Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen both sailed through their semi-finals, setting the stage for a thrilling final in the World Darts Championship. The pair, who were always expected to be strong contenders, will go head-to-head on Friday night after securing 6-1 victories in their semi-final matches.
They will now compete for the ultimate prize at Alexandra Palace. Littler, who was relatively unknown just over a year ago, is now a household name and is heading into his second consecutive final.
He lost to Luke Humphries last year but is determined to clinch the title this time around against Van Gerwen, a seasoned champion. Van Gerwen has won the championship three times before, although his last victory was in 2019.
As he prepares to face Littler, who is only the seventh player in history to reach back-to-back finals, it’s clear that their rivalry is set to intensify. Both players have won six of their 12 previous encounters.
“If we both turn up like we did tonight, it will be really good (final),” said the young prodigy. “As soon as Luke Humphries went out, that’s what everyone was looking at but I had to focus on the quarter-finals and semi-finals. Now I’ve done that, I can focus on Michael tomorrow. We all know he’s hunting for a fourth world title. I’m hunting for my first.”
Despite his impressive track record at the Palace, Van Gerwen is not taking anything for granted.
Even though he’s just a few sets away from the trophy, he insists there’s still much work to be done.
“We are still so far away,” he remarked. “I still have to battle. Tomorrow is another day and the title is far away. That’s what you have to keep telling yourself. I don’t want to make mistakes. I want to keep it that way. I love performing on the stage. It’s my passion, it’s my life. Of course, I have a family now but it is what it is. I enjoyed it tonight.
“I have been there before, the smell is not good enough, you want to touch it. Luke’s been there, he has had a sniff. I am going to make sure he keeps it as just a sniff as well. I was the favourite two years ago and lost. Now I’m not favourite, and maybe I’m going to win it. You never know.”
The much-anticipated Littler vs Van Gerwen match will follow the traditional first-to-seven sets rule and is expected to kick off around 8pm.
Fans can catch the World Darts Championship final on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Darts from 7:30pm. Additionally, Sky Sports subscribers can stream the event live via the Sky Go app.
