Luke Littler heads to Amsterdam this weekend aiming to hold all the major titles at the same time before the end of the year, but his relationship with the World Series of Darts Finals is far from straightforward. The 19-year-old has never failed to reach the final when entering the event, winning on debut in 2024 and finishing runner-up last year, yet a familiar problem stands in his way: Michael van Gerwen.
Van Gerwen won the title last year, beating Littler 11-7 in the final. Littler averaged 101.99 in that match, but MVG still managed 98.37 to claim the win. Van Gerwen went 3-2 up at the first interval with three 180s in the opening five legs, and while Littler levelled on resumption, MVG rattled off three straight legs to move in front. The key moment came when Littler missed darts to make it 7-7, and Van Gerwen took the leg before moving 9-6 ahead, sealing the win with a fine 130 checkout. It was a run that catapulted MVG back into the psyche of many and begged the question: can he perform again on the world stage?
Since then, Van Gerwen's form has been intermittent, while Littler has remained the best player in the world in many facets. But the head-to-head record since that final has been mostly Littler. The latest meeting came in Prague this month, where Littler won 7-3 at the Czech Darts Open. Earlier this season, Littler beat Van Gerwen 8-5 at the Saudi Arabia Darts Masters, after which Van Gerwen said: "Fair play to him [Littler]. He had a fantastic tournament. Sometimes you have to take it on the chin and move on." In the Premier League, Littler also won 6-5 on 7 May, 6-5 on 23 April, 6-5 on 26 March, 6-4 on 19 March, and 6-5 on 19 February, while Van Gerwen won 6-4 on 12 February.
But there is more to it than form. Van Gerwen always heads into this tournament as the home hero, and Littler, due to his dominance, has received the role that MVG often got of being the booed villain. Giving Van Gerwen carte blanche to be that player on the big stage in Amsterdam means Littler has that issue, especially as a player who in the past hasn't reacted well to criticism or booing. Littler opens up against Danny Noppert, another Dutchman, so it is tricky for that reason. He then would likely face Nathan Aspinall or Raymond Smith. It is very likely that as opposed to MVG, who is top seed, it will be Clayton or Aspinall that could stop him before the latter stages. Van Gerwen now faces Daryl Gurney, so tougher than Lourence Ilagan, but he has perhaps only really the likes of Ross Smith to navigate in that top section, so we could in theory get a re-run of the final in Amsterdam.
Other players lurking in the draw could also prove to be an issue. Luke Humphries, albeit he has had shoulder issues as of late and given he just lost to Littler in the Prague final, 'Cool Hand' hopefully refreshed and with his body right will aim to find his way again. While Gian van Veen has been in the type of form that he had pre-kidney stones, and both he and Wessel Nijman could be a good bet for this weekend in front of a home crowd and both in fine fettle. So to say Littler will have it as a walk in the park is perhaps misplaced. Littler is the player everyone expects to win — but he has already discovered that this particular tournament isn't quite that simple. He won it in 2024; he reached the final in 2025. He lost to Van Gerwen, and with the clean sweep on, how will he react?
