The legend of Luke Littler continues to grow.
Littler has won the World Matchplay for the first time in his career thanks to a 18-13 win over James Wade in the final.
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Having already collected the World Championship and the Premier League, Littler’s triumph at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool meant he has now won the Triple Crown in darts.
Littler is the fifth person and the youngest to have achieved the remarkable feat alongside Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Luke Humphries.
“Since I started on the tour, I have always said to myself, ‘As long as I win one of every major, I will be happy,'” Littler told Sky Sports after the win.
“I only have a few left to tick off. I’ll now be chasing the majors I have not won yet.
“For now, we will have a week off and then see everyone in Australia.”
That’s not the only achievement brought on by Littler ousting Wade.
By beating ‘The Machine’, Littler has now become the youngest World Matchplay winner at 18 years, six months and six days.
In a brutal twist, it was Wade who held the record when he won the World Matchplay at 24 years of age in 2007.
Along with the slices of history, Littler pocketed a cool £200,000 in prize money for being the last man standing in Blackpool.
Although the teen was all smiles after he pinned double 19 to lock up victory, it was far from one-way traffic.
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Wade showed he meant business against his fancied rival as he raced out to a 5-0 lead.
It continued an alarming trend of Littler’s in Blackpool having fallen behind to Josh Rock and Jermaine Wattimena in the semi-finals and quarter-finals.
But, like he did against Rock and Wattimena, Littler dug deep into the well to turn Wade’s ecstasy to agony as the latter’s 5-0 lead went up in smoke.
From there, it was a neck-and-neck affair although Littler secured key breaks of throw to nudge ahead by a handful of legs.
At one stage ‘The Nuke’ led by as much as 14-11, but Wade issued a timely reminder he wouldn’t go quietly into the night as he rattled off two straight legs to reduce the score to 14-13.
Just when it looked as if ‘The Machine’ threatened to charge forward with his comeback, Littler slammed the door shut as he won the next four legs to wrap up victory.
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It was a high-level affair between the two as both men recorded averages over 100.
Littler finished with a three-dart average of 107.24 while Wade’s sat at 101.54.
The pair combined for an impressive 23 180’s, with 17 of those contributed by ‘The Nuke’.
