Luke Littler and Gian van Veen are in the final of the Darts World Cup. It is the youngest World Cup final of all time – with clearly assigned roles. One, Luke Littler, 18, has so far flown through the tournament in London Alexandra Palace. He wants to defend his world title, nothing else matters. Littler’s challenger comes from the Netherlands: Gian van Veen, 23 years old, who is experiencing the first World Cup final of his career.
Littler feels great. The Englishman is in the final for the third time in his third World Cup participation. So far he has won almost all games with superiority. In the semi-final, the 18-year-old gave his compatriot Ryan Searle no chance as he won 6-1. In the final on Saturday the distance will be even longer: seven sets must be won.
But Littler’s opponent Gian “The Giant” van Veen is currently in world-class form. The Dutch shooting star won his semi-final against Scotland’s Gary Anderson 6-3, but is still considered an outsider in this final, for which the winner collects the sum of one million pounds (around 1.15 million euros).
Show of power by Littler
hatch “The Nuke” Littler made a show of force against Ryan Searle. He lost the first set, but then the world number one increased the number of strokes. In the meantime, Littler won eleven legs in a row and used his first match dart. Three finals in a row at the World Championships Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) only record winners Phil Taylor, Dennis Priestley and Gary Anderson had previously succeeded.
Hoping for a spectacle
The second semi-final was much more exciting: Junior world champion van Veen and his idol Gary Anderson (55) fought a high-class duel. Van Veen wobbled in the eighth set, but found his game again in time and ultimately won 6:3.
“Everyone knows what Luke can do. I have to do my best tomorrow, otherwise it will be a very difficult game,” said van Veen with a view to the final, for which he hopes for a spectacle: “Everyone has seen what Luke is capable of over the last few years. He played fantastically in this tournament – but so did I.”said the Dutchman.
Final on Saturday
“I’m very happy,” said his opponent Littler: “It starts again on Saturday – one last time. The third final in a row. That’s unbelievable.”
At 9 p.m. Littler and van Veen will meet in the “Ally Pally” in the fight for the coveted prize Sid Waddell Trophy each other.