The Sports Guru
Luke Littler's semi-final win looked routine on the scoreboard, but a separate figure attached to it changes how the rest of his year should be read. This article explains what that number means, what Littler is still chasing at Blackpool, and how Gerwyn Price forced his way into a final few expected him to reach.
Luke Littler beat Dirk van Duijvenbode 17-5 in the World Matchplay semi-final, but the scoreline is almost incidental beside the number that came with it. Littler passed £3m in career prize money to become the first player in PDC history to reach that mark, a milestone that puts him £2m clear of Luke Humphries, the world number two. At Blackpool's Winter Gardens on Sunday evening, Littler faces Gerwyn Price for the World Matchplay title, chasing a back-to-back win nobody has managed in a decade and a wider sweep of 2026's biggest trophies.
The Ledger That Separates Him From the Field
The scale of that gap is worth sitting with. Littler is not leading a tightly bunched group of earners; he is £2m clear of Humphries, the player directly behind him in the world rankings. No other player in PDC history had reached £3m in career prize money before this semi-final, which means every ranking event Littler wins from here stretches the distance to whoever is chasing him.
That distance is now measured in figures most players will not earn across several seasons combined. It is a blunt way of putting a number on how far ahead of the field Littler has pulled, and it lands before he has even completed his 2026 targets.
The Demolition, Session by Session
Littler opened with an 11-dart leg and then a 12-dart leg to move 4-1 up, and did not really slow down from there. By the time he led 8-2, he was averaging 117.10 for the session, backed by seven 180s, 12 scores of 140-plus, and just three visits without a treble. He dropped the 11th leg but reeled off four in a row, closing the third session with a 130 checkout - T20, T20, D5 - to finish just 0.9 shy of Phil Taylor's record Matchplay average of 114.99.
A break arrived with Littler 16-4 up, needing a single leg to book his final spot. Some untidy doubling let Van Duijvenbode push the match to a 22nd leg, and Littler missed five match darts along the way. He settled it there anyway, hitting back-to-back maximums to set up tops after 12 darts and finish with an overall average of 110.88, 16 180s, and a 50% doubling rate.
Those numbers sit alongside a run through the tournament that included an average above 113 and a nine-darter against Nathan Aspinall, a 109 average against Niko Springer, and then another 109 average against Josh Rock in the quarter-finals. Four matches, four averages at or above 109 - the kind of consistency that made this semi-final look less like an upset waiting to happen and more like a formality that occasionally forgot to stay one.
What Littler Still Wants
Littler is looking to become the first player in a decade to win back-to-back Matchplay titles at Blackpool, a feat Michael van Gerwen last managed in 2016. It also sits inside a wider push for a clean sweep of 2026's major trophies: he already holds the World Darts Championship, UK Open, Premier League and Masters, and is defending the Matchplay itself along with the Grand Slam, Grand Prix and Players Championship Finals.
There is a longer-range target attached to all of it, too. Littler has said he wants to overtake Phil Taylor's record spell at world number one, which stood at three or four years. "I want to stay dominant. I want to keep winning and winning," he told Sky Sports after the semi-final, adding that he hoped to "go back-to-back" once the final arrived.
None of that is confirmed by Sunday's result on its own - Price still has to be beaten in a best-of-35-leg final - but the prize money total and the averages this week suggest the gap Littler is trying to open is not just about one trophy.
Price Books His Way Back In
Gerwyn Price reached the final by beating Gian van Veen 17-10, his first Blackpool final since 2022 and his first TV ranking final in three years. The win also moves him to world number four and takes the Welsh number one ranking back from Jonny Clayton, a point Price was happy to make afterwards. "It is bragging rights," he told Sky Sports, noting that Clayton had held the position for around eighteen months before this week.
The match itself swung twice. Price took the first session 4-1, helped by two breaks of throw and a 125 checkout in the fifth leg. Van Veen, the world number three, hit back with three consecutive legs to level things at 6-4, before a run of five breaks of throw in a row put Price back in front at 10-7. The 'Iceman' then pulled away in the fifth session, averaging above 111 and winning four legs on the spin before closing out the decisive 27th leg on tops.
Price has never won the World Matchplay. That absence, against a résumé that includes plenty of other silverware, is what makes Sunday's final a genuinely open question rather than a coronation.
Sunday's Business at the Winter Gardens
The 2026 Betfred World Matchplay final is a best-of-35-leg contest between Littler and Price, live on Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports Main Event from 7:30pm, with the match itself starting around 8:15pm. Earlier in the day, the fifth edition of the Women's World Matchplay is live from 1pm, with Lisa Ashton returning as defending champion and Beau Greaves looking to win the event for a third time in four years.
Whatever happens in the final, the £3m figure already sits on the record books. What Sunday adds is whether Price can put a first Matchplay title next to it, or whether Littler extends a run that is now being measured in pounds as often as it is in legs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Luke Littler beat Dirk van Duijvenbode 17-5, averaging 110.88 with 16 180s and a 50% success rate on doubles.
Littler passed £3m in career prize money after the semi-final, the first PDC player to reach that total, putting him £2m clear of world number two Luke Humphries.
The final between Littler and Gerwyn Price is a best-of-35-leg contest live on Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports Main Event from 7:30pm on Sunday, with the match starting around 8:15pm.
A back-to-back Matchplay title, last achieved by Michael van Gerwen in 2016, plus a wider clean sweep of 2026's major trophies and Phil Taylor's record spell at world number one.
Price beat Gian van Veen 17-10, moving to world number four, reclaiming the Welsh number one ranking from Jonny Clayton, and reaching his first Blackpool final since 2022.
Research: Our wider editorial research consults online reporting from BBC Sport, Sky Sports, The Guardian and other reputable sources. Story inspiration: Sky Sports' original report.