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 hadn't played a single Players Championship event before August.
Littler currently sits £16,750 behind Shane McGuirk, who occupies the final qualifying place in 64th, with only six 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 two 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 one of the remaining six 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 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 | 146 |
2 | Kevin Doets | 96.75 |
3 | Chris Dobey | 94.5 |
4 | Luke Woodhouse | 85 |
5 | Andrew Gilding | 77.5 |
6 | Jermaine Wattimena | 68.75 |
7 | Ross Smith | 65.5 |
8 | Beau Greaves | 60.25 |
9 | Sebastian Bialecki | 58 |
10 | Rob Cross | 55.5 |
11 | Jonny Clayton | 54.5 |
12 | Ryan Searle | 53.25 |
13 | Luke Humphries | 52 |
14 | Danny Noppert | 51 |
15 | Cristo Reyes | 50 |
16 | Stephen Bunting | 50 |
17 | Krzysztof Ratajski | 49.5 |
18 | Jeffrey de Graaf | 48.75 |
19 | William O'Connor | 48.25 |
20 | James Wade | 48 |
21 | Joe Cullen | 47 |
22 | Gabriel Clemens | 46.75 |
23 | Dirk van Duijvenbode | 46.25 |
24 | Max Hopp | 45.25 |
25 | Karel Sedlacek | 45 |
26 | Dave Chisnall | 45 |
27 | Tom Bissell | 44.5 |
28 | Richard Veenstra | 44 |
29 | Justin Hood | 43.5 |
30 | Maik Kuivenhoven | 43.25 |
31 | Kim Huybrechts | 43 |
32 | Joe Hunt | 42.75 |
33 | Damon Heta | 42.25 |
34 | Niko Springer | 41.5 |
35 | Cameron Menzies | 40.25 |
36 | Michael van Gerwen | 39.75 |
37 | Tom Sykes | 39.25 |
38 | Brendan Dolan | 37.75 |
39 | Mickey Mansell | 37 |
40 | Rob Owen | 36.75 |
41 | Callan Rydz | 36.25 |
42 | Charlie Manby | 36 |
43 | Daryl Gurney | 35 |
44 | Christian Kist | 34.5 |
45 | Connor Scutt | 34.25 |
46 | Mensur Suljovic | 34.25 |
47 | Gerwyn Price | 34 |
48 | Darryl Pilgrim | 33 |
49 | Niels Zonneveld | 32.5 |
50 | James Hurrell | 32.5 |
51 | David Sharp | 31.25 |
52 | Alexander Merkx | 30.5 |
53 | Alan Soutar | 30.25 |
54 | Gian van Veen | 30.25 |
55 | Madars Razma | 30.25 |
56 | Darius Labanauskas | 30 |
57 | Gary Anderson | 29.75 |
58 | Martin Schindler | 29.5 |
59 | Mike De Decker | 29.25 |
60 | Michael Smith | 29.25 |
61 | Henry Coates | 28 |
62 | Ritchie Edhouse | 27.75 |
63 | Keane Barry | 27.5 |
64 | Shane McGuirk | 27.25 |
125 | Luke Littler | 10.5 |
*Prize money in units of £1,000. Correct as of 31/08/2026.
