After successfully defending his World Matchplay crown, Luke Littler lay out his ambitions for the remainder of the year.
"I don't think anyone has ever won every major in the calendar year and that is what we are pushing for," Littler told Sky Sports. "The family, they are always backing me a million per cent and that is what drives me on."
On current viewing, there's little evidence to suggest anyone can stop Littler from achieving his goal.
Starting the year with World Championship glory for a second time, The Nuke was triumphant at the World Masters, UK Open and even bounced back from a difficult start in the Premier League to convincingly top the standings before conquering old foe Luke Humphries in the final at the O2 Arena.
A maiden success in the World Cup followed in June before an imperious Littler swatted aside all those that stood before him at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, demolishing Phil Taylor's record tournament average with a tally of 111.08 for the week.
The 19-year-old is operating in a different stratosphere right now, and has set his sights on winning all of the remaining majors on the calendar before returning to Alexandra Palace in December.
For Littler to achieve immortality, he must qualify for the Players Championship Finals - a task made difficult by his decision to deliberately skip Players Championship floor events in order to manage his intense schedule and prioritise major televised tournaments.
The Players Championship series comprises a total of 34 tournaments, where players compete to accumulate prize money for a chance to appear in the Players Championship Finals in November.
Only the top 64 players in the Players Championship Order of Merit will qualify for the Finals, which spells trouble for Littler, who is yet to play a single Players Championship event this year, which means he is yet to win any prize money.
Littler currently sits £25,500 behind Martin Schindler, who occupies the final qualifying place in 64th, with only eight ProTour events remaining.
The reigning world champion recognises he has no choice but to attend several floor events to try and amass enough prize money to qualify. Initially Littler rejected the idea of attending an overseas Players Championship event - four of the last eight are in Den Bosch, while the other four are in Leicester - but The Nuke might be making an appearance in the Netherlands with only £15,000 in prize money available to the winner of each tournament.
“Everyone knows I’ve got to go to the Leicester ProTours," said Littler. "The next one to look for is the World Series in Amsterdam.
“If I win that, then it’s Monday and Tuesday in Den Bosch for more ProTours. We’re looking further into it.
“The clean sweep is definitely on.”
Littler will likely need to win at least two of the remaining eight Players Championship floor events to qualify for the Finals.
The Nuke left it late last year to qualify for the competition's showpiece in Minehead, while Michael van Gerwen did not qualify for the Finals at all.
Players Championship Calendar
- Players Championship 27 (Leicester) - Tuesday 25th August
- Players Championship 28 (Leicester) - Wednesday 26th August
- Players Championship 29 (Den Bosch) - Tuesday 22nd September
- Players Championship 30 (Den Bosch) - Wednesday 23rd September
- Players Championship 31 (Den Bosch) - Wednesday 28th October
- Players Championship 32 (Den Bosch) - Thursday 29th October
- Players Championship 33 (Leicester) - Wednesday 4th November
- Players Championship 34 (Leicester) - Thursday 5th November
- Players Championship Finals (Minehead) - Friday 27th to Sunday 29th November
Players Championship Order of Merit
Rank | Name | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|
1 | Wessel Nijman | 137.5 |
2 | Chris Dobey | 90.25 |
3 | Kevin Doets | 85.5 |
4 | Andrew Gilding | 77.5 |
5 | Luke Woodhouse | 74.5 |
6 | Ross Smith | 65.5 |
7 | Beau Greaves | 60.25 |
8 | Sebastian Bialecki | 56 |
9 | Jonny Clayton | 54.5 |
10 | Jermaine Wattimena | 53.75 |
11 | Rob Cross | 52.5 |
12 | Ryan Searle | 50.25 |
13 | Stephen Bunting | 50 |
14 | Cristo Reyes | 48 |
15 | Danny Noppert | 48 |
16 | James Wade | 48 |
17 | Jeffrey de Graaf | 45.75 |
18 | Gabriel Clemens | 45.5 |
19 | Max Hopp | 45.25 |
20 | Joe Cullen | 45 |
21 | William O'Connor | 44.25 |
22 | Dave Chisnall | 43.75 |
23 | Tom Bissell | 43.25 |
24 | Dirk van Duijvenbode | 43.25 |
25 | Krzysztof Ratajski | 42.5 |
26 | Damon Heta | 42.25 |
27 | Karel Sedlacek | 42 |
28 | Maik Kuivenhoven | 42 |
29 | Joe Hunt | 40.75 |
30 | Richard Veenstra | 40.75 |
31 | Niko Springer | 40.25 |
32 | Justin Hood | 39.25 |
33 | Michael van Gerwen | 37.75 |
34 | Luke Humphries | 37 |
35 | Tom Sykes | 36 |
36 | Rob Owen | 35.5 |
37 | Kim Huybrechts | 35 |
38 | Callan Rydz | 35 |
39 | Christian Kist | 34.5 |
40 | Mensur Suljovic | 34.25 |
41 | Cameron Menzies | 34.25 |
42 | Gerwyn Price | 34 |
43 | Mickey Mansell | 33 |
44 | Connor Scutt | 33 |
45 | Daryl Gurney | 33 |
46 | Charlie Manby | 32.75 |
47 | Darryl Pilgrim | 31 |
48 | Gian van Veen | 30.25 |
49 | Madars Razma | 30.25 |
50 | James Hurrell | 30 |
51 | Gary Anderson | 29.75 |
52 | Niels Zonneveld | 29.25 |
53 | Alexander Merkx | 29.25 |
54 | Alan Soutar | 29 |
55 | David Sharp | 28.75 |
56 | Darius Labanauskas | 28.75 |
57 | Michael Smith | 28 |
58 | Brendan Dolan | 27.75 |
59 | Henry Coates | 26.75 |
60 | Jim Long | 26.75 |
61 | Ritchie Edhouse | 26.5 |
62 | Mario Vandenbogaerde | 26.25 |
63 | Mervyn King | 25.75 |
64 | Martin Schindler | 25.5 |
*Prize money in units of £1,000. Correct as of 31/07/2026.
