In his latest column, PDC Stats Analyst Christopher Kempf examines the numbers behind Luke Littler's record-breaking campaign at last weekend's Czech Darts Open, and looks at how his head-to-head record matches up against the sport's elite...
Establishing himself still further as the player to beat in darts, Luke Littler set the record tournament average for any European Tour semi-finalist at last weekend's Czech Darts Open.
Littler boasted a stunning tournament average of 110.89 across 36 legs, bolstered by 23 180s and nine of his 22 legs won in 12 darts or fewer.
This is so far above the previous record of 107.58 - set by Michael van Gerwen six years ago - that even if a future semi-finalist did not encounter four TV champions in his path to a semi-final loss, they would find it difficult to approach such a tournament average.
So overwhelming were Littler's signature defeats of Nathan Aspinall, van Gerwen and Damon Heta that his loss to Luke Humphries and the latter's resounding 8-1 win over Kim Huybrechts in the Czech Open final were almost overshadowed by Littler's virtuosity.
Littler has yet to celebrate his 18th birthday and has already played 59 professional matches against seven different PDC World Champions, winning 37 of them.
Against none of these seven players does Littler have a losing record. With a combined record of 138 wins and 42 losses, the only three players with a winning record against Littler - Robert Grundy, Jitse van der Wal and Callan Rydz - have only played him once.
The teenage sensation has defeated the reigning World Champion and world number one eight times since their first meeting at Alexandra Palace on January 3.
In losing to Humphries this past weekend, the 17-year-old produced his worst performance of the tournament yet still fired off a 107 average.
The Luke vs Luke matchup is already the most contested matchup in the PDC in 2024 - a total of 181 legs have already been won and lost between the two.
With the elder player of the two not yet out of his 20s, it has the potential to be the most important rivalry in the game for the rest of the 2020s - and beyond.
One of the best metrics for a player's effectiveness, regardless of averages, is the rate at which they check out and win legs by the end of their fifth visit to the board.
Setting aside Gary Anderson, who has appeared in only two European Tour events this year and played fewer than 1000 legs, Littler (51.5%) and Humphries (52.1%) are the only two players currently winning legs in 15 darts a majority of the time when presented with opportunities to do so.
The next best player on this metric, Van Gerwen, is more than 4 percentage points behind both players.
In their head-to-head matchups they do even better; a combined 54.3% of legs are won in 15 darts or less. No other matchup contested at least five times this year can improve on that figure.
Littler's victory over Van Gerwen in Prague last weekend brought their career series of 12 matches to six wins for each player, and marked 'The Nuke's' first victory in a ranking match.
Littler has not always been on top form against the three-time World Champion, averaging less than 90 against MvG twice in the Premier League, but when both players have hit top gear against one another, the results have been spectacular.
Three of Littler's ten-highest averages of 2024 have come in matches against Van Gerwen, and though MvG averaged 112, 111 and 99 in those three contests, Littler blew him out each time by a combined leg-margin of 23-7.
In his most recent encounter with Littler in Czechia, Van Gerwen produced his second highest per-leg rate of three-treble visits of 2024 (out of 153 matches) to no great effect - he lost 6-1.
Renowned for many years as the player with the most overpowering A-game, the Dutchman may have finally encountered a player who has surpassed him in this respect.
To many, the best match of this year's UK Open was Damon Heta's quarter-final victory over Luke Littler, who was heavily favoured as the World Championship runner-up and eventual Premier League champion.
Heta rose to the challenge with the highest average of his career in a televised ranking match, accomplishing the rare feat of winning five consecutive legs against Littler in amassing a lead which he would never relinquish.
Littler has exacted revenge in his four encounters with the Australian number one since, culminating in a Czech coup-de-grace this past weekend.
In the course of recording his highest ProTour average to date, Littler defeated Heta with 8 maxima and a string of 17 darts thrown in which 16 found their targets.
The combined 105 average that Littler has recorded in five matches against Heta is the best average of any player in any head-to-head matchup in the PDC throughout 2024.
The stakes of a potential rematch between Littler and his rivals at the 2025 World Championship depend on the tournament's seeding.
If Littler were to enter the tournament as world number 20 - his current rank - the two Lukes could only meet in the semi-final.
Rob Cross, currently world number four, could potentially encounter the teenage prodigy as early as the fourth round as he attempts to avenge his seven losses in 2024, as well as his semi-final defeat in last year's showpiece.
However, regardless of the opponent, regardless of the round, the 2024 record is clear - Littler, a player unknown to darts fans within this decade, is the favourite.
Follow Christopher on Twitter @ochepedia