Teenager Luke Littler blew away fellow Englishman Ryan Searle at London’s Alexandra Palace on Saturday AEDT to qualify for his third consecutive World Darts Championship final.
And on Sunday, he’ll look to defend his title against Dutch European champion Gian van Veen, 24, who beat veteran two-time champion Gary Anderson 6-3 in the “match of his life”.
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The defending champion and current world number one, who turns 19 later this month, bounced back after losing the first set to win his semi-final against the 38-year-old Searle 6-1.
“I went 1-0 down, I wasn’t the happiest,” Littler told Sky.
“I thought I didn’t play that well. Everyone knows I want to go 1-0 up. “Big shout out to Ryan. He’s done amazingly this tournament, he can be proud. We go again tomorrow.” Littler reached his first final two years ago when he was just 16, losing to Luke Humphries but he came back last year to claim the title against the Netherlands’ Michael van Gerwen to become the youngest world champion in darts history at 17.
His popularity has dipped this year after reacting to fans cheering for his opponents.
“You guys pay for the tickets and you pay for my prize money so thank you, thank you for my money! Thank you for booing me,” he snapped earlier in the week after beating former world champion Rob Cross, prompting some boos on Saturday.
In the second semi-final, Anderson took the opening set before Van Veen came back strongly to charge into a 4-1 lead.
But the 55-year-old Scotsman showed all his quality as he battled back by winning the next two.
Crucially, Van Veen held firm to win the next set and move into a 5-3 lead, closing out another tight set to book his place in the final.
“Finally, some emotion from Gian van Veen,” said the Sky Sports broadcast after his win. “He has produced the performance of his life, the match of his life in a sensational semi-final.
“More than that, he has beaten his idol, he has beaten his hero in Gary Anderson, who was denied the opportunity to have a crack for a third world title.
“Gary did very little wrong, but that man (van Veen) did everything right … what a stunning win for Gian van Veen.”
Van Veen became just the third Dutchman to make it to the tournament’s final.
Speaking to Sky in the post-match, van Veen said: “Gary threw everything at me … (but) today, I withstood it. I felt comfortable up here. The crowd was a bit against me, but it’s fair play because Gary is so fantastic.”
The Dutch star was prompted on his upcoming decider against phenom Littler.
“Everyone’s seen what Luke’s capable of these past couple of years,” he said.
“He’s played fantastic this tournament, but so have I, so I’m really looking forward to that game.
“Hopefully, it’s going to be a great game — but first of all, I’m going to enjoy this victory.”
The 2026 world champion will receive £1 million (AU$2 million), double last year’s purse.
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