Luke Littler’s bid for a clean sweep of all PDC major titles in 2026 has ended after a crushing 10-4 defeat to Jonny Clayton in the last eight of the World Series of Darts finals in Amsterdam.
The world No 1 had won the first six events of the season following his World Championship triumph at Alexandra Palace in January with the World Masters, UK Open, Premier League, World Cup of Darts and World Matchplay.
Littler was hoping to add World Series of Darts Finals, World Grand Prix, European Championship, Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship finals trophies to complete a historic monopoly during the year – but ran into an inspired Clayton.
Clayton will face Welshman Gerwyn Price in Sunday’s second semi-final, as England’s Ross Smith meets home favorite Gian van Veen in the first semi-final, with the final to follow.
What else for Littler?
Littler can still sweep the ranking events – World Series Finals, like the World Cup and Premier League, are not ranked – if he wins the remaining four championships in Leicester, Dortmund, Wolverhampton and Minehead this autumn.
However, ‘The Nuke’ has work to do to reach the finals of the Players Championship as he is 125th on the Order of Merit in that series with six regular season events remaining and only the top 64 players progress to the finals in Somerset from November 27-29.
The teenager – currently £16,750 adrift of the final qualification spot – had hinted he may not try to reach the finals of the Players Championship if his hopes of a major sweep end in Holland.
The next Players Championship events are in Den Bosch on Tuesday and Wednesday before two more at the same venue on October 28 and 29 and then the two finals in Leicester on November 4 and 5.
Clayton: Not the Littler we know, but I took my chances
Jonny Clayton on ITV4 after his win over Luke Littler:
“To be honest, I just thought, ‘Relax, go out and try your best. What a player he (Littler) is. He wasn’t complete today, but you’ve got to take your chances.’
“Luke missed a lot of darts in doubles, and that’s the name of the game. You have to take your chances. I did that today and it’s brilliant.
The last arrow in doubles hurts and puts pressure on a player. But with all due respect to Luke, he’s fantastic. He just gave me chances on occasion, and that’s not the least we all know.
“But Jonny Clayton can play darts too.”
Van Barneveld: Everyone is fallible – Littler felt the pressure!
Raymond van Barneveld on ITV4:
“It’s the pressure. Everybody’s talking about, ‘Can he go all year and win all the majors.’ It puts a lot of pressure.
“He wants to perform and is the best player at the moment but everyone is fallible. Everyone wants your scalp and Jonny Clayton did that perfectly today.
Littler’s performance was simply due to ‘pressure’, according to Raymond van Barneveld
“Honestly, Littler missed some important shots. Everyone thought Littler was going to win the whole event, but now it’s really open for the remaining four players.”
The last little big name to leave Amsterdam
Victory in the World Series of Darts finals would be Littler’s second in three years, having beaten Michael Smith to triumph in 2024 before losing to Michael van Gerwen in the final 12 months ago.
Littler had suffered a scare earlier this week, rallying from 3-1 down to see off Danny Noppert 6-4 in the first round and then surviving a last-game crash against Nathan Aspinall to win 10-9 in the last 16.
World No. 2 Luke Humphries was eliminated by Dirk van Duijvenbode in the second round on Saturday, while defending champion Van Gerwen fell in the opening round on Thursday, losing to Daryl Gurney.
Luke Humphries was eliminated by Dirk van Duijvenbode in the second round
Van Gerwen’s World Series finals victory last season is the only major he has won since 2023 and he has failed to reach an individual quarter-final at this year’s majors.
The 37-year-old reached the World Cup of Darts final for the Netherlands alongside doubles partner Van Veen, where the Dutch pair were beaten by England’s Littler and Humphries.
That World Cup win for Littler in Frankfurt in June means the European Championship is the only major title missing from his CV – something he will hope to rectify in Dortmund later this year.
Matches and results of Sunday’s World Series of Darts finals
ultimate
TBC vs TBC
semifinals
Ross Smith vs Gian van Veen
Gerwyn Price vs Jonny Clayton
The quarterfinals
Ross Smith 10-7 Josh Rock
Gian van Veen 10-8 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Gerwyn Price 10-7 James Wade
Jonny Clayton 10-4 Luke Littler
Sky Sports remains the home of darts with the World Grand Prix (September 28-October 4), Grand Slam of Darts (November 14-22) and the World Darts Championship (December 10-January 3) all live. Stream streaming arrows and more through NOW without a contract.
