Luke Littler vs Gian van Veen: New rivalry takes centre stage at World Darts Championship remaining at Alexandra Palace

Simply over two years in the past, Luke Littler and Gian van Veen went head-to-head within the World Youth Championship remaining in a match that maybe marked the beginning of an extended, thrilling rivalry.

Whereas a lot has been stated in regards to the unimaginable Littler who has modified the notion of darts within the UK and turn out to be one of many nation’s greatest stars, over within the Netherlands Van Veen has slowly crept up the rankings and is now the Dutch No 1, ending Michael van Gerwen’s reign of practically 14 years.

Final 12 months’s World Championship remaining noticed considerably of a handing of the baton from Van Gerwen to Littler. This 12 months’s decider sees two gamers who may tear it up for many years to come back and take the game to new heights.

Sky Sports activities Darts‘ Wayne Mardle stated: “They are young stars. They are the now. We are saying this could be the future for year after and year after but you still have Luke Humphries and Gary Anderson in there.

“What this proves for me is when you’re on the up, you’re able to something. It occurred with Luke Humphries, with Luke Littler.

“You are on the up then get this momentum of, ‘I’m playing well, I’m the best’. Van Veen is in that rich vein of form of, ‘this is the best darts I have played in my life’.”

Littler and Van Veen locked in head-to-head

Most darts gamers have a dropping head-to-head towards Littler however Van Veen, 23, is definitely stage with the reigning world champion at 3-3.

They first met on the PDC Circuit in November 2023 on the World Youth Championship the place a 16-year-old Littler defeated Van Veen 6-4, then went on a rare run on the World Championship a month later, dropping the ultimate to Humphries.

Van Veen stated of the youth remaining: “I performed okay, I performed effectively however I believe after that recreation I stated to myself, ‘okay, now the entire broad world is aware of what Luke Littler is about’.

“Going into that match, I was favoured by to the bookmakers, which is only a little more than two years ago. It sounds really crazy to be favoured against Luke Littler, but that was the case at that time.

“After that match, I knew what Luke was able to and he confirmed it on that stage. I stated to myself, ‘okay, you can provide him recreation’. I missed one dart to go 5-0, however then afterwards, we had so many nice battles.”

Littler instantly grew to become a drive in darts, changing into Premier League champion and gained two different main titles earlier than changing into world champion at first of 2025.

In the meantime, Van Veen was nonetheless slowly constructing his profession with a run to the Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finals being the one spotlight in 2024 – though he did turn out to be world youth champion.

The 2025 season noticed the Dutchman kick on although. He misplaced to Littler 10-4 within the UK Open quarter-finals in March however obtained the higher of him 7-6 within the behind-closed-doors Gamers Championship 5.

Extra spectacular wins over Littler got here on the European Tour although in entrance of a crowd with 7-4 and 6-4 victories. Granted, these didn’t occur at majors nevertheless it certainly gave Van Veen the boldness that he may beat one of the best participant on the earth.

Littler obtained the higher of him in an epic first-round match at October’s World Grand Prix. The scoreline doesn’t inform the story as Littler gained 2-0 in units however Van Veen produced the best common within the event’s historical past with 106.47. Littler had checkouts of 151 and 144 on his approach to 105.58 common (a outstanding quantity given you will need to begin every leg on a double in that occasion).

If we get something like that newest contest between the duo in Saturday’s World Championship remaining, we ought to be in for fairly one thing. The pinnacle-to-head suggests if one individual can crack Littler, will probably be Van Veen, who has been flying since profitable his first senior main title in late October – the European Championship.

Will lack of problem for Littler damage him?

Littler’s path to the World Championship remaining opened up on paper with a number of seeds in his half exiting sooner than anticipated together with Gerwyn Value, Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey.

{The teenager} didn’t drop a set in his opening three matches and has solely misplaced three in the entire event – two to Rob Cross within the fourth spherical and one to Ryan Searle within the semi-finals.

“The biggest test was against Rob. Obviously I had that 3-1 lead, then he started to pick it up again and I just had to get him out of the way, get the job done, which I did,” stated Littler.

“There was a tough test against David Davies. He missed loads of doubles. If he hit them doubles, it’s a totally different game. A win’s a win though.”

If there may be one small weak point, if any, in Littler’s recreation – he could be a gradual starter. He may have misplaced the primary set to Lithuania’s Darius Labanauskas and Wales’ Davis Davies in his opening matches however confirmed his means to nearly lock in and produce unimaginable darts below stress – a trait Van Veen might want to be careful for.

Littler misplaced the primary set within the semi-finals to Ryan Searle however ‘Heavy Metallic’ didn’t have the firepower to face on the fuel pedal and reply to his opponent elevating his recreation. That is the place Van Veen ought to have the ability to a minimum of make Littler work tougher and punish the English participant for any errors.

“Everyone’s seen what Luke’s capable of in the last couple of years,” Van Veen, who had not gained a match on the World Championship till this event, instructed Sky Sports activities Darts.

“He’s played fantastic in this tournament but so have I. I’m really looking forward to that game. Hopefully it will be a great game.”

And Van Veen has been spectacular, significantly in essential levels of matches as he demonstrated in a 5-1 win over Luke Humphries within the quarter-finals, profitable three deciding legs from six units.

The 23-year-old was robust once more when Gary Anderson mounted a comeback within the semi-finals and the gang jeered Van Veen to attempt to put him off.

“When the crowd got involved, I got a bit frustrated but I am relieved I got the job done in the end, even with the crowd against me,” he stated.

Early levels of a brand new period?

Over the past decade, a number of gamers have been on the forefront of darts together with Peter Wright, Value, Cross, Michael Smith, Anderson, Van Gerwen and Humphries.

However, Littler and Van Veen have age on their facet and can certainly solely get higher. Their scoring energy is already ferocious and each gamers can be conscious they could have to win nearly all of their legs inside 4 visits in Saturday’s remaining simply to carry throw.

“He [Littler] is going to put you under pressure from set one. It could be 13 sets,” stated Van Veen.

“Hopefully I’m going to take my chances, keep up with him scoring-wise, because he’s probably the better scorer than I am. I just need to keep up, take my chances and then I’ve got a chance.”

Littler’s document over lengthy matches is unimaginable. He has misplaced simply one among his 25 matches in contests which have lasted 20 legs and longer, and that was the 2024 World Championship remaining towards Humphries.

The world No 1 is aiming to turn out to be the primary participant to defend their title since Anderson a decade in the past however Van Veen could possibly be the thorn in his facet for years to come back because the pair push one another to unprecedented ranges.

Sky Sports activities Darts‘ Mardle stated: “Whoever wins or loses, it doesn’t change whether it’s the best spell in their life or not. It’s just a case of cracking on and doing it again.

“We stated Littler and Humphries would take part in all these finals for years to come back. We did not see this taking place.

“But since October, when Van Veen won the European Championship, he’s the one to challenge Luke Littler. It’s an exciting time for darts.”

Who will win the Paddy Energy World Darts Championship? Watch each match solely reside till Saturday’s remaining on Sky Sports activities’ devoted darts channel (Sky channel 407). Stream darts and extra prime sport with NOW.