Semi-finals fizzle out but Littler and Van Gerwen set up fascinating World Championship final
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Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen were too good for their semi-final foes on a flat night at Ally Pally but Friday evening’s showpiece promises to be a classic. If ever there can be a calm before the storm amid the raucous, alcohol-fuelled cauldron of the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace, this may have been it.
![[Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen will square off in Friday night’s final]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/02/22/MixCollage-02-Jan-2025-10-35-PM-5962.jpg)
While semi-final night can often be the highlight of the entire tournament, the 2025 edition crackled at points but never truly turned into evening of darting classics that will live long in the memory. But the reward comes in what it has set up. The storm will be Friday night’s final. The final that, ever since Luke Littler was put in the same half of the draw as reigning champion Luke Humphries meaning the showpiece could never be a repeat of 12 months ago, fans and organisers alike would have been hoping for.
![[Much like Littler, Van Gerwen was a darting wunderkind]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/02/22/GettyImages-78544487.jpg)
Teenage darting phenom Littler taking on a rejuvenated Michael van Gerwen. Van Gerwen has the firepower to live with Littler and the name power to attract the casual fan – if the 17-year-old needs any help garnering interest in his remarkable quest for a first title. Their head to head record over the past 12 months is six wins apiece – whoever wins for a seventh time will be crowned world champion.
![[Littler celebrated a dominant semi-final win over Stephen Bunting]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/02/22/SEI234799239.jpg)
Both men entered Thursday’s evening semi-finals as heavy favourites and ultimately delivered what was needed. It wasn’t always spectacular but they both outclassed their opponent and laid down a marker ahead of their heavyweight contest. Van Gerwen brushed aside a struggling Chris Dobey – who wilted somewhat in his first World Championship semi-final – winning 6-1 as a 98.84 average proved more then enough. Littler followed that with a victory over fan favourite, the supremely likeable Stephen Bunting, and was certainly pushed harder than his Dutch foe but still triumphed by the same 6-1 scoreline, as he averaged 105.48.
