1,127 maximums mark a new era for the World Darts Championship
A 33% expansion of the player pool drove the total record, yet the individual benchmark set in 2022 remains untouched.
By Naomi Tesfaye ·
The 2026 World Darts Championship concluded with a tournament record of 1,127 maximums. Each 180 triggered a £1,000 donation to Prostate Cancer UK, raising more than £1.1 million for the charity through that specific metric alone. The total exceeded the previous high mark by 213 maximums.
The surge in numbers stems from a structural change in the tournament format. The player field expanded from 96 to 128 competitors for the 2026 edition. This increase added 32 matches to the schedule. The 2023 tournament, which Michael Smith won, set a prior record of 901 maximums. The 2024 event raised that figure to 914. The 2025 tournament held that record until the expanded field took effect in 2026.
Despite the higher aggregate total, the scoring rate per match declined. The 914 maximums in 2024 averaged about 9.6 per match. The 1,127 maximums in 2026 averaged about 8.9 per match. Most of the additional games were first-round contests played over a best of five sets. These shorter formats offer fewer opportunities for maximums compared to the longer matches later in the bracket. A record 28 debutants entered the 2026 event, further influencing the per-match scoring averages.
Michael Smith holds the individual record with 83 maximums from the 2022 championship. He achieved this total across six matches on his path to the final. His previous record holder, Gary Anderson, had 71. Smith lost the 2022 final to Peter Wright, 7-5, but recorded 24 maximums in that single game. That figure equals the record for one player in a single match, a mark Wright set in the semi-final.
Luke Littler is the closest competitor to Smith’s individual total. Littler hit 76 maximums to win the 2025 title. He retained the championship in January 2026 with a 7-1 victory over Gian van Veen. Littler finished the 2026 event with 73 maximums. He earned the Ballon d’Art award for the most 180s in the tournament for the second consecutive year. Luke Humphries also reached 73 maximums in 2024, when he defeated Littler 7-4 in the final.
The expanded field now requires players to complete seven matches to win the title. Smith played six matches in 2022. To surpass Smith’s 83 maximums, a player would need to average nearly 12 maximums per match throughout the tournament. Littler averaged about 10 maximums per match in 2026. His total represented 6.5% of the tournament’s 1,127 maximums. Humphries’ 73 maximums in 2024 represented 8% of the smaller 914 maximums from that year.
Prostate Cancer UK tracks Littler’s cumulative total across his three World Championship appearances. That figure stands at 212 maximums. The 2026 tournament concluded with the new aggregate record, but no individual player broke through the barrier set by Smith more than four years ago.
