“Don’t tell Luke Littler… but I’d beat him” – Phil Taylor backs himself against the young sensation

Phil Taylor isn’t one to shy away from a bold statement. The 16-time world champion, who began his professional career in 1987 and hung up his darts in 2018, still believes he could hold his own against today’s generation — in fact, he reckons he’d get the better of the new wonderkid, Luke Littler.

Littler, who has already claimed six major titles since bursting onto the scene at the end of 2023, is currently ranked world number two and widely tipped to one day surpass Taylor’s staggering list of honours. But ‘The Power’ remains unconvinced.

He said: “It would be a good game. My prime was probably a 117 average, between 112, and I had 109s every week. That was on older boards and different equipment. Nowadays, on the new boards, you can play better on them. So I think it would be a hell of a game, a close game – but I think I’d win. Don’t tell Littler…”

As well as sizing up a fantasy showdown with Littler, Taylor shared his thoughts on the current state of the sport — and who he’d like to see in next year’s Premier League Darts lineup. His ideal field blends established stars with rising talents who can both perform and entertain.

He added: “Luke Littler, Josh Rock, Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, Nathan Aspinall as he’s entertaining and good for TV, Stephen Bunting, Gerwyn Price… maybe you throw in a few outsiders, but it’s if the general public know who you are. That’s the problem. A lot of them climb the rankings very quickly, and they get up and people don’t know who you are yet. Someone asked me, and even I’d say I’ve never heard of them!”

Taylor didn’t hold back when discussing whether Michael Smith should return to the Premier League next year. He explained: “Michael Smith, no. And he knows that. I’m not going to run him down, but he ain’t good enough at the minute. You’ve got to get people up there who can perform, entertain, and put bums on seats. At the minute, I wouldn’t really change a lot. Adrian [Lewis] isn’t even in the rankings, that shows how tough it is.”

With 87 major titles to his name, Taylor is widely regarded as the greatest darts player of all time, a claim few would dare dispute.

To round things off, the Stoke legend was asked to name his darts ‘Mount Rushmore’ — and though he admitted it was a difficult choice, he didn’t hesitate to reel off a few icons.

He stated: “Mount Rushmore? Eric [Bristow], myself, I’d definitely put Dennis [Priestley] up there, and maybe Michael van Gerwen. And Barney [Raymond van Barneveld] really. It’s a hard question, that one.”