Luke Littler sets a new record for the tournament average and final average in a World Matchplay as he defends his title in Blackpool by beating Gerwyn Price 18-9.

Luke Littler joins Rod Harrington, Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen as the only back-to-back winners of the World Matchplay Luke Littler defended his World Matchplay title in sensational style - and smashed Phil Taylor's tournament and final average records in the process. The 19-year-old beat seventh seed Gerwyn Price 18-9 in Blackpool to become just the fourth person to win back-to-back Matchplay titles. World number one Littler finished the week with an average of 111.04, beating Taylor's record of 106.31 in 2010. He averaged 111.53 in the final, setting a new record as he bettered Taylor's 111.23 against Adrian Lewis in 2013. Littler claimed £225,000 in prize money for winning the event and now has £3,143,500 over the PDC's two-year order of merit. That is £2.13m more than Luke Humphries in second spot. "It's been a crazy week, one of the best weeks of my life with the darts I've played," Littler told Sky Sports. "It's been tough. The stats may look like it's easy, but when you're on this stage with how hot it is, it's not easy."