Luke Littler wins second world title and takes another step towards greatness

If there was any doubt before this World Championship, Littler has absolutely proven that he is the best player on the planet right now.

The scale of his successes in his first two years on the main PDC tour has put him on par with darts greats, if not above.

Only 14-year-old Phil Taylor and three-year-old Michael van Gerwen have won more PDC world titles than Littler, who also became the fourth player to claim consecutive victories.

Gary Anderson was the first to achieve this in 2015 and 2016 and, remarkably, Littler has won more major PDC titles than the 55-year-old Scot and Adrian Lewis, who won back-to-back world titles in 2011 and 2012.

All this happened before his 19th birthday.

Eric Bristow was 23 when he won his second BDO world title, a year after his first; Van Gerwen, 24, was the youngest to win the PDC crown before Littler arrived.

Considering that Taylor was 31 when he won his second of a total of 16 world titles and was 34 before capturing his first title in the PDC, Littler is well ahead of the game; especially when you consider the last game “The Power” won at age 52.

Whether you can imagine Littler still playing at Worlds 2060 is another matter, but it’s certainly possible, with an overhaul of Taylor’s record looking like a real possibility.

“It’s a long way off, 14 years away. Another 15 or 16 years away, I’d say…” Littler joked.

“I think I can [beat Taylor’s record] If I stick around long enough and sustain my hunger.

“But as Michael van Gerwen said, there’s no point in playing when the hunger is gone; but there’s so much hunger left in me.

“If it happens, it happens. I’m going to be around for a very long time and I’m here to win.

“If I get five or six I’ll be happy.”