Luke Littler, the two‑time world champion who has been dominating the darts circuit, still has a chance to qualify for next month’s Players Championship Finals in Minehead, but the question now is what other titles might still be within his reach. After an extraordinary twelve‑month run that saw him sweep every major event he entered, Littler’s streak may have hit a snag. In Amsterdam, he suffered a heavy 10‑4 loss to Jonny Clayton in the quarter‑finals of the World Series of Darts Finals, and he was also knocked out in the first round of the World Grand Prix.
Despite those setbacks, the 19‑year‑old still has a pathway to the Players Championship Finals, provided he can accumulate enough prize money in the remaining ProTour events. Earlier in the season, Littler had already claimed six of the premier titles on the calendar. Following his World Championship victory at Alexandra Palace in January, he went on to win the World Masters, the UK Open, the Premier League, the World Cup of Darts and the World Matchplay – an unprecedented clean‑sweep of the year’s biggest tournaments. His ambition was to add the World Series of Darts Finals, the World Grand Prix, the European Championship, the Grand Slam of Darts and finally the Players Championship Finals to complete a historic twelve‑title haul.
That plan was derailed by a dominant performance from Jonny Clayton, who surged ahead to win seven of the last eight legs in their quarter‑final clash, ending Littler’s run. Clayton later defeated Luke Woodhouse in Leicester, where Littler had previously been eliminated 2‑1 in a double‑in, double‑out format. The weekend also saw Littler fall short in the World Youth Championship, losing to Cam Crabtree in the semi‑finals. Had he triumphed, Littler would have become the first player ever to hold both the senior World Championship and the World Youth title at the same time, a feat that would have cemented his status as a generational talent.
The Players Championship Finals are scheduled for Sunday, 29 November, in Minehead. Littler won the event last year, but this season he is currently outside the automatic qualification places. The tournament takes the top 64 players from the ProTour Order of Merit, and the projected cut‑off after all 34 events is expected to be just over £30,000. Littler sits at 126th with £10,500, while the 64th spot is held by Mike De Decker with £29,250.
In order to climb into the qualifying bracket, Littler would likely need to reach the final – or even win – at one or both of the remaining ProTour events in Leicester on 4 and 5 November. Matt Edgar, a regular contributor on the Love The Darts podcast, expressed doubt that Littler will compete in those final two events.
Edgar argued that Littler’s focus appears to be on securing his place as the undisputed champion of the sport, rather than chasing additional ProTour points. He also defended Littler’s decision to enter the World Youth Championship, noting that many critics misunderstood the nature of the tournament, mistakenly treating it as a development‑tour event rather than a true world championship. "There’s a big misunderstanding about what that tournament was," Edgar said.
"People were suggesting he shouldn’t have been there, but it was a world championship, and I don’t want to see a sport where a player is excluded because he’s too good." Edgar added that if Littler had reached the World Youth final, he might have been more inclined to play the remaining ProTour events. "There’s no point going all the way down to Minehead if you’re not going to play the Players Championship Finals as well," he explained. "I think he would have played the final two ProTour events had he got into the World Youth final, but now that’s off the cards." Beyond the immediate qualification battle, Littler’s calendar still includes several marquee tournaments. He boasts a perfect record at the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton, having defended his 2024 title with another victory last year.
The Grand Slam, taking place from 14‑22 November, offers a £4,000 prize for quarter‑finalists and is widely regarded as a barometer of a player’s form heading into the season finale. Looking further ahead, Littler will aim to make history at the World Darts Championship, which runs from 11 December to 3 January at Alexandra Palace. If he can capture a third consecutive world title, he would join an elite group that includes Phil Taylor, who won three in a row from 2004‑2006, and ‘The Power’ (Taylor) who amassed eight straight titles between 1995 and 2002. Achieving three back‑to‑back world crowns would make Littler the first player since Taylor’s early‑2000s dominance to accomplish such a feat.
Sky Sports will broadcast all the major events, including the Grand Slam and the World Championship, with live streaming available via NOW without a contract. Darts fans can therefore follow Littler’s journey across multiple platforms, watching him chase both redemption after recent defeats and the chance to etch his name permanently into the sport’s record books. In summary, while Luke Littler’s dream of a clean sweep has been interrupted, his path to the Players Championship Finals remains open if he can deliver strong performances in the final ProTour stops. Whether he chooses to chase that qualification or focus on the upcoming Grand Slam and World Championship will shape the narrative of his 2025 season, and the darts world will be watching closely to see if the Warrington phenom can add more trophies to an already impressive résumé.