Luke Littler romps to UK Open title defence

Luke Littler stormed to a second successive UK Open title with an 11-7 victory over James Wade in the final in Minehead on Sunday.

Littler prevailed in the 157-player field to become the first player to win consecutive UK Open titles since Michael van Gerwen a decade ago and scoop the record £120,000 top prize.

The world number one started the final in rampant fashion, cruising into a 3-0 lead, but Wade stayed within an arm’s reach, reducing the deficit to 3-2 at the first interval.

Wade’s remarkable resilience continued, levelling the contest at six apiece after Littler again took the lead despite a whopping 12-point gap in the averages.

However, a crucial 116 checkout in leg 15 inspired the defending champion – who reeled off four consecutive legs to retain the crown.

The 19-year-old becomes the fourth player after Raymond van Barneveld, Phil Taylor and Van Gerwen to retain the title following his and remains undefeated in major ranking events in 31 matches since losing to Wade at the European Championship last October.

“I don’t think it’s been the best of tournaments for myself averages wise, but I’ve dug deep throughout the tournament and I’ve come out with the win,” said Littler.

“If James had hit some of those darts at double top it would have been a completely different game, but me and James always have a good battle.

“Coming into the tournament I saw that the last person to go back-to-back was Michael ten years ago, same as the World Championship, so that was the target I set myself!

“I don’t think many people expected me to come here and win, and I don’t think many people expected me to win in the Premier League on Thursday.

“I had a little dry spell, but I think I can say I’m back!”

Littler began the final with a 10-6 victory over Danny Noppert in the quarter-finals, clinching five of the last six legs and landing a majestic 161 checkout in the process.

This was followed up with a hard-fought 11-9 win over Josh Rock, as the World Champion recovered from 5-1 down after a staggering spell of 16 missed doubles in a row.

The teenage sensation also accounted for Australian number one Damon Heta on Friday evening, before surviving a scare against Kevin Doets with a hard-fought 10-8 win followed by a rampant 10-5 victory over 2018 winner Gary Anderson on Saturday night.

Wade, appearing in his 24th consecutive UK Open battled through a last-leg decider against Rob Cross in the quarter-finals, producing a clutch 107 checkout to progress to the semi-finals.

Wade then put in a dazzling display to defeat Gerwyn Price 11-8, averaging 105 and crashing in 11 maximums to become just the second player in history after Taylor to reach five UK Open finals.

“Luke was just too good for me there in the end,” admitted a gracious Wade, who fell to defeat against Littler in a third consecutive major final.

“I couldn’t quite find it, but hats off to Luke, he’s doing what he does and he does it quite easily!

“I think for the last 18 months I’ve done alright. Luke’s flying the flag. He’s the best player in the world at the moment, and unfortunately I’ve lost to him in three finals!

“I’m happy to be in the final. I hate losing more than anyone, but I lost to the better player on the day.”

Earlier in the day, Rock reached his second consecutive UK Open semi-final thanks to a 10-7 comeback win over Krzysztof Ratajski.

Despite trailing 6-4, the Northern Irish World Cup winner rallied to take six of the last seven legs, including a 63 per cent success rate on the outer-ring.

Price set up his semi-final clash with Wade by toppling his World Cup partner Jonny Clayton 10-8, firing in ten 180s in the process.

Despite Clayton landing 116 and 140 checkouts towards the tail end of the match, Price held his nerve to reach his first UK Open semi-final since 2021.

UK Open 2026 Day Three Results

Sunday March 8

Afternoon Session

Quarter-Finals
Josh Rock 10-7 Krzysztof Ratajski
James Wade 10-9 Rob Cross
Luke Littler 10-6 Danny Noppert
Gerwyn Price 10-8 Jonny Clayton

Evening Session

Semi-Finals
James Wade 11-8 Gerwyn Price
Luke Littler 11-9 Josh Rock

Final
Luke Littler 11-7 James Wade