Key events
For the first time all tournament, Luke Littler looks like a boy. He’s struggling to take it all in, doesn’t know what to do, can’t believe what he’s achieved. As a great sports commentator once said, I swear you’ll never see anything like this ever again.
Littler almost finished it in astonishing style, hitting two bulls before missing D16 for a 132. He was back to hit the same double and complete an astonishing triumph. He almost breaks down, embraces a smiling Van Gerwen – who is always so sporting in defeat – and finally utters one simple word to himself: “Wow.”
Luke Littler is the new world champion!
Littler 7-3 Van Gerwen (legs 3-0) Darts will never be the same again. Luke Littler, who doesn’t turn 18 for another 18 days, is the greatest darts player in the world!
Littler is one leg away from glory!
Littler breaks! Littler 6-3 Van Gerwen (legs 2-0) A mighty 171 leaves Littler on 62 after nine darts. Van Gerwen can’t live with his pace and Littler hits tops for a 12-dart break. He’s on the brink of an achievement like no other.
Littler 6-3 Van Gerwen (legs 1-0) Littler hammers in D10 to move within two legs. Van Gerwen is still fighting and briefly threatened a 137, only to miss his first attempt at tops for a double double.
Van Gerwen wins the ninth set!
Van Gerwen breaks! Littler 6-3 Van Gerwen (legs 1-3) I’m pretty sure Van Gerwen’s only breaks of throw have been in sets where he has the darts. He does it again to take the ninth set, another impressive effort with a three-figure average.
And now for the bit that really matters: Luke Littler needs three holds of throw to become world champion.
Littler 6-2 Van Gerwen (legs 1-2) Van Gerwen doesn’t get a shot from 66. For once he’s okay, with Littler back on 251. He returns for a 13-darter.
The game has now settled into a familiar rhythm – hold after hold after hold. Van Gerwen will be haunted by his doubles in the first four sets because the rest of the game has been close. There are only two points between them in the averages as I type.
Littler 6-2 Van Gerwen (legs 1-1) Van Gerwen can’t get near breaking Littler. He leaves 20 after 15 darts, which would be fine if only he were playing against a human being. Littler hits tops for a 16-darter.
It’s not just Littler’s natural ability, or his competitive instinct, that boggle the mind. He has the timing of a veteran, the aura of a serial winner.
Littler 6-2 Van Gerwen (legs 0-1) Littler almost brings the house down by missing the bull for a 164 against throw. Van Gerwen cleans up 89 in two darts. He’s played really well in the last few sets; but he left it far too late.
Littler’s overall performance hasn’t been an all-timer – he averages 102.96, which is excellent rather than eye-watering. But within that there have been several genuinely awesome moments. Also – I’m not sure if anyone has mentioned this – he’s sevenbloodyteen.
In the eighth set, Michael van Gerwen averaged 108.92. Didn’t get a dart at double. Littler averaged 112.73 and hit three of his four checkout attempts.
Littler is one set away from becoming world champion!
Littler 6-2 Van Gerwen (legs 3-0) This is done. In the time it took me to edit and reply to the below email, Littler bulldozed his way to another leg. Was that 12 darts? 15? Are we all free?
“At the start of the sixth set they changed referees!” writes J.R. in Illinois. “From Kirk (The Kirkulator) Bevins to Huw (don’t know of any nickname) Ware. Have they changed referees mid-game before? I don’t recall.”
I’m pretty sure they do that in all world finals – I guess partly to reward two referees and also because the demands are so great. With a maximum of 65 legs, even the Kirkulator might malfunction. It’s Huw Ware’s first final, a lovely moment for him.
Littler breaks! Littler 5-2 Van Gerwen (legs 2-0) This will be Van Gerwen’s third successive final defeat: he lost to Peter Wright in 2020 and Michael Smith in 2023.
Littler hits 177 to leave 50 after nine against the darts. Van Gerwen makes a mess of 128, starting with a single 4, and Littler cleans up with a frightening nonchalance.
Littler 5-2 Van Gerwen (legs 1-0) Littler has the throw in the eighth set. He misses the bull for a 130, but MvG can’t set up from 158 and Littler hits you-know-where for a 14-darter. Death, taxes, Littler on D10 and all that.
Match stats (after seven sets)
Averages
Littler 101.99
Van Gerwen 98.51
Checkouts
Littler 54.55%
Van Gerwen 31.43%
180s
Littler 11
Van Gerwen 11
Legs
Littler 18
Van Gerwen 11
Van Gerwen wins the seventh set!
Littler 5-2 Van Gerwen (legs 2-3) Van Gerwen starts with a 180, on his own throw, but Littler still puts him under serious pressure by leaving 65 after 12. Van Gerwen hits tops to complete a 13-darter, and with it the set. Admirable defiant stuff from Van Gerwen, who averaged 108 in the seventh set to Littler’s 103. Trouble is, ultimately it was only a hold of throw.
Littler 5-1 Van Gerwen (legs 2-2) Van Gerwen is first to a finish on the Littler throw, although it’s a tricky 139 and Littler then sets up 46.
Van Gerwen can only hit 41 and Littler does the needful on tops. Another deciding leg – if Littler breaks here, he will be one set away.
Littler 5-1 Van Gerwen (legs 1-2) Van Gerwen’s scoring remains outstanding in the circumstances. He hits D6 for a 12-darter, having already missed one at D12. But he needed to take it because Littler was lurking with chilling intent on 170.
Littler 5-1 Van Gerwen (legs 1-1) Van Gerwen gets down to an even hundred for a potential break. That’s all it will ever be: Littler assaults the bullseye to complete a 124 checkout.
Littler 5-1 Van Gerwen (legs 0-1) Van Gerwen won’t give up. He almost makes a mess of 36, hitting D4, but eventually cleans up on D14.
Luke Littler wins the sixth set!
Littler 5-1 Van Gerwen (legs 3-2) For the third leg in a row, Littler starts with a 180 on his own throw. From there it’s an uphill slog for Van Gerwen, who does well to leave 51 after 12. Doesn’t matter: Littler takes out 35 on D10 to move within two sets of becoming world champion!
If you don’t break Littler in four visits, you don’t break Littler.
Littler 4-1 Van Gerwen (legs 2-2) Van Gerwen holds in 15 darts to take the set to a deciding leg – but only after Littler misses the bull for a 127. If MvG is to have any chance, any chance, he has to break in the next leg.
Littler 4-1 Van Gerwen (legs 2-1) Littler keeps MvG at arm’s length by starting with four perfect darts on throw. The eventual result is a comfortable 12-dart hold. This is quite dizzying.
Littler 4-1 Van Gerwen (legs 1-1) Van Gerwen hits another 180 – he’s 9-8 ahead on that score – en route to a very uncomfortable hold. He needed Littler to miss one dart at tops, then had to go out on D1 himself.
Littler 4-1 Van Gerwen (legs 1-0) It was all a mirage. Littler starts after the break with back-to-back 180s, just to remind Van Gerwen that he is trapped in a world of pain. The seventh dart sneaks into T1 but he eventually goes out in 13 darts with Van Gerwen back on 94.
“My five- and seven-year-olds are thoroughly jetlagged here in Dubai after getting back from the UK this morning, so here we are, chugging through the toast at 1am with me explaining the sport as we go,” writes Luke Thompson. “The eldest just said ‘Luke is definitely a jedi name, and he is using the force’. For Van Gerwen: ‘These are not the darts you are looking for’.”
“It’s Littler’s mentality that strikes me the most,” says David Howell. “He’s literally in a tournament whose title sponsor – and a secondary one whose logo is prominent right below the dartboard – provide goods and services that people his age are prevented from legally using over entirely valid fears of the consequences of them doing so with their brains still developing. And he’s winning it with more than a little help from his mental toughness! As his Gen Z peers might put it (I think), he’s just built different.”
Littler averaged 107 in that set to MvG’s 100. But he only had one dart at double to MvG’s eight. And for the first time in this match, MvG’s set checkout percentage was half decent: 37.50 to be precise.
Van Gerwen wins the fifth set!
Van Gerwen breaks! Littler 4-1 Van Gerwen (legs 1-3) Fair play to MvG, who could easily have waved the white flag and accepted a whitewash. Instead, with Littler on 36, he brings back memories of the 2013 Premier League final by taking out 132 to seal the set: 25, 57, 50.
It’s a break of throw in the leg, though not the set. Even so, that took courage and skill.
Littler 4-0 Van Gerwen (legs 1-2) Littler hits another 180 against throw. After 12 darts, MvG is on 80, Littler 101. MvG strikes on D10 to win successive legs on throw. It’s a start.
The last whitewash in a PDC final was in 2006, when LUKE LITTLER WASN’T ALIVE Phil Taylor reminded Peter Manley of the natural order. He did it to Manley four years earlier, too, and John Part the year before that, and Dennis Priestley in 1994. But he was an established great, a grown man.
Littler 4-0 Van Gerwen (legs 1-1) Littler pops tops for a jaunty 130 finish, with Van Gerwen waiting on 196. And why not?
Littler 4-0 Van Gerwen (legs 0-1) Van Gerwen misses four at double for a hold and is a bit lucky to hit D10 via a deflection. Mind you, he earned the chance with some superb scoring – it’s a minor miracle, in the circumstances, that this part of his game is still in good order.
Let’s be clear about this: Luke Littler is not a generational talent. He’s a multi-generational talent, one of the most astonishing things we’ve seen in any sport. Any kind of victory tonight would have been extraordinary. But a potential whitewash? At the age of 17? Against Michael van Gerwen? I can’t think, never mind spake.
Littler breaks again to win the fourth set!
Littler 4-0 Van Gerwen (legs 3-1) Unreal. With Van Gerwen on 32 for a hold, Littler misses the bull for 170 and with it the fourth set. But even the attempt is enough to unsettle Van Gerwen, who misses two doubles and busts his score trying desperately to reach D4. Littler is waiting on 25. I won’t insult your intelligence by telling you what happens next.
Van Gerwen breaks! Littler 3-0 Van Gerwen (legs 2-1) Van Gerwen’s umpteenth 180 leaves him on 70, with a chance to break Littler for the first time. He misses D16, only to get a rare reprieve whewn Littler misses two at the same double for the set. Van Gerwen wheezes over the line on double eight.
Littler breaks! Littler 3-0 Van Gerwen (legs 2-0) What day is this? Littler is taking a truly great player to the cleaners; he leads 11-2 in legs!
Littler 3-0 Van Gerwen (legs 1-0) Not for the first time in this tournament, the TV director zooms in on treble 20 for Littler even though he’s not on a 180. It’s an easy mistake to make.
Littler is taking the mickey now. He takes out 70 in two darts – bull and double 10 – after MvG fails to set up from 124. This is brutal.
The match averages are similar, both around 97, but Van Gerwen’s doubling has been disastrous.
Littler wins the third set against the throw!
Littler 3-0 Van Gerwen (legs 3-1) Van Gerwen, who desperately needs a break in this leg, starts with a 180. He gets down to 91 after nine – but then Littler misses the bull for a 170 and that seems to unsettle MvG. He doesn’t even get a dart from 91 and Littler mops up. He leads 9-2 in legs and, far more importantly, 3-0 in sets.
Littler breaks! Littler 2-0 Van Gerwen (legs 2-1) Van Gerwen’s checkout percentage is down to 18; that was supposed to be his trump card. He’s in all sorts of bother here because Littler has nicked the darts and leaves 70 after 12.
Littler misses two for a break, tops and tens, yet he still has time to return and take out D10. He’s now throwing for a 3-0 lead – and he has the darts in the fourth set.
Littler 2-0 Van Gerwen (legs 1-1) Van Gerwen is still scoring really well – but his double woes continue when he misses three at tops for what would and should have been a really impressive break. Littler punishes him, last dart in hand, on D5.
Littler 2-0 Van Gerwen (legs 0-1) Littler’s scoring is such that his opponents hardly ever get a peaceful leg. Van Gerwen hits D12 for a 13-darter and a much-needed hold. Littler was lurking with intent on tops.