Comparison between darts legends: Can Luke Littler surpass the performances of Van Gerwen and Taylor?

Former professional darts player and Sky Sports analyst Wayne Mardle takes a fascinating look at the rise of darts sensation Luke Littler, comparing his performance to Michael van Gerwen's unprecedented dominance in his absolute best year of 2017.

The 2016-2017 darts season is considered by many to be the highlight of Michael van Gerwen's career. During this period, the Dutchman managed to win no fewer than 42 consecutive matches in ranking majors, crowned by the world title at the World Darts Championship in London. In doing so, Van Gerwen took his third world title, following a victory over Gary Anderson in the final.

At that time, 'Mighty Mike' truly owned all the major ranking tournaments: the UK Open, World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts, European Championship and the Players Championship Finals. On top of that, he also won the Masters, World Series Finals as well as his second Premier League title. It was a season of total dominance.

When asked what motivated him, Van Gerwen said at the time. "The best medicine for when something doesn't go well is to win tournaments. I feel absolutely phenomenal."

Fast forward to 2025: the darts world is once again turned upside down, this time by the explosive breakthrough of Luke Littler, nicknamed "The Nuke. The teenager from Warrington made history early this year by winning the world title at the age of 17.

But Littler didn't stop there. In March he convincingly won the UK Open by beating James Wade in the final, and earlier he took the title at the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton. With that, the young Englishman is well on his way to perhaps an even more impressive season than Van Gerwen had eight years ago.

With the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix still on the schedule, there are still many chances open for Littler to crown himself the new darts king for good.

Wayne Mardle, analyst at Sky Sports, is impressed by Littler's performance and calls his statistics "unimaginable." According to Mardle, the 18-year-old can even surpass the achievements of legends such as Van Gerwen as well as Phil Taylor, if he manages to continue this line.

"It's ridiculous what anyone does in their first year. Rob Cross was incredible [in 2018], but the stats are just mind-blowing, but what stands out here is the tournament win percentage," explained Mardle on Sky Sports.

"Michael van Gerwen wasn't playing the [best] players, and same with Phil Taylor, there weren't many world-class players back when Taylor was dominating. Van Gerwen, there were a few more.

Some consider Van Gerwen to be the best player they've ever seen, and this is a comparison that is on a level. That is how good Luke Littler is. We're comparing him to, in some people's thoughts, the best player to have ever played the game.

"We know Taylor's achieved more, but all the record statistics, you look at averages, you look at 180s and double percentages, Van Gerwen holds so many records. Win percentage, that would belong to Phil Taylor, but at 33 per cent, that is so high, even for the great Luke Littler, who's 18."

Mardle even states that Littler already rivals what many consider to be the best players ever. And while Taylor still stands alone in terms of total trophy case, it is Van Gerwen and now Littler who excel in modern statistics such as averages, number of 180s and double-percentage points.

Yet the path to absolute dominance is still long and littered with tough opposition. Littler faces world champion Luke Humphries, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Nathan Aspinall, Stephen Bunting, Gary Anderson, Rob Cross and, of course, Michael van Gerwen himself, among others.

"Will he get any better? We don't know. Does he need to get better? Say he does this for 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, look, it's going to be interesting to see what happens, but comparing him to someone who we consider to be the best has ever picked up a dart, enough said."