Luke Littler set up a World Darts Championship final rematch against Michael van Gerwen at the Dutch Darts Masters, as world No 1 Luke Humphries crashed out in the first round.
After starting 2025 by becoming the youngest world champion in the sport’s history, Littler suffered a quarter-final exit at the hands of Gerwyn Price while trying to defend his Bahrain Masters title earlier this month.
Now, he will look to go one step further at the Dutch Darts Masters where he lost 8-6 to Van Gerwen in 2024, and the two will meet again on Saturday night.
Littler, who turned 18 on Tuesday, was in a battle with ‘The Dreammaker’ Dimitri Van den Bergh which he eventually won 6-4, both breaking each other continuously throughout.
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Take a look back at the best moments of World Champion Luke Littler’s career as he celebrates his 18th birthday
After a brilliant 134 checkout in the second leg from Littler, the decisive moment came when he nailed a 102 checkout for a hold of throw to move back level at 4-4 before breaking the throw once again.
He then wrapped up the contest in some style, two maximums setting him up on 51 which he nailed on his favourite D10.
Van Gerwen, in his first showing since his World Darts Championship final loss against Littler at Alexandra Palace, got off to a good start in the defence of his Dutch Darts Masters title by dominating fellow Dutchman Dirk van Duijvenbode in a comprehensive 6-1 victory.
After breaking his opponent to move 3-1 in front, Van Gerwen won five legs in a row to cruise through to a 14th match up with the reigning world champion. The wins are 7-6 in Littler’s favour, his worlds victory putting him in the lead.
Wattimena, Barney, Doets strike on night of upsets
Jermaine Wattimena put on a fast-paced and fiery performance to fight back and cause an upset with a 6-3 win against world No 1 Humphries.
The 2024 world champion raced into a 2-0 lead but from there it was all Wattimena, who took five incredible legs in a row, pinning 153 and 111 checkouts on the way.
The Dutchman will now come up against Rob Cross in the quarter-finals, who bounced back from an early exit in Bahrain with a 6-3 victory over Richard Veenstra, a 100 checkout plus three crucial breaks of throw helping him over the line.
In a night of upsets, hometown hero Raymond van Barneveld also shocked Chris Dobey in a last-leg decider to make it through to the quarter-finals.
Raymond van Barneveld was visibly emotional after his huge victory
In a tense clash with ‘Hollywood’ hitting maximums for fun, van Barneveld rallied with the crowd behind him and took the win in spectacular fashion, pinning a sensational 144 checkout.
Dobey missed a match dart and was punished, the five-time world champion visibly emotional after the victory.
The Dutchman will now face Stephen Bunting, who survived a last-leg shoot-out against Gian van Veen to win 6-5.
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Highlights of the World Darts Championship semi-final match between Luke Littler and Stephen Bunting
Bunting entered the tournament on a high after picking up his maiden World Series title in Bahrain and it showed, ‘The Bullet’ finding the crucial break in the sixth leg and averaging over 100.
Van Veen was throwing some high-quality darts too though and after an 11-dart leg to break Bunting back, he took the match all the way before Bunting pinned 70 on D16 to wrap things up.
Kevin Doets also made his mark as he cruised past Nathan Aspinall to make it through to Saturday at the Dutch Darts Masters.
Doets, who shocked former world champion Michael Smith at the World Darts Championship, was on fire in the contest and with a massive 138 checkout, 60 percent on the doubles, plus three breaks of throw sealed a huge 6-1 victory.
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Kevin Doets dumped out World No 2 Michael Smith in dramatic fashion in their second round clash at the World Darts Championship
He now faces Gerwyn Price who came away with a comprehensive 6-2 victory over Danny Noppert, the ‘Iceman’ continuing his form from Bahrain with a huge 124 checkout and 101.85 average to put himself on top.
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