Luke Littler has won the World Matchplay on Sunday. The world champion from England defeated his compatriot James Wade in the final: 18-13. With that, ‘The Nuke’ confirms his dominance in the dartssport.
The eighteen-year-old Littler quickly faced a 0-5 deficit in Blackpool. The reigning world champion then found an extra gear and came back to 5-5. It remained level until 7-7, after which Littler took a lead and did not relinquish it.
Despite his poor start, Littler recorded an impressive average of 107.24 points per three darts. Wade countered with an average of 101.54 points.
Littler reached the final by winning against Ryan Searle, Jermaine Wattimena, Andrew Gilding and Josh Rock in succession. With his final victory at the World Matchplay, ‘The Nuke’ is the successor to Luke Humhries, who was eliminated in the first round of this edition by Gian van Veen.
The Dutch barely featured at the World Matchplay. Michael van Gerwen was eliminated in the second round. Van Veen was the only compatriot to reach the quarter-finals, in which he lost to Wade.
The World Matchplay is one of the most important tournaments on the darts calendar and is also known as the ‘Summer World Championship’. The ‘real’ World Championship starts on December 11 in London. Littler will then defend his title. He also won the prestigious UK Open this year.