Luke Littler sends warning to Michael Van Gerwen after revealing final lesson
The 17-year-old says he’s learned a lot since losing the 2024 final to Luke Humphries and aims to go one better tonight
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Your support makes all the difference.Luke Littler is determined to go one better this year and win the World Darts Championship having reached the final for the second year running with a confident 6-1 victory over Stephen Bunting in the semi-finals are Alexandra Palace.
Littler, who lost the 2024 final 7-4 to Luke Humphries, has been the overwhelming favourite to lift the title this year but faces a resurgent Michael Van Gerwen in the showpiece this evening.
The 17-year-old started the tournament slowly and fought through nervous wins against Ryan Meikle, Ian White and Ryan Joyce in the early rounds before finding his form and sweeping past Nathan Aspinall and Bunting in the quarter and semi-finals respectively.
Looking back at his loss in the final last year, Littler says he knows where he needs to improve and believes he has what it takes to defeat three-time champion Van Gerwen.
“I think everyone is looking forward to it [the final] more than I am. Win seven sets, I’ll be happy,” Littler said after defeating Bunting,
“I’ve gained loads of experience, Michael [Van Gerwen] has been in numerous finals. This is my second, I know where I went wrong last year, I’m sure I’ll fix it. It would mean everything, win seven sets and I’ll be over the moon.
“I’m excited to get back on stage tonight, the final, the trophy is on the line, we’ll give everything. This could reach the numbers me and Luke Humphries reached last year. Since the Meikle game I’ve been confident, I felt at home on stage, especially against Nathan, I’m enjoying myself, I don’t need to put much pressure on myself.
“The big one, I could have gone 5-2 up, maybe if I hit the double two, maybe I’d be world champion, that’s what I’ve got to fix tonight. Hit those doubles and get that power scoring again. It’s always a battle, I can assure you there’ll be no fist pumps after the sets tonight.
“It would reach the levels, it would go to No.1 [if I win tonight], as I said, get to seven sets and I’ll be happy.”
The 17-year-old also explained how he is aware of the pressure of being the favourite to win the tournament but that his focus has always been on the next match he plays.
Speaking to Sky Sports yesterday, Littler added: “People will say I was looking at the title throughout the tournament but I was looking at the first game against Ryan Meikle, and ever since I’ve just got to beat what’s in front of me.
“I’ve played a lot better and won plenty of titles leading up to this, but that’s what we do, we lead up to the big one. There are majors all year round but I can’t wait for tomorrow night.
“If we both turn up like we did tonight, it [the final] is going to be really good. As soon as Luke Humphries went out, that’s what everyone was looking at. I just had to focus on my quarter-final and semi-final, and now I’ve done that I can focus on Michael.
“We all know he’s hunting for that world title but I’m hunting for my first.”
For his part, Van Gerwen seems like a renewed force and has bullied his way through the tournament so far with his biggest test coming in the quarter-finals against Callan Rydz. Winning that match 5-3 gave him added confidence that he can add to his three world titles and the Dutchman is full of confidence with his game.
“The train is still moving and that’s a good thing. It means the world to me [to reach another final], but we’re still a long way away,” Van Gerwen said.
“You need to make sure you keep battling your own battles. I always keep focusing on my own appearance, that’s a key thing to me.
“It [being a former champion] will be really important, I didn’t win anything yet, I want to win, that’s the only thing that counts at the moment. It would mean a lot to me, that’s one thing for sure, 100 percent, but as I said, it’s still far away.”
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