RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Luke Littler defended his World Matchplay title in sensational style - and smashed Phil Taylor's tournament and final average records in the process.
The 19-year-old beat seventh seed Gerwyn Price 18-9 in Blackpool to become just the third person to win back-to-back Matchplay titles.
World number one Littler finished the week with an average of 111.04, beating Taylor's record of 106.31 in 2010.
He averaged 111.53 in the final, setting a new record as he bettered Taylor's 111.23 against Adrian Lewis in 2013.
Littler claimed £225,000 in prize money for winning the event and now has £3,143,500 over the PDC's two-year order of merit. That is £2.13m more than Luke Humphries in second spot.
"It's been a crazy week, one of the best weeks of my life with the darts I've played," Littler told Sky Sports.
"It's been tough, the stats may look like it's easy but when you're on this stage with how hit it is, it's not easy."
Price also averaged 104.97 in the final and has enjoyed a successful week, climbing to fourth in the order of merit and reclaiming the Welsh number one spot from Jonny Clayton.
Littler went into the final as the overwhelming favourite and a stunning 167 finish in the fourth leg secured an early break to help him claim the first mini-session 4-1.
That form continued as he led 8-2 and was averaging 114.74, with Taylor's record of 114.99 in any Matchplay game in sight.
His level dropped slightly in the next two sessions but he still claimed both 3-2 to push ever closer to the finish line.
He moved to within two legs with another brilliant 148 checkout - his sixth ton-plus finish in the final - before a break and hold saw him claim his fourth ranking title of the calendar year.
The back-to-back world champion also hit 12 180s in the final to set a new tournament record of 66, surpassing the total he set last year.
"Luke is one in a million, I threw everything at him," Price told Sky Sports.
"He's fantastic for the sport. I wish he wasn't as good as he is - I would have won a couple more tournaments.
"I hope there's no-one else like him coming through because he's ridiculous!"
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."
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