Luke Littler and Gian van Veen will lock horns in a tantalising World Darts Championship final, after both players triumphed in their semi-final clashes on Friday evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Day 19 of the blockbuster event saw two finalists emerge after a dramatic evening of darts, as Littler became only the second player after Phil Taylor to make the World Championship final in their first three appearances at the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The world number one breezed past Ryan Searle 6-1 courtesy of his third average above 105 at the tournament, crashing in ten maximums in the process to seal his status as finalist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Searle took the opening set, but the defending champion replied in trademark brutal fashion, taking the next two sets before winning ten consecutive legs to bulldoze into a 5-1 lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It took a 12-dart leg and 170 finish from Searle to stop the rot in the seventh set, but this proved futile as the 18-year-old cleaned up a set-deciding leg to book his spot in yet another World Championship final, after winning six consecutive sets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It feels good to reach the final, I’ve joined another short list of names of players who have had back-to-back-to-back finals,” said Littler, as only Taylor, Dennis Priestley and Gary Anderson have ever achieved such a feat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Now, the only goal is to join the list of people who are back-to-back World Champions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’ve got every right to think I can do it, but I never, ever say that I am going to win it. We will just see how the darts go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I know Gian very well from the Development Tour, we have met a few times on the ProTour and I got the win over him in Minehead in my first World Youth Championship\u00a0[final in 2023].<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“He is in absolute freedom, he’s now in the top four of the world – I don’t think he has much to lose.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van Veen secured his maiden World Championship final after an incredible battle against Anderson, toppling the Scottish juggernaut 6-3 with an average of 103.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite Anderson winning the first set, the Dutch number one rallied with remarkable aplomb, winning four straights sets which included three set-deciding legs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fifth set in particular proved one of the greatest of the tournament to date. Anderson began with a ten-dart break before crashing in a 170 checkout, before Van Veen hit a 170 of his own and snatched the deciding leg – despite the Scot averaging over 117 across the stanza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Incredibly, Anderson threatened a comeback by winning the next set with a 12-dart finish on the bull, and then capitalised in a set-deciding leg to reduce the deficit to 4-3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the 23-year-old recovered, taking the next two sets and winning the match with a 13-darter to book his place in a maiden World Championship final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I enjoyed every single second of it, I’m still pinching myself,” confessed Van Veen, who had not won a game at Alexandra Palace before this tournament in his two previous appearances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“My first ever dream was to be in the World Championship, I wasn’t dreaming about getting to a final – it feels amazing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It was a fantastic game, Gary played so well. I’m so relieved I got the job done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’m very confident I can lift the trophy. I’m feeling really good on that stage. It was a very long game and I still averaged 103.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Everyone knows what Luke is capable of. I need to bring out my A-game tomorrow, or else it’s going to be a very difficult game.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Littler, 18, and 23-year-old Van Veen will do battle for the Sid Waddell Trophy and record-breaking \u00a31m top prize on Saturday evening, in what is the youngest-ever World Championship final.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RESULTS Luke Littler and Gian van Veen will lock horns in a tantalising World Darts Championship final, after both<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7531,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-7530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-darts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
Semi-Finals<\/strong>
Luke Littler 6-1 Ryan Searle (2-3, 3-0, 3-2, 3-0, 3-0, 3-0, 3-2)
Gian van Veen 6-3 Gary Anderson\u00a0(1-3, 3-1, 3-2, 3-2, 3-2, 1-3, 2-3, 3-2, 3-2)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"