Luke Littler wins first World Matchplay title, eyes Taylor record

Luke Littler won his first World Matchplay title at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, beating James Wade 18-13 and becoming the youngest winner in the event’s history. The 18-year-old’s run also completed darts’ Triple Crown, lifting him into a group that has only included Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Luke Humphries.

The scale of Littler’s week was underlined by the numbers he posted along the way. After three matches in the 2025 World Matchplay, Littler was averaging 110.88, already above Phil Taylor’s long-standing tournament record of 106.30, set in 2010. That record chase gave extra weight to a campaign that began with a 10-2 win over Ryan Searle, then tightened sharply when Jermaine Wattimena pushed him before Littler came through 13-11 to reach the quarter-finals.

Littler’s defining moment came in the semi-final against Josh Rock, where he hit the tournament’s first nine-darter and recovered from 6-1 down to win 17-14. That comeback set up Sunday’s final against Wade, who arrived as a four-time World Matchplay finalist and left having suffered his sixth defeat in seven final appearances.

The final result also marked a clean break from Littler’s debut at Blackpool, when he lost in the first round in 2024. One year later, he left the same stage with the Phil Taylor Trophy, the World Matchplay title and a place alongside the handful of players who have won darts’ three biggest prizes.

The event ran from July 19-27, 2025 and was shown live on Sky Sports, giving Littler’s surge a prime-time platform as he moved from prodigy to the sport’s central draw. His combination of scoring power, recovery under pressure and a trophy haul that now includes the World Championship, Premier League and World Matchplay has turned a single tournament into a marker of where darts’ new standard now sits.