Luke Littler vs Michael van Gerwen: Rivalry reaches peak in World Darts Championship final | News about darts
Twelve matches, six wins each. Luke Littler v Michael van Gerwen has become a box-office fixture over the past 12 months, with the rivalry set to reach its peak on Friday in the World Cup final.
Littler’s meteoric rise to the 2024 World Darts Championship, where he finished runner-up to Luke Humphries, was backed up by Premier League titles, World Darts Series Finals and Grand Slam Darts Finals.
Van Gerwen, on the other hand, did not win a televised tournament in 2024, the first time he has not won in a calendar year since 2011.
Friday’s final is by far the most important meeting between the two, as Van Gerwen seeks his fourth world title and Littler his first.
So how did we get here?
Littler drops the marker but MVG counters
Two weeks after last year’s World Darts Championship, Littler scored nine goals in his quarter-final win over Nathan Aspinall at the Bahrain Darts Masters to meet Van Gerwen in the final on 19 January.
It was the first of many meetings between two of darts’ most talented players, with Littler coming out on top 8-5 to lift his first senior PDC title on his World Cup debut.
Van Gerwen has vowed to do better the next time the pair meet; that he would “get” Littler. He did just that just a week later on home soil at the Dutch Darts Masters.
A thrilling final saw both players go at each other and there was nothing to separate them until the last leg when Van Gerwen punished a missed 170 from Littler to win 8-6.
“Luke put me under so much pressure,” said Van Gerwen, who won his 16th World Darts crown.
“Luke has a very bright future ahead of him. We all know that, but you still want to stop him, and you have to do the right things against him, which I did tonight.
“His scoring power is huge so you have to keep fighting, but I’m glad I was able to do that.”
Big first league matches
The Premier League Darts format means that the world’s top eight players meet every Thursday for 17 weeks, so we would naturally see plenty of Van Gerwen v Littler matches.
On another evening in early February, Littler missed two match arrows in the Berlin final and Van Gerwen punished him for a 6-5 victory and let out a huge roar when he won, underscoring how much it meant to the Dutchman to beat the teenager.
Two weeks later in Newcastle, Van Gerwen again wrested victory from Littler in the decider, this time in the semi-finals, and went on to win on the night.
However, the next three matches went in Littler’s favor. On the seventh night in Nottingham, Littler averaged a sensational 114 with an incredible 6-2 quarter-final win over Van Gerwen. It was a match in which Van Gerwen “finished” Littler’s attempt with nine darts.
Littler took full advantage of the under-par Van Gerwen with two 6-3 wins in the coming weeks, but the Dutchman won the final on Night 11 with a 6-3 win of his own.
The last Premier League meeting was won by Van Gerwen 6-1, but Littler ended up winning the whole thing as MVG lost in the semi-finals to Humphries.
Van Gerwen stuns Littler at World Matchplay
Van Gerwen and Littler drew in the first round of the World Matchplay and it was, surprisingly, a one-sided contest.
The three-time world champion knocked Littler out 6-1, but lost to Humphries in the final.
Littler got the better of Van Gerwen in the semifinals of the World Series of Darts and on the European Tour, so he has the better recent form.
Still, looking at the bigger moments, Van Gerwen has the upper hand and that could be important on Friday.
What do Van Gerwen and Littler think of each other?
Michael van Gerwen:
“I think he’s great. What he’s done for the sport is great. Fair play to him.
“Television and social media are big helping him. It’s good for darts in general. I don’t mind.”
Luke Littler:
“As I got older, I watched darts more and more. The first one [Van Gerwen match] I remember the 2017 final when he beat Gary [Anderson].
– It’s been there for years and years and I’m sure it won’t change for anyone.
What’s next?
Luke Littler is one win away from making history after reaching his second consecutive world championship final. The 17-year-old from Warrington will take on Michael van Gerwen, who is chasing his fourth world title after bulldozing his way to the final. Follow the drama unfolding this Friday from 19.30 Sky Sports Darts.
Watch Premier League Darts on Sky Sports
Watch all the action from Premier League on Sky Sports with Luke Littler wants to defend his title. The new Premier League season will kick off in Belfast on Thursday 6 February as darts’ biggest party returns to an unchanged line-up of 17 venues across the UK and Europe.
Who will win the Premier League Darts? Watch all the action on Sky Sports. Stream darts and more top sports with NOW.
