wouldn’t rule it out.”