"Kept asking myself the same question. "Did that really happen?": Paul Nicholson ranks Luke Littler’s World Matchplay title higher than Phil Taylor’s titles

According to former major winner Paul Nicholson, Luke Littler produced the best major campaign in history during the 2026 World Matchplay. Although Phil Taylor still holds the record for the highest tournament average statistically, Nicholson is convinced that Littler’s performance in Blackpool should ultimately be rated higher.

Last week, Littler retained his World Matchplay title, displaying an unprecedentedly high standard of play throughout the tournament. His average of 111.05 over five matches is just slightly lower than Phil Taylor’s legendary average at the 2009 European Darts Championship (111.54), but according to Nicholson, the figures do not tell the whole story.

"If you'd ever told me I was going to witness a major tournament performance mightier than Phil Taylor's legendary 2009 European Championship, I'd have laughed," penned Nicholson for his column for Sporting Life.

"I never believed it was possible. Even since Luke Littler burst onto the scene because the Power's relentless consistency that weekend was from another planet.

"Statistically, Taylor's average of 111.54 across his five matches still edges Luke Littler's 111.05 at the Winter Gardens but darts isn't played on a spreadsheet. When you factor in the length of the matches, the quality of the opposition, the relentless consistency and the sheer volume of brilliance across an entire week, Littler's 2026 World Matchplay campaign has become the greatest tournament performance I've ever seen."

Nicholson continued that there is a lot of similarities also when it comes to their two displays with Taylor very much at the peak of his powers like Littler is now. "The 2009 European Championship came in a period when Taylor walked around venues with an aura of invincibility - just like Littler does now. I was there and nobody realistically was touching him on a regular basis. Any time he got beaten in this era, it was a story in itself.

"He was picking and choosing his events, focused predominantly on the majors and was constantly fresh. He had it all cracked. He knew what he needed to do at his age and skill level to beat everyone in front of him. It was almost demoralising for everyone else. What do we have to do to beat him? Does this sound familiar?!"

Albeit despite Taylor's prowess, Nicholson surprisingly in his own mind sees Littler as the best. "Statistically – for a major tournament - it remains top of the pile with an average of 111.54. He won 47 legs, lost 11, averaged 111.54 and threw 37 maximums. But, subjectively - and I can't believe I'm about to write it - Littler's World Matchplay is number one."

But the reasons for this are ten fold as Littler managed to master it over a longer format and banished the slow start with Nicholson also lauding his timing for instance Wayne Mardle on commentary saying he hadn't hit bull for a while, then he hit it.

"Coming into the World Matchplay we wondered whether anybody could expose Luke Littler over the longer format. He'd had slow starts in previous years and perhaps that would give somebody an opening.

"Instead, he never looked like being in serious trouble even when Niko Springer nudged ahead early on or when Nathan Aspinall stayed on his coat tails with a superb performance himself.

"What impressed me most wasn't one spectacular average or one magical session. It was the relentless consistency.

"After his semi-final against Dirk van Duijvenbode, Littler averaged 110.88 for the match. At that point his average for the tournament was also 110.88! I've genuinely never seen anything like it. Nobody has ever maintained that level over so many matches and so many legs, and he obviously maintained it across the final which lasted another 27 legs. That's the key difference between Taylor's campaign and Littler's. Taylor's tournament average is fractionally higher but Littler sustained an extraordinary level for almost twice as many legs. That matters.

Certainly the depiction a marathon not a sprint and that even his combinations to hit finishes are different and make players rethink the sport. "It wasn't a sprint. It was an endurance test, and he barely dipped. The numbers only tell part of the story. You also have to remember the moments.

"The nine-darter. The astonishing 167 finish against Gerwyn Price just as Price was trying to establish himself in the match. His scoring was ridiculous. His record number of 180s worked out at almost 0.7 maximums per leg. To put that into context, most elite players would be deemed prolific with around 0.3 over a sustained period.

"I've also never seen anyone use those combinations on the biggest stage with such confidence. He's not just playing better than everyone else. He's making the rest of the sport think differently."

But while the talk is all about Taylor v Littler, Nicholson made sure not to count out Michael van Gerwen's 2017 World Championship from the argument which is one of the true greatest displays ever. "Michael van Gerwen's 2017 World Championship absolutely deserves to be part of this conversation.

"Winning a World Championship over that format is an enormous achievement and his tournament average of 106.37 remains phenomenal.

"He played 158 legs, won 100 of them and defeated a succession of outstanding opponents. His 114 average against Raymond van Barneveld remains one of the finest matches we've ever seen. But when I compare it to Littler's Matchplay, one thing stands out.

"Van Gerwen's campaign contained those incredible peaks. Littler barely had any valleys. Every time you looked up he was producing another average around the 110 mark.

"The range between his best and worst performances across the week was astonishingly small. That's consistency on a level I've never witnessed before."

But while this is the case, Nicholson said that he was sat there with Chris Mason on Sunday in absolute shock as to what he had achieved and that he is certainly the holder of the best display ever.

"After sitting with Chris Mason on Sunday night reflecting on what we'd just watched, I kept asking myself the same question. "Did that really happen?"

"Because it felt impossible. Yet we'd all seen it. Luke Littler has forced me to rethink something I'd been certain about for almost two decades. Taylor's performance may still edge him on tournament average, but if someone asked me which campaign I'd rank as the greatest ever, I'm picking Luke Littler's World Matchplay. I genuinely never thought I'd live to say that.