Luke Littler at the Poland Darts Open (Picture: PDC)

Darts average records: The top 20 match averages in European Tour history, but who takes top spot?

By Paul Nicholson

Darts

Thu February 26, 2026 · 3h ago

Luke Littler was the most recent entry into the top 20 averages in European Tour history, but who holds the record and is it in danger? Paul Nicholson explores the data in this week's column.

The Nuke delivered a darting masterclass in thrashing Mike De Decker 6-1 during the Poland Darts Open as he averaged 113.84 and pinned all six of his attempts at doubles.

That was the second time Littler, who went on to win the title, has put in a top 20 performance on the European Tour in his short career, a statistic that is made even more impressive by the fact Phil Taylor is only in the list once.

So this week I thought I'd go through the archives and reveal who else makes up the top 20 since the European Tour was established back in 2012 and you might raise your eyebrows when seeing who currently holds the record.

European Tour Averages: The Top 20 Of All Time

20th: 113.63 MICHAEL VAN GERWEN 6-1 Peter Wright, 2015 German Darts Masters

You won't be surprised to know this is the first of many Michael van Gerwen performances to appear in the top 20 and comes from an era when he was playing some of the best darts of his record-breaking career. He averaged over 100 in all of his matches and this particular performance came in the semi-finals before going on to beat John Henderson 6-5 to take the title.

18th=: 113.77 PETER WRIGHT 6-1 Eddie Dootson, 2016 German Darts Championship

Peter Wright appears in this list for the first time with a stunning effort against Eddie Dootson in round two of the 2016 German Darts Championship but his standard dropped to 90 in his next match against Joe Cullen as he crashed out.

18th=: 113.77 JOE CULLEN 6-1 Richie Corner, 2017 International Darts Open

Joe Cullen then matched Wright's effort a year later at the International Darts Open in Riesa with his only appearance in the top 20 and it came early on in a run to the semi-finals of the 2017, where he ended up losing to Kim Huybrechts.

17th: 113.79 MICHAEL VAN GERWEN 6-3 Daryl Gurney, 2022 European Darts Open

This occurred at a time where the European Tour started to come back with crowds after Covid, with MVG unleashing a stunning performance over nine legs in Leverkusen. He went on to take the title too thanks to an 8-5 triumph over Dimitri Van den Bergh in the final.

16th: 113.84 LUKE LITTLER 6-1 Mike de Decker, 2026 Poland Darts Open

Luke Littler produced a perfect display of doubling during this performance at the inaugural Poland Darts Open and was the perfect way to silence the critics that had circled after a sluggish start to the Premier League season. He ended the weekend with the trophy after defying Gian van Veen's nine-darter in the final with a 108 average.

15th: 114.00 MICHAEL VAN GERWEN 6-3 Rowby-John Rodriguez, 2015 European Darts Matchplay

Another breathtaking display during MVG's prime era helped him on his way to the title - which he achieved against Dave Chisnall - but despite a 114 average, Rowby-John Rodriguez did push him pretty hard with an average of 103 himself.

13th=: 114.15 GIAN VAN VEEN 6-0 DAMON HETA, 2023 European Darts Matchplay

I remember this match vividly as it was the first time we really got to see just how good Gian van Veen was going to be. At one point in this game, Damon Heta just stood back and said 'am I supposed to try and beat this?'. He couldn't even take a leg off him despite averaging 104 although we do tend to find beaten averages in these kind of matches tend to be very high because they don't have many attempts at doubles.

13th=: 114.15 MICHAEL SMITH 6-0 David Pallett, 2014 Austrian Darts Open

Michael Smith's only entry on this list came way back in 2014 during the first round of the inaugural Austrian Darts Open against David Pallett, but he crashed out to Peter Wright at the next hurdle with a 96 average. Nevertheless, it was performances like these which showed us he was bound to become a future major champion.

12th: 114.70 MICHAEL VAN GERWEN 6-3 Dave Chisnall, 2015 Dutch Darts Masters

Michael van Gerwen's third entry from his 2015 season as he came through a thriller with Dave Chisnall, who averaged almost 104 himself and took three legs off him. MVG went on to pick up another title and ended the weekend with 100+ averages in all of his five matches.

11th: 115.13 MICHAEL VAN GERWEN 6-2 Jelle Klaasen, 2016 European Darts Trophy

One of Michael van Gerwen's big rivals Jelle Klaasen brought the best out of him that day as his fellow Dutchman averaged over 107 himself over the eight legs played. Eventual champion Van Gerwen went on to average 106.77 against Mensur Suljovic in the final which went all the way to a deciding leg.

10th: 115.31 PHIL TAYLOR 6-2 Gino Vos, 2013 Gibraltar Darts Trophy

The top 10 begins with the only entry in this list for Phil Taylor and when you consider he competed on the European Tour from 2012 to 2016, it's quite surprising that he isn't in it a few more times. Taylor won his last event in Vienna 10 years ago but his best average came in Gibraltar three years earlier when he managed a then record 115.31 in the opening round, while he also managed a 112.73 against Steve Beaton en route to the title.

9th: 115.57 MICHAEL VAN GERWEN 6-1 Cristo Reyes, 2017 Austrian Darts Open

Michael van Gerwen achieved this sensational average in the semi-finals of the Austrian Darts Open and backed it up by going on to win the title thanks to a 6-5 triumph over Michael Smith with an average of 105.16.

8th: 115.62 ADRIAN LEWIS 6-0 Steve Beaton 2014, European Darts Grand Prix

Adrian Lewis was still very much one of the best players in the world back in 2014 and this performance underlined his talents as he averaged exactly the equivalent of a 13-dart leg. Just 78 darts he used in his 6-0 victory although he was unable to maintain this level as he crashed out in the quarter-finals.

7th: 115.74 GERWYN PRICE 6-3 Ricardo Pietreczko, 2024 International Darts Open

Gerwyn Price loves playing in Riesa, winning four titles here, so it's no surprise to see his best European Tour average come at this venue when managing an incredible 115.74 against Ricardo Pietreczko en route to the final. However on this occasion he'd finish runner-up to Martin Schindler.

6th: 116.51 LUKE LITTLER 6-3 Damon Heta, 2024 Czech Darts Open

This is Luke Littler's best performance so far on the European Tour when reaching 116.51 against Damon Heta in the third round. Remarkably this was sandwiched between averages of 110.43 and 110.57 against Nathan Aspinall and Michael van Gerwen (who managed 112.19 despite losing 6-1!) across the weekend but eventually his 106.73 wasn't enough to beat eventual champion Luke Humphries in the semi-finals.

5th: 117.12 STEPHEN BUNTING 6-0 Owen Bates, 2024 European Darts Open

Stephen Bunting recorded his highest ever average in all competitions when battering Owen Bates 6-0, with his opponent only managing 88.42 in a totally one-sided affair. However, the Bullet could only average 92 in his next match as he bowed out to Damon Heta.

4th: 117.48 DAMON HETA 6-2 Mickey Mansell, 2024 European Darts Grand Prix

A fourth entry in a row from the 2024 European Tour season as Damon Heta achieved a personal best when routing Mickey Mansell, who averaged 104.81 himself in a high-class game. Heta ended up reaching the quarter-finals before losing to Ross Smith.

3rd: 117.74 DIRK VAN DUIJVENBODE 6-2 Chris Dobey, 2025 German Darts Championship

This was the last performance from the 2025 European Tour season and was the most explosive performance of Dirk van Duijvenbode's career as he conjured up a 117.74 against Chris Dobey in the second round. It was great to see him produce this kind of display after his injury problems of the past because there was a time before he suffered those, his career was promising a lot of success. He still has that explosiveness but can't quite get the consistency of old. He went on to reach the final before falling just short to Nathan Aspinall in an 8-6 defeat. Due to Dobey managing 105.41, this match also breaks the European Tour record for the highest aggregate average of 111.58.

2nd: 117.94 MICHAEL VAN GERWEN 6-2 Gary Anderson 2015 German Darts Championship

This is a very famous match because it was the highest average ever achieved in a PDC tournament final, with Michael van Gerwen running out a 6-2 winner against his great rival Gary Anderson. To put this into perspective, the next highest European Tour final average was when Luke Humphries reached 112.66 in a 8-1 rout of MVG in the 2024 German Darts Grand Prix and that is 30th on the overall list.

INCREDIBLE DARTS! Michael van Gerwen v Gary Anderson, 2015 German Darts Championship (HD)

1st: 118.66 DAVE CHISNALL 6-0 Mark Webster, 2018 German Darts Championship

This record has stood for eight years and it came at the 2018 German Darts Championship when Dave Chisnall produced one of his best ever averages during a 6-0 trouncing of Mark Webster, who famously walked off the stage saying 'I can't beat that'. Can anyone beat that? It was basically an untouchable performance and it'll take something extremely special to knock it off the top spot. This was an era when he was being tipped to win major trophies because the level of performances he was able to produce was historically better than most of the sport's legends. Not only does he hold this record but he's also breached 120 on the Pro Tour on multiple occasions and not many can say that at all. You may also have noticed that the top three in this list all come from the German Darts Championship in Hildesheim so next time that venue stages a tournament, be prepared for some high averages!

European Tour Record Average! Chisnall on fire vs M. Webster

What more can be achieved?

It's only a matter of time before Dave Chisnall's record is eclipsed and I wouldn't even be surprised to see the 120 barrier broken before too long.

However what I'd love to see is an average that exceeds 125.25 because that is the equivalent of a 12-dart leg.

The televised average record of 123.4 from Michael van Gerwen in the Premier League is just shy of that so it really would be an incredible achievement for anyone to do it.

To my knowledge, this has only been two recorded averages in PDC tournament history that has gone above that mark; Jamie Hughes with a 125.25 in a qualifying event, and then 127 from Jose de Sousa in a Players Championship event.