Luke Littler v Gian van Veen: A new rivalry takes center stage in the World Darts Championship final at Alexandra Palace | dart news

Almost two years ago, Luke Littler and Gian van Veen faced off in the final of the World Youth Championships, in what may have been the start of a long and thrilling rivalry.

While much has been said about the incredible Littler, who changed the perception of darts in England and became one of the country’s biggest stars, in the Netherlands Van Veen has slowly worked his way up the ranks and is now the Dutch number one, ending Michael van Gerwen’s almost 14-year reign.

Last year’s World Championship final saw Van Gerwen handing over the baton to Littler. This year’s decider looks at two players who could take the sport to new heights for decades to come.

sky sports dartsWayne Mardle said: “They are young stars. They are now. We are saying this could be years down the road, but we still have Luke Humphries and Gary Anderson.

“What this proves to me is that if you rise, you can do anything. That’s what happened with Luke Humphries and Luke Littler.

“You’re on the rise and you get the momentum of ‘I’m playing well, I’m the best’. Van Veen falls into that rich form of ‘this is the best darts I’ve ever played in my life’.”

Littler and Van Veen went head to head.

Most darts players would lose to Littler head-on, but 23-year-old Van Veen is actually tied at 3-3 with the reigning world champion.

They first met on the PDC circuit at the World Youth Championships in November 2023, when the 16-year-old Littler beat Van Veen 6-4, before a stunning performance at the World Championships a month later, where he lost to Humphries in the final.

Van Veen said of the youth finals: “I had a decent run and played well, but I think after the game I thought, ‘Okay, now the whole world knows what Luke Littler is.’

“Going into that fight he was the bookmakers’ favourite, and only two years ago he was given preferential treatment against Luke Littler. It sounded absolutely ridiculous at the time, but it was.

“After that game I knew what Luke could do and he showed it on that stage. I said to myself, ‘Okay, I can give him a good game.’ I missed a dart to go 5-0, but we had a lot of great battles after that.”

Littler immediately became a force in darts, becoming Premier League champion and winning two other major titles before becoming world champion in early 2025.

Meanwhile, Van Veen was still slowly building his career, with his only highlight of 2024 being a run to the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts. Even though he became a world youth champion.

But the 2025 season has started for the Dutchman. He lost 10-4 to Littler in the quarterfinals of the UK Open in March, but won 7-6 in the behind-closed-doors Players Championship 5.

More impressive wins for Littler came in front of crowds on the European Tour with 7-4 and 6-4 wins. Of course, this never happened in a major tournament, but it certainly gave Van Veen confidence that he could beat the best player in the world.

Littler beat him in an epic first round match at the World Grand Prix in October. Although Littler won the set 2-0, the scoreline doesn’t tell the story as Van Veen had the highest average in the history of the tournament at 106.47. Littler recorded checkouts of 151 and 144 while averaging 105.58 (remarkable numbers considering the event requires you to start each leg with a double).

If something like what happened between the two in the World Championship finals recently happened on Saturday, we’d be in for quite a treat. A head-to-head match suggests that if one man can break Littler, it will be Van Veen, who has continued his flight since winning his first senior major title at the European Championships in late October.

Will Littler’s lack of challenge hurt him?

With half of his seeds finishing earlier than expected, including Gerwyn Price, Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey, Littler’s path to the World Championship finals was opened on paper.

The teenager didn’t drop a set in his opening three matches and lost just three times in the entire tournament. Two losses to Rob Cross in the fourth round and one loss to Ryan Searle in the semi-finals.

“The biggest test was against Rob, obviously I was up 3-1 and he started catching again and I had to get the job done without getting in his way, which I did,” Littler said.

“There was a tough test against David Davies. He missed a lot of doubles. If he hits a double it’s a completely different game. Still, a win is a win.”

If there’s one small weakness in Littler’s game, it could be that he’s a slow starter. He may have lost the first set to Lithuania’s Darius Labanauskas and Wales’ Davis Davies in the opener, but he showed an ability to almost lock in and produce some incredible darts under pressure. This is a trait Van Veen should watch out for.

Littler lost the first set to Ryan Searle in the semifinals, but ‘Heavy Metal’ didn’t have the firepower to press his foot on the gas and respond as his opponent upped his game. This is where Van Veen needs to be able to at least make Littler work harder and punish England players for mistakes.

“Everyone has seen what Luke has been capable of over the last few years,” said Van Veen, who had never won a World Championship until this tournament. sky sports darts.

“He has played fantastically in this tournament, but so have I. I am really looking forward to the game. I hope it will be a great game.”

And Van Veen was particularly impressive in key stages of the game. That’s because he won the third game in six sets with a 5-1 win over Luke Humphries in the quarterfinals.

The 23-year-old came back strong when Gary Anderson returned in the semi-final and the crowd booed Van Veen to stop him.

“I was a little frustrated when the crowd got involved, but I’m relieved that we got the job done in the end, even with the crowd against us,” he said.

Early stages of a new era?

Several players have been at the forefront of darts over the past decade, including Peter Wright, Price, Cross, Michael Smith, Anderson, Van Gerwen and Humphries.

But Littler and Van Veen are older and will definitely get better. Their scoring output is already strong and both players will find themselves needing to win the majority of the legs within four visits just to remain in the toss in Saturday’s final.

“He (Littler) will feel the pressure from the first set, it could be 13 sets,” Van Veen said.

“I’m going to take my chances and keep following the way he scores, because he’s probably a better scorer than me. I’m going to keep taking my chances and I’ll get my chances.”

Littler’s record over the long game is remarkable. He has lost only one of his 25 matches in competitions lasting more than 20 legs, and that was the 2024 World Championship final against Humphries.

The world number one is aiming to become the first man to defend his title since Anderson a decade ago, but van Veen could be a thorn in his side for years to come as the pair push each other to unprecedented levels.

sky sports dartsMardle said: “No matter who wins or loses, it doesn’t change whether it’s the best spell of your life or not. It’s just a case of doing it again and again.

“We said Littler and Humphries would be in all these finals for the next few years. We didn’t see this happening.

“But since October when Van Veen won the European Championships he has become the man to challenge Luke Littler. It is an exciting time for darts.”

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