Littler beats Wade in superb World Matchplay final

Luke Littler defeated James Wade 18-13 in the world matchplay final in Blackpool to become the fifth player to win the Triple Crown in the sport.

The 18-year-old joins Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson, and Luke Humphries among those who have won the Matchplay, Premier League, and World Championship.

Before Littler scored five straight legs to bring the best-of-35-legs contest to its level, Wade won the Matchplay in 2007 when his opponent was six months old.

The teenager from Warrington jumped out to the front with a 7-6 lead before a four-second run of legs forced him to cross the winning line.

Littler told Sky Sports, “Phil Taylor is my idol because he won here 16 times and now my name will appear on this trophy.”

Littler, who had lost to Josh Rock in his semi-final on Saturday, came out winning 17-14 with a nine-dart finish.

The second seed found himself in the same position at the start against Wade, who is 24 years Littler’s senior.

In the early stages of the sport’s biggest prizes, Wade’s clinical finishing has been one of his best traits, and that was evident in the early stages.

Littler roared back, winning seven of the next eight legs as a result of a dazzling run of form, and then continued to hold onto the small advantage of a single throw.

The left-hander immediately responded with a fine 95 finish after Wade missed three darts at double 10 and Littler moved three legs for the first time in the match at 13-10.

Prize money earned from ranking events over a rolling two-year period is used to determine the PDC world rankings.

Littler, the second-ranked player in the world, won by a score of over $200,000 in Blackpool, pushing him over the $1.5 million mark overall.

He is currently just under £1.8 million shy of Humphries’ total of just under £300,000.

Any prize money Littler receives will be purely for his tally until the World Championship in December because he did not compete in any major events in 2023.

Meanwhile, Humphries won three significant television awards toward the end of 2023 before winning the World Championships against Littler in January 2024.

Before the World Championship, he will be defending more than £400,000 of his overall prize money.