'There's a lot of hunger inside me': Littler keen to chase down Taylor's record

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/littler-luke/0URN6Xks/"]Littler[/a] successfully [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/darts/littler-l-0URN6Xks/van-veen-g-jgT1AT29/?mid=O8CEFVhB"]defended his world title in a 7-1 destruction of Gian van Veen[/a] at Alexandra Palace on Saturday, stamping his mark as the best player on the planet.[/p][p]The 18-year-old cemented his place in darts folklore by joining [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/taylor-phil/fi5POt44/"]Taylor[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lewis-adrian/z1qsLZHB/"]Adrian Lewis[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/anderson-gary/MyKZZS6r/"]Gary Anderson[/a] in winning back-to-back Ally Pally titles.[/p][p]It was the crowning moment in a stellar year for Littler, who has won five of the last six major tournaments in a period of dominance not too dissimilar to that of darts great Taylor.[/p][p]Taylor's record of 16 World Championship titles has long been deemed an untouchable feat, and Littler is not looking too far ahead, despite age and time being on his side. [/p][p][b]"It's so far away," [/b]Littler said.[b] "Yeah, 14 to go. Another 15 or 16 years, I'd say, and I'll start thinking about it.[/b][/p][p][b]"If it happens, it happens. I'll be around for a very long time, and I'm here to win.[/b][/p][p]"It's something any darts player could do, myself, being so young and already picking up two of these.[/p][embed guid="15c32a92-4557-4721-9785-2a00404463bd" url="https://x.com/i/status/2007568418552029500" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"Who knows if I could reach it. If I get five or six, I'll be happy.[/b][/p][p][b]"I think I could if I stay around for long enough, keep the hunger.[/b][/p][p][b]"Once the hunger goes, there's no point playing. But there's a lot of hunger left inside of me."[/b][/p][p]Littler became the youngest-ever World Championship winner in January 2025, aged just 17 and carried on his momentum through this year's field.[/p][p]Van Veen - the reigning World Youth Championship winner - looked poised to cause trouble for him in the final with a string of top displays en route.[/p][p]The 23-year-old Dutchman dispatched former world champions [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/humphries-luke/n34VOAWo/"]Luke Humphries[/a] and Anderson in a breakout tournament, but Littler's quality ultimately proved too much.[/p][h2][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/darts-pdc-world-championship-unstoppable-littler-thrashes-van-veen-to-defend-pdc-world-championship-title/xvHYFn4s/"]Catch up on Littler's final win with our report.[/a][/h2]