LONDON -- Having claimed his second straight world title on Sunday, Luke Littler suggested he thinks it might take him 15 or 16 years to claim the 14 he needs to match Phil Taylor's career total.
Littler dismantled Gian van Veen in a 7-1 triumph with the 18-year-old's scoring proving too much for his opponent to handle.
The two-time champion's dominance of the sport is such that he is predicted by many to win more world titles than the legendary Taylor, whose records had once seemed untouchable.
Asked if the prospect of matching Taylor has crossed his mind, Littler told a news conference: "I mean, obviously it's so far away. Yeah, what's that, 14 to go? Another 15, 16 years, I'd say. But yeah, if it happens, it happens. But yeah, I'll be around for a very long time and yeah, I'm here to win."
He described the £1 million prize money he earned for winning his second straight World Darts Championship title as "absolutely life changing."
The PDC doubled the prize money for this year's tournament from the £500,000 Littler pocketed for beating three-time champion Michael van Gerwen in last year's final.
The winner's cheque was part of a £5 million total prize pot, which meant progression through this year's tournament will have a big impact on the world rankings that are based on the prize money earned by each player over a two-year period.
In the months and weeks leading up the final Littler insisted the record prize money was not a distraction and he was more focused on becoming the first player to go back-to-back since Gary Anderson 10 years ago.
"Obviously it is life changing," Littler told Sky Sports. "In this tournament, for anyone, even the first round [prize money] was doubled. So obviously I've won. Yeah, it's been doubled obviously for the winners and the runner-up for semifinals, quarterfinals.
"But yeah, it's life changing, absolutely life changing. But this win, it's increased that gap from Luke Humphries. And yeah, I'm in the clear now for number one."
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The only set Van Veen managed to win was the first of the match, with Littler emerging from the break re-energised. A 'Big Fish' checkout of 170 in the third set got him on a roll and he did not look back.
"I started playing a bit better from there," Littler said. "Obviously, again, the first set, I wasn't happy going into the break 1-0 down. But I just had to kick on from there. I said to myself again, 'just give it time, you'll find it.'
"I started off at the left of the oche, moved over to the right. And yeah, it all came to plan. Well, Gian, what a tournament -- he could be very happy with himself. In every set, he was there. He was behind me and I had to take my chances."
Littler has dominated the sport since making his run to the final on debut at the age of 16 in 2023. Despite his young age, Littler has a long way to go if he's to better Phil Taylor's tally of 16 world titles, but 'The Nuke' insisted he is hungry for more.
"It's very special. But like I said, we've got to keep going. We've got to keep adding more titles. We can't stop here. This year, last year, the year before, we're starting this rollercoaster," Littler said.