Luke Littler sets up World Championship final rematch against Michael van Gerwen at Dutch Darts Masters - as world No 1 Luke Humphries suffers shock exit
Luke Littler sets up World Championship final rematch against Michael van Gerwen at Dutch Darts Masters - as world No 1 Luke Humphries suffers shock exit
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Luke Littler set up a World Championship final rematch against Michael van Gerwen on Friday night as he edged past Dimitri Van den Bergh in the Dutch Darts Masters. The teenager was playing his first match since turning 18 earlier this week, competing alongside a number of PDC representatives and selected Dutch and Belgian stars in the competition.
Last week, he was knocked out of the Bahrain Darts Masters in the quarter-finals, losing to a dominant Gerwyn Price, who went onto come second in the competition, losing to Stephen Bunting in the final. He wasn't at his best in Den Bosch, but averaged over 101 and hit five 180s in the game. Van den Bergh wasn't at his best and started slow, but fired in the middle.
There were regular breaks of throw throughout, with four of the first six games going against the darts, and it did, at one point, look like the Belgian would win when he led 4-3. But Littler broke when he needed to, and held his nerve to secure a 6-4 win and set up a mouthwatering clash against home favourite and defending champion van Gerwen.
Van Gerwen, who lost 7-3 to Littler in the Worlds final at the start of the year, didn't play in Bahrain last week but was in fine form on Friday as he comfortably dispatched of countryman Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1. The home favourite averaged 95.53 and didn't hit a 180 but was the better player on the night, with Saturday's fixture against Littler also a rematch of last year's final.
