Key events
The second set was so much better, exhilarating in fact. MvG averaged 114 and didn’t win a leg. If he doesn’t take the upcoming third set on throw, he will be in an ocean of doodoo.
Averages
Littler 115.62
Van Gerwen 113.67
Checkouts
Littler 60% (3/5)
Van Gerwen 0% (0/3)
180s
Littler 2
Van Gerwen 2
Littler wins the second set 3-0!
Littler 2-0 Van Gerwen (Littler 3-0) With Littler on 96, MvG – way back on 308 – gambles by going for a third treble 20. He hits it to leave 128, and he gets a shot when Littler can’t go double-double.
MvG hits 18 and 60 before missing the bull for a break back. Littler cleans up, of course he does, to lead 2-0 in sets and 6-1 in legs. The force is terrifyingly strong in this one.
Littler breaks! Littler 1-0 Van Gerwen (legs 2-0) Littler has returned from the break with his scoring boots on. MvG is scoring beautifully now, too, but he has been very poor on the doubles. He misses two at tops – both by a long way – to take out 100 for a 12-darter. Littler punishes him, and rubs it in, by hitting tops for an 11-dart break. MvG is in trouble, already.
Littler 1-0 Van Gerwen (legs 1-0) Van Gerwen pops his third 180; Littler responds immediately with his first to keep control of the leg on throw. He misses the bull for a 121, Van Gerwen gets nowhere near 170 and Littler returns to do the necessary on – you guessed it – double 10.
It was a low-quality first set, in truth, which makes it even more concerning for MvG that he lost the throw.
Averages
Littler 93.28
Van Gerwen 91.35
Checkouts
Littler 50%
Van Gerwen 25%
180s
Littler 0
Van Gerwen 2
Littler wins the first set against the throw!
Littler 1-0 Van Gerwen (legs 3-1) Van Gerwen hits a 180 to put pressure on the Littler throw. He can’t build on it, though, and after 12 darts both men are on 80. Littler has first crack and takes care of business with a dart to spare: treble 20, double 10, the end.
Littler 0-0 Van Gerwen (legs 2-1) Neither player is scoring fluently; nowhere near in fact. Littler misses two set darts for a clean sweep (14 and 7), which allows Van Gerwen to pin D16 and get his first leg on the board.
Littler 0-0 Van Gerwen (legs 2-0) That really is a stinker of a first leg for MvG, the sort that could derail a less experienced player. (Remember Robert Thornton against Phil tTaylor in the 2013 Grand Slam final?)
The second leg isn’t great either but Littler is first to a double. He misses tops and – shock, horror – hits double 10 at the first attempt.
Littler breaks! Littler 0-0 Van Gerwen (legs 1-0) A very nerby first leg is stolen by Luke Littler against the throw.
Van Gerwen starts with 100, 115 and 81; Littler with 58, 134 and 89. That allows MvG to bang in a 180 and leave 45 after 12 darts.
Littler leaves 140 – and he gets a shot because MvG busts by hitting D16 rather than D8. He hits the first treble 20 but not the second. It doesn’t matter because Van Gerwen misses D8 and D4 on his next visit. Littler cleans up 55 for a 17-dart break.
“Michael to throw first… game on!”
The walk-ons
Littler isn’t smiling as much as usual; that could be nerves or laser focus. There are some boos when Van Gerwen first appears on the big screen but they don’t last long. MvG also has his business face on.
There’s a brief embrace between the players, no more than that. Unless there’s a nine-darter, don’t expect any congratulatory fistbumps tonight.
“I’m at a puzzle,” writes Andy O’Shaughnessy, “with only your blog to keep me up to date on the darts.”
Andy did attach a picture of a half completed puzzle, featuring an old-fashioned telephone and an army of adorable black labs, but there isn’t time to upload it. Mainly because the walk-ons are about to begin.
Van Gerwen wins the bull and will throw first
I think that’s quite important, though I reserve the right to delete this entire entry if Littler wins the first set. Littler made some slow starts early in the tournament, then he averaged 118.66 in the first set of the quarters and 105.92 in the first set last night.
Start time
As I said all along, it’ll be around 8.15pmish. I’m off to get a coffee and a cold flannel, after which it’ll be time to watch two geniuses assault treble 20.
“I suspect I’m pretty much alone in expecting a runaway winner tonight,” writes Gary Naylor. “Watching the excellent Robbie Williams biopic on Tuesday (bear with me now) reminded me of the power of Impostor Syndrome.
“Darts is a psychological battle and both players will have strong voices in their heads if they go a couple of sets down: ‘I’m not ready for this after all’; ‘I’m past it, have been for years’. Silencing the internal chimp when it starts whispering those thoughts will surely be the deciding factor.”
I don’t expect a runaway winner but it wouldn’t shock me if Littler averaged 108 and won 7-2 or 7-3. The bull could be really important in terms of psychological momentum. Littler can be a brutal frontrunner so MvG would love to throw first, take the first set without drama and see what happens.
It’s also worth noting that only one of the last eight finals has gone to 12 sets, never mind 13. These are the scores: 7-3, 7-2, 7-3, 7-3, 7-3, 7-5, 7-4, 7-4.
Finally, what is Imposter Syndrome? I have never heard of this concept and it certainly is not squatting in my subconscious.
This has been an excellent World Championship – not the best yet, but still a cracker. There has been one huge negative, though: the absence of Wayne Mardle, a man whose expertise, charisma, enthusiasm, generosity of spirit and facility with language enrich every single game on which he commentates.
Mardle has been absent from Sky’s coverage due to the tragic death of his wife Donna, aged just 52, on the eve of the tournament. We won’t hear his voice tonight, but let’s hope we have another ‘I can’t spake’ moment.
From the archive: sporting prodigies
There are some superb entries here, none better than Georgina Turner’s on Martina Hingis.
The best that most of us can hope for from the year we turn 16 is a decent set of exam results and a dinner out at TGI Fridays (milkshakes allowed). Hingis, meanwhile, competed in all four grand slam singles finals, winning three of them
The head-to-head record is Littler 6-6 Van Gerwen. MvG won the biggest game to date, scrapping to a 10-6 win in the first round of the Matchplay, but since then Littler has won their two games by a combined score of 17-5.
Today in Focus podcast
Ever since the then 16-year-old Luke Littler stormed to the final of the World Darts Championship last year, Britain has gone darts mad.
Tickets for this year’s tournament sold out in record time. Today in Focus presenter Helen Pidd and producer Tom Glasser were lucky enough to get two, and they went along to see what the fuss is all about.
Guardian sports writer and darts fan Jonathan Liew is Helen’s guide to the world of arrows, preparing her for the sights and sounds of Alexandra Palace in full swing – and the prospect of witnessing a perfect set of darts, a nine-dart finish, or “the closest thing you get to a biblical miracle in a sporting context”.
Darts has travelled far beyond the pub to become a worldwide sport, and Saudi Arabia is now vying to host a future competition. But will Helen fall in love with the game?
What tonight means for the world rankings
It’s pretty simple. If Littler wins, this will be the top three.
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Luke Humphries
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Luke Littler
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Michael van Gerwen
And if Van Gerwen wins, this will be the top three.
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Luke Humphries
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Michael van Gerwen
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Luke Littler
Rob Cross will stay fourth regardless of the result.
Read Jonathan Liew on semi-final night
Eric Bristow, Phil Taylor, Raymond van Barneveld, Michael van Gerwen: turns out this was the preamble. When the chroniclers of the future come to write the tale of this sport, they will recognise two eras: before Luke Littler, and after.
“So glad you are doing the honours here, sir,” says Ian Copestake. “I bet when you were 17 you were knocking out pretend commentaries on your ZX80! And now here we all are. Clearly the PDC trophy designer is also a cricket fan!”
I was 18, so bad luck. And it was a ZX81.
As the former BDO world champion Mark Webster pointed out on Sky Sports last night, this match are echoes of the 2013 final. Van Gerwen was the emerging sensation – he hit 17 perfect darts in the semi-final, still the most spine-tingling bit of darts I’ve ever seen – and Phil Taylor, 52, was the old don trying to delay the inevitable.
Taylor hadn’t won a world title in three years, the equivalent of a millennium for most players. Van Gerwen led 4-2, missed a dart for 5-2 and was made to pay. Taylor won the last five sets to take the match 7-4 and become world champion for the 16th and final time. It was, as Barney Ronay wrote in this paper, “all about Taylor reasserting his venerable qualities of era-domination in the face of the younger generation”.
Van Gerwen may not have dominated like Taylor, but he’s still been the best player of the era. And even at the age of 35, he’d love to reassert his venerable qualities.
Previously on … darts
You’re new round here aren’t you? It’s okay, we’re all darts fans now. All you need to do to confirm your bona fides is fill in the missing word in this popular chant: “boring boring ______”.
Hang on, the start time is 8pmish, not 8.15pmish! This is also the fault of AI and emphatically not a cock-up on my part. Blimey, we’re 45 minutes away.
Apple news summary says Littler is world champion
Not content with the thrilling progress of Project 2030, the year by which the entire human population will be wiped out, artificial intelligence is now starting to ruin what years we have left. Earlier today, as reported by the BBC, an Apple news summary – written by our old friend Artie Foucault – reported that Luke Littler was the new darts world champion.
Did I say 2030? Enjoy tonight’s final, let’s leave it at that.
Profile: Michael van Gerwen
Nickname: Mighty Mike/MvG
World ranking: No 3
Home town: Vlijmen, Netherlands
Major titles: 48 and counting
PDC worlds best: Winner 2014, 2017 and 2019
Walk-on music: Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes)
A decade ago, Van Gerwen was in Luke Littler’s position; the heir apparent to Phil Taylor’s throne who seemed capable of lifting the world title year after year. The fact he has only won three Ally Pally crowns feels almost disappointing; Van Gerwen has occasionally misplaced his ruthless streak here, losing as many finals as he has won.
Van Gerwen is still only 35, though, and has time to reach a world title haul more fitting his incredible ability. Sometimes tripped up by his desire to totally dominate, the Dutchman has been more sanguine this year and may even enjoy the role of (slight) underdog in the final. If anyone can make tonight miserable for Littler, it is Van Gerwen at his merciless best.
Road to final R2 beat James Hurrell 3-0, R3 bt Brendan Dolan 4-2, R4 bt Jeffrey de Graaf 4-2, QF bt Callan Rydz 5-3, SF bt Chris Dobey 6-1.
Profile: Luke Littler
Nickname: The Nuke
World ranking: No 4
Home town: Warrington
Major titles: PL, World Series, Grand Slam 2024
PDC worlds best: Final 2024, 2025
Walk-on music: Greenlight (Pitbull)
At the start of last year’s tournament, Luke Littler was a name only known to darts aficionados who had picked up on his strong showings at floor events. His incredible run to last year’s world final made him famous far beyond the sport, but while other rising stars have wilted in the spotlight, Littler – still only 17 – has just kept climbing.
Back in the final 12 months later, with three major titles under his belt this year, it feels like a matter of time until Littler is the champion and world No 1. He is the favourite to lift the trophy tonight after hitting a relentless gear from the quarter-finals on; Van Gerwen may have to hope there is some scar tissue left from last year’s defeat to Luke Humphries.
Road to final R2 beat Ryan Meikle 3-1, R3 bt Ian White 4-1, R4 bt Ryan Joyce 4-3, QF bt Nathan Aspinall 5-2, SF bt Stephen Bunting 6-1.
Tournament stats
Three-dart average
Littler 102.13
Van Gerwen 99.75
Checkout percentage
Littler 41.0
Van Gerwen 43.9
180s
Littler 64
Van Gerwen 43
Highest checkout
Littler 170
Van Gerwen 158
Stats courtesy of the wonderful Darts Orakel
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the PDC World Championship final between Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen. It’s a dream final between the two greatest 17-year-olds in darts history; what makes it even more tantalising is that one of them is now aged 35.
On 17 February 2007, when Van Gerwen reinforced his reputation as the next genius of darts by hitting a televised nine-darter against Raymond van Barneveld, Littler was 27 days old. Now he’s the phenomenon and Van Gerwen is fighting to stay young and relevant.
Littler is the big story – how can he not be – but this is probably a bigger game for Van Gerwen. When he won the worlds for the first time at the age of 24 (he lost his way for a few years after that initial impact), many felt he would threaten Phil Taylor’s record of 16 world championships. Instead he has been stuck on three titles since beating Michael Smith in 2019. It’s still more than anyone else in the same period, but it’s not the domination that was expected – and that is now assumed of Littler even before he has won his first.
Littler can’t be stopped, only delayed. After surviving a mid-match battering to win last year’s final, Luke Humphries acknowledged as much. “All day, in the back of my mind, I’ve been thinking, ‘Get this won now because he’s gonna dominate world darts soon!’”
Littler is odds-on favourite and leads in most of the big tournament statistics (average, 180s, highest checkout). Van Gerwen is slightly ahead on the doubles, though, and the outer ring is surely his route to victory. Yes, yes, of course it bloody is, he’s not going to finish every leg on the bull is he?
You know what I mean. If the timing of his finishing is as good as it was in the quarter-finals, when he resisted an extended, Littlerian barrage from Callan Rydz, he will probably become a four-time world champion. But if both men males play as they did in the semi-final last night, Littler could win handsomely.
Ach, I haven’t a clue. It should be brilliant, it could be epic, it might even be the greatest match of all time. As neutrals we are guaranteed one thing, something modern society values almost as highly as oxygen: narrative satisfaction. Either Luke Littler will become champion of the world at the age of 17 or Michael van Gerwen will end six confusing, sometimes miserable years without a world title. May the best genius win.
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Format Best of 13 sets
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Start time 8.15pmish
The highly anticipated final of the PDC World Darts Championship is finally here, and it’s a showdown between Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen.
Both players have had an incredible tournament so far, showcasing their skill, determination, and nerves of steel. Littler has been the surprise package of the tournament, defeating some of the biggest names in darts to reach the final. On the other hand, van Gerwen, a three-time world champion, is no stranger to the big stage and will be looking to add another title to his impressive resume.
As the final gets underway, the tension is palpable in the arena. The crowd is on the edge of their seats, eagerly anticipating every throw and every checkout. Both players are in top form, hitting big scores and crucial doubles with precision.
It’s a close match, with neither player willing to give an inch. The atmosphere is electric as Littler and van Gerwen trade blows, each determined to come out on top. The match goes down to the wire, with every leg crucial in determining the outcome.
In the end, it’s Littler who emerges victorious, defeating van Gerwen in a thrilling final to claim his first PDC World Darts Championship title. The crowd erupts in celebration as Littler is crowned the new world champion, a deserving winner after a phenomenal performance throughout the tournament.
Congratulations to Luke Littler on his historic victory, and commiserations to Michael van Gerwen for a valiant effort. The PDC World Darts Championship has once again delivered a spectacle for darts fans around the world, and we can’t wait to see what the next edition has in store.
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