Luke Littler defended his World Matchplay title in Blackpool by defeating Gerwyn Price 18-9, breaking Phil Taylor’s 2010 tournament average record with a tournament finish of 111.04. The 19-year-old claimed £225,000 in prize money, extending his PDC order of merit lead past £3,143,500.
A Record-Breaking Campaign at the Winter Gardens
Luke Littler arrived in Blackpool as the reigning champion and left having rewritten the record books of the second-most important tournament in professional darts. The 19-year-old secured his eighth major victory by overpowering seventh seed Gerwyn Price 18-9 in the final at the Winter Gardens (Source: BBC Sport). Throughout the week, the world number one produced a level of consistency that left opponents trailing, finishing the tournament with an overall average of 111.04 (Source: BBC Sport). That performance dismantled the long-standing tournament average record of 106.31 set by 16-time champion Phil Taylor in 2010 (Source: BBC Sport).
In the final itself, Littler notched an average of 111.53, bettering Taylor’s 2013 final mark of 111.23 against Adrian Lewis (Source: BBC Sport). Alongside his scoring dominance, the teenager piled up 66 maximum 180-scores across the event, eclipsing his own previous tournament best of 64 (Source: Sport1). Price offered resistance with a 104.97 average in the title match (Source: BBC Sport) and advanced to fourth in the order of merit, reclaiming the Welsh number one ranking from Jonny Clayton (Source: BBC Sport), but the Welsh ex-world champion ultimately had no answer to Littler’s early 6-1 surge (Source: Spox).
Littler added it’s been tough, the stats may look like it’s easy but when you’re on this stage with how hot it is, it’s not easy
(Source: BBC Sport).
Prizemoney Milestones and the Grand Slam Pursuit
Lifting the Phil-Taylor-Trophy brought Littler £225,000 in prize money, pushing his total over the Professional Darts Corporation’s two-year order of merit to £3,143,500 (Source: BBC Sport). That sum leaves him £2.13m clear of second-placed Luke Humphries (Source: BBC Sport). By defeating Dirk van Duijvenbode 17-5 in the semi-finals (Source: Sport1), Littler became the first player in darts history to surpass three million pounds in the PDC Order of Merit (Source: Sport1).
The victory keeps the teenager on track to achieve an unprecedented sweep of all major titles in a single calendar year (Source: Spox). Having already collected the World Championship, World Masters, UK Open, Premier League, and World Cup—the latter won alongside Luke Humphries in Frankfurt (Source: Spox)—Littler requires victories at the World Grand Prix, the European Championship in Dortmund, the Grand Slam of Darts, and the Players Championship Finals to complete the set (Source: Spox).
Beau Greaves Defends Women’s Title in Blackpool
Away from the men’s tournament, the Winter Gardens also hosted the women’s competition, where England’s Beau Greaves captured her third World Matchplay title (Source: Sport1). The 22-year-old, who made history in April by becoming the first woman to win an open tournament on the PDC Tour (Source: Sport1), edged compatriot Fallon Sherrock 6-5 in a closely contested final (Source: Sport1).
For Sherrock, the result marked a third successive defeat in the tournament’s deciding match, following losses to Greaves in 2024 and Lisa Ashton in 2025 (Source: Sport1).
