Key events
Set one averages
That was such a dramatic last leg. Both men missed three darts at double, but Littler would have had more had he not hit single 3 when he was on 81.
Van Veen wins the first set 3-2
A dramatic final leg is nicked by Gian van Veen! Littler started the leg with a 180 and led almost throughout. Van Veen wired the bull for a 170 finish with Littler waiting on 81 – but Littler couldn’t go out in two subsequent visits as the leg descended into a mini-orgy of missed doubles. Finally Van Veen hit D4 to hold throw and win the first set.
Van Veen breaks back!
First set: Littler (0) 2-2 (0) Van Veen* A fabulous 164 – three treble 18s – gives Van Veen the chance of an instant break back. He wires the bull for an 89, Littler misses D5 for a 95 and Van Veen hoovers up on D8. Now he will throw for the first set.
Littler breaks!
First set: *Littler (0) 2-1 (0) Van Veen An almost bizarrely poor leg from Van Veen, who is still on 260 after 12 darts. At the same stage Littler is on tops; he returns for a 13-darter and will now throw for the first set.
First set: Littler (0) 1-1 (0) Van Veen* Oh here we go. Littler misses the bull for a 161 – you’d put the farm on a 170 tonight – before cleaning up on 25. Lovely start from both men.
First set: *Littler (0) 0-1 (0) Van Veen A fabulous start from Van Veen, who begins with back-to-back 140s before taking out 116 to hold in 12 darts. Nervous my derriere.
An expert speaks
“Being very much a Harry Kewell of darts (only turn up for the big games – This joke was brought to you from 2005), I’ve found it fascinating seeing Littler get genuine pelters from the crowd, then the reaction from him (and the crowds) over the next couple of games,” writes Matt Dony. “He was such a feelgood story when he first appeared, and so popular, I hadn’t really seen any pantomime stuff thrown his way before, although I’m sure it’s probably happened.
“It’s surely unprecedented to reach the ‘live long enough to become the villain’ stage before turning 19. What an extraordinary career already. Not sure who I want to win, but should be a good ‘un!”
The walk-ons
Gian van Veen breaks into a little smile when he is announced as “the newly crowned Dutch No1”. No sign of nerves at all, not to my eyes anyway.
Littler has seen it all before – insert age here – and strolls to the stage as if he was playing an exhibition in a south London boozer.
“One of the things I find fascinating about darts is that it’s so much about the mental side as much as the talent,” says Phil Sawyer. “I was discussing with my dad earlier about how Littler doesn’t mind playing the villain; like Bristow, Taylor and MvG he’s got that single minded high achieving sports personality focus on what he’s doing.
“Actually I think Littler likes a bit of confrontation to fire him up, for some reason he reminds me a little of Steve Waugh.I also thought it was interesting that Van Veen has also blocked out booing in this tournament. The kind of thing that would have mortals like you and I barely able to hit the board, especially if we were already struggling to throw darts in the first place.
“Basically, the mental strength of the people that reach the peak in this sport leave me in awe.”
Damn straight.
Van Veen has won the bull and will throw first.
Before we start, a word for the referee George Noble and the MC John McDonald, two giants of the sport who are hanging up their larynges after tonight.
“What did you think of Van Veen’s interview last night?” says Gary Naylor. “He’s obviously a lovely bloke and it’s clearly better for one’s wellbeing to be ‘super happy’ after beating Gary Anderson in a real arm-wrestle, but does he think (perhaps subconsciously) that he’s now achieved his objective? I hope he does win tonight, but I’m not sure the iron will required to stand on the oche against Littler can be summoned less than 24 hours after such a high.”
No, I think Van Veen is wired differently to most and won’t have that problem; it helps that his record against Littler is very good. I still expect Littler, maybe 7-4 or 7-5 after a slow start, but I’ll be surprised if Van Veen doesn’t turn up.
I was just afraid of losing. Afraid of what people might think of me. What if I lose this game? What are my parents going to think of me? And that’s when it started. Dartitis, with me, was just being afraid to fail. And that was because I wasn’t confident in myself, not in darts, not in my personal life.
This piece, on Gian van Veen’s struggle with dartitis among other things, is well worth a read. As somebody who has had a form of writer’s block for almost a decade, I have immense admiration for Van Veen’s ability to overcome something even more debilitating.
“I remember saying to you a few months ago that I thought Van Veen had a technical issue, checking himself occasionally when he went for a big double,” writes Phil Sawyer. “I didn’t realise at the time he’d been suffering from the mysterious ‘dartitis’, the inability to release the dart that Eric Bristow famously suffered from in his later years and Nathan Aspinall has also battled with. I think I also said I wasn’t sure he felt like he belonged on the big stage yet.
“Once I’d said that he immediately beat Luke Humphries in the European Championship and has not looked back. I’m not sure what I’m prouder of: his progress since then or my continued ability to call sport, or indeed life, wrong.
“But that’s all preamble.This is what’s been promised in darts since the juniors only a couple of years ago. Humphries must be wondering what’s happened and how fast darts moves now. I find myself hoping for a Van Veen victory, as that will set up a rivalry that could dominate darts for years to come. Either way, I think darts is going to be the winner tonight.”
I wouldn’t dismiss Humphries from the top table just yet. The last 13 months have been bruising, but his A-game is still as good as anyone’s.
“No idea how it will go, but hoping for a classic tonight, Rob,” writes Simon McMahon. “You can have that insight for free. The scoring system in darts is genius, though? 501 down, double finish. Even the board itself, with the outer double ring, single and treble segments, is perfect. And a word for the inner/outer bull segment too, which lends additional drama to the scoring and match play.
“Set play is the purest form of the game, best of five legs with maximum jeopardy throughout, you can win more legs but still be behind in sets. Is it any wonder the crowds go wild? Stand up, if you love the darts…”
While I agree about the beauty of the scoring system, the board and set play, I guess we should acknowledge the other small reason that the crowds go wild: industrial quantities of ABV Product. Cheers!
Three years ago today, Luke Littler wasn’t in the final. Imagine! But the two finalists did produce the greatest leg of all time. And Wayne Mardle still can’t spake.
The world rankings
Littler will end this competition where he started, as the world No1. Van Veen has already jumped from No10 to No3, supplanting Michael van Gerwen as the highest-ranked Dutchman. If he wins tonight he will replace Luke Humphries as the world No2.
This is the new top 10.
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Luke Littler
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Luke Humphries or Gian van Veen
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Luke Humphries or Gian van Veen
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Michael van Gerwen
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Jonny Clayton
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Gary Anderson
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Stephen Bunting
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Ryan Searle
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Josh Rock
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Danny Noppert
Head-to-head record
Van Veen was one of the few players with a positive record against Littler in 2025. He won three of their five meetings, though Littler was victorious in the two televised games: 10-4 in the UK Open quarter-final and 2-0 in an extraordinary first-round match at the World Grand Prix. Van Veen’s average of 106.47 was the highest in the tournament’s history (it’s double start), but Littler averaged over 105 and took out two huge finishes. Van Veen won only two of the eight legs.
“We definitely bring out the best in each other,” said Littler after the game. Same again please, lads!
Jonathan Liew
It’s barely a couple of years since a 16-year-old Luke Littler and a 21-year-old Gian van Veen came through a 96-player field at Milton Keynes to qualify for the final of the world youth championship. There’s a charming photo of the pair of them with their arms around each other, silly little smiles plastered on to their silly little faces, the cutest high-street haircuts you’ve ever seen. Two kids at the very start of an unforgettable journey.
Did either of them foresee, in those sepia-tinted days of August 2023, that the journey would convey them this far, this fast? I reckon Littler did. There’s never been much room for doubt and scepticism in there. His whole world has been stepping up, throwing a dart and watching it go exactly where he wants it to. Four months later, he would go to Alexandra Palace and change the sport for ever.
Van Veen? I’m not so sure. Even when asked last week whether he thought he was ready to play a world championship final, we got an equivocal kind of answer. There is a reason and realism to him. His whole world has been doubt, misgiving, setback, recalibration, renewal. Belief is evidence of things not seen, and if Van Veen never dreamed of getting this far, perhaps it was because he has learned never to take an achievement for granted until he can physically hold it in his hands.
And so, choose your fighter. The swaggering, vaping, 18-year-old god of darts with the crown on his head and the world at his feet. Or the shy, softly-spoken 23-year-old with the degree in aviation engineering and an inferiority complex that has taken him years to shake off. The born natural with the smooth, flowing action. Or the obsessive dartitis survivor with a throwing hand that looks like a crippled spider. Faith or science; self-confidence or self-knowledge. Littler or Van Veen.
Gian van Veen’s route to the final
Van Veen has been the player of the tournament so far. He came through a much tougher half of the draw, beating two former world champions in Luke Humphries and Gary Anderson. Ban Veen’s timing and mental strength have been ceaselessly impressive, and he has saved his best darts for the biggest moments.
In the second round he was dangerously close to going 2-0 down in a best-of-five match against Alan Soutar. Van Veen broke in the deciding leg to level the match – see the next paragraph – then reeled off six legs in a row to win it. In the final set he averaged 121.86; his match average of 108.28 is the highest of the tournament.
In set play, the fifth legs are the ones that separate the great and the good. Van Veen has won 12 out of 13 deciding legs this year, including three against the throw in his win over Humphries. (Littler’s record, 9 out of 11, isn’t bad either.)
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First round Cristo Reyes 3-1 (average 98.91)
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Second round Alan Soutar 3-1 (108.28)
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Third round Madars Razma 4-1 (97.91)
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Fourth round Charlie Manby 4-1 (98.48)
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Quarter-final Luke Humphries 5-1 (105.41)
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Semi-final Gary Anderson 6-3 (102.99)
Luke Littler’s route to the final
With the exception of a marvellous match against Rob Cross, when he became embroiled with the crowd as well as an inspired opponent, Littler has strolled to the final, losing only three of his 28 sets.
It helped that a number of seeds fell by the wayside: he could have played Gerwyn Price in the quarter-final and Stephen Bunting in the semis. But let’s be honest, he’d probably have beaten them anyway.
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First round Darius Labanauskas 3-0 (avg 101.54)
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Second round David Davies 3-0 (97.15)
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Third round Mensur Suljovic 4-0 (107.09)
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Fourth round Rob Cross 4-2 (106.58)
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Quarter-final Krzysztof Ratajski 5-0 (100.04)
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Semi-final Ryan Searle 6-1 (105.35)
Preamble
It’s a story as old as time: an undisputed champion breaks the spirit of allcomers until a brilliant young talent emerges to offer a new and formidable challenge. That’s the set up for tonight’s PDC World Championship final at Alexandra Palace, where the world champion Luke Littler meets the world youth champion Gian van Veen.
The twist is that the world champion is five years younger than the world youth champion. That’s because Littler took the greatest shortcut in darts history by winning the world title at the age of 17; now he is aiming to become the first person since Gary Anderson a decade ago to retain the Sid Waddell Trophy.
Littler, an 18-year-old veteran, and Van Veen have a combined age of 41, making this easily the youngest world championship final. It’s barely two years since they met in the world youth championship final at Minehead, a thrilling game that Littler won 6-4. Van Veen has been the world youth champion in the last two years. He didn’t beat Littler in either of those tournaments but did have the better of their five contests in 2025: Littler 2-3 Van Veen. He won’t be intimidated tonight, not even when Littler goes into beast mode.
Everyone knew how good Van Veen was, yet he went into this year’s competition having never won a match at Ally Pally. While Littler reached the final on his first two appearances, and won the thing last year, Van Veen lost to Man Lok Leung and Ricardo Pietreczko.
Now they are in the final together. A year or two earlier than expected, perhaps, but it was always going to be like this.
The players will be on stage at 8.15pm GMT.
