Luke Littler completes Triple Crown to further stamp his dominance on darts
Lewis Watson 
Luke Littler completed the Triple Crown in darts at the weekend by adding the World Matchplay to his Premier League and World Championship titles.
The teenager was favourite with sports betting sites to lift the title after Luke Humphries was a surprise exit on the opening day, and that is developing into a familiar pattern for Littler.
Free Bets darts expert, Lewis Watson, has looked at the increasing dominance Littler is having in the sport.
Luke Littler may not be darts' official world number one, but the teenage sensation is fast-becoming the man to beat on the PDC Tour.
The 18-year-old sits just £300,000 worth of prize money off Luke Humphries at the top of the standings — a position that the youngster could snatch from "Cool Hand" by the end of 2025.
After a memorable run at the 2025 World Matchplay, Littler beat James Wade 18-13 in Sunday's final, bagging a Triple Crown of trophies: World Championship, Premier League and World Matchplay.
He adds the Phil Taylor Trophy to the Grand Slam, UK Open, World Series of Darts Finals and the aforementioned two 'bigguns', in a run of dominance in darts that has been unmatched since Michael van Gerwen's historic 2015-16.
"Phil [Taylor] is my idol - he won here 16 times and now my name will be on this trophy," Littler told Sky Sports.
"Since I started on the tour I've always said to myself that as long as I win one of every major, I'll be happy. I've only got a few left to tick off and I'll definitely chase the majors I haven't won yet.
"Obviously I want to conquer everything in this sport and I've ticked this one off tonight. I want to win one of everything and then we'll see what happens from there.
"Triple Crown at 18, obviously the youngest winner in another major title. Like I said at the start of my career, win one of every major and I'll be happy, so there's not that many to go.
"Everyone's probably thinking - what do I do after I've won one of everything? For myself, just build on it. Get multiple of everything, get triple of everything. Once I win one of everything, I won't pack it in just yet."
In a sport where you can feasibly play competitively into your early 60s, who is to say what Luke Littler could achieve on the PDC Tour.
The field is way more competitive now than it was in the halcyon days of Phil Taylor's dominance, but Littler is still proving a cut above the rest when it matters most. The fact that Littler has become just the fifth player to win darts' Triple Crown — alongside Taylor, van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Luke Humphries — aged just 18 underlines his talent at the oche.
His three-dart average is consistently hitting three-figures, he is nailing nine-darters for fun and rarely looks like missing his doubles on more than one visit.
With such success at a young age, questions surrounding Littler's hunger for more will no doubt surface over the next few years. Perhaps we won't know the answer to that question until another young buck arrives on the scene looking to wrestle the crown away from the "Nuke".
