Luke Littler won his first World Matchplay title, while James Wade's impressive performance in Blackpool ended in defeat at the decider.
Littler secured a tense 18-13 victory at the Winter Gardens to become the fifth player to win the PDC Triple Crown – Phil Taylor, Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Luke Humphries have also won the World Championship, Matchplay and Premier League.
Wade reached his seventh Matchplay final 18 years after his only triumph in 2007, which came six months after Littler was born.
Littler's scoring was key, as he made 17 180s to Wade's six, averaging 107. He also set a new tournament record of 64 maximum points, beating Adrian Lewis' previous best of 56.
“It means absolutely everything,” Littler told Sky Sports after winning the last four games to lift the Phil Taylor Trophy.
“I love Phil, he's been here 16 times and won this cup. Now my name is on this cup and I can proudly say I've completed the Triple Crown.”
“Ever since I started playing the Tour and got my card, I always said to myself, ‘If I win just one big tournament, I’ll be happy.’
“I only have a few titles left to win and I'm definitely going to try to win the big trophies that I haven't won yet.”
Littler was forced to return to action 24 hours after losing the first five legs of the semi-final to Northern Ireland's Josh Rock.
Wade raced into a 5-0 lead but failed to hit a dart in the second mini-session as Littler stormed home.
The 42-year-old left-hander hit an 11-dart shot in the next set, but Littler responded by winning the next two legs to take the lead for the first time at 7-6.
Wade managed to keep his chances alive with a successful finish in the 19th leg and he fought back after a double break to reduce the deficit to one point at 14-13.
But Littler came out on top again and crossed the foul line in style, scoring 115 points (20-57-38), the highest scoring shot of the game.
“A little bit,” Littler said when asked if he was feeling confident. “When I was down 5-0 again, I was like, 'I've been in this situation before, what are you doing?'”
“But I managed to get ahead and win the next five matches. I proved that I can come back even if I'm down 0-5 or 3-7.
“I’m glad I was able to get out of this situation, but I don’t want to lose 0:5 again.
“James started to slack off a bit and I started to find my best darts game.”
By winning the title, 18-year-old Littler became the youngest champion in Matchplay history, being six years younger than Wade when he won his title.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
