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Head-to-head record
Van Veen was one of the few players with a positive record against Littler in 2025. He won three of their five meetings, though Littler was victorious in the two televised games: 10-4 in the UK Open quarter-final and 2-0 in an extraordinary first-round match at the World Grand Prix. Van Veen’s average of 106.47 was the highest in the tournament’s history (it’s double start), but Littler averaged over 105 and took out two huge finishes. Van Veen won only two of the eight legs.
“We definitely bring out the best in each other,” said Littler after the game. Same again please, lads!
Jonathan Liew
It’s barely a couple of years since a 16-year-old Luke Littler and a 21-year-old Gian van Veen came through a 96-player field at Milton Keynes to qualify for the final of the world youth championship. There’s a charming photo of the pair of them with their arms around each other, silly little smiles plastered on to their silly little faces, the cutest high-street haircuts you’ve ever seen. Two kids at the very start of an unforgettable journey.
Did either of them foresee, in those sepia-tinted days of August 2023, that the journey would convey them this far, this fast? I reckon Littler did. There’s never been much room for doubt and scepticism in there. His whole world has been stepping up, throwing a dart and watching it go exactly where he wants it to. Four months later, he would go to Alexandra Palace and change the sport for ever.
Van Veen? I’m not so sure. Even when asked last week whether he thought he was ready to play a world championship final, we got an equivocal kind of answer. There is a reason and realism to him. His whole world has been doubt, misgiving, setback, recalibration, renewal. Belief is evidence of things not seen, and if Van Veen never dreamed of getting this far, perhaps it was because he has learned never to take an achievement for granted until he can physically hold it in his hands.
And so, choose your fighter. The swaggering, vaping, 18-year-old god of darts with the crown on his head and the world at his feet. Or the shy, softly-spoken 23-year-old with the degree in aviation engineering and an inferiority complex that has taken him years to shake off. The born natural with the smooth, flowing action. Or the obsessive dartitis survivor with a throwing hand that looks like a crippled spider. Faith or science; self-confidence or self-knowledge. Littler or Van Veen.
Gian van Veen's route to the final
Van Veen has been the player of the tournament so far. He came through a much tougher half of the draw, beating two former world champions in Luke Humphries and Gary Anderson. Ban Veen’s timing and mental strength have been ceaselessly impressive, and he has saved his best darts for the biggest moments.
In the second round he was dangerously close to going 2-0 down in a best-of-five match against Alan Soutar. Van Veen broke in the deciding leg to level the match – see the next paragraph – then reeled off six legs in a row to win it. In the final set he averaged 121.86; his match average of 108.28 is the highest of the tournament.
In set play, the fifth legs are the ones that separate the great and the good. Van Veen has won 12 out of 13 deciding legs this year, including three against the throw in his win over Humphries. (Littler’s record, 9 out of 11, isn’t bad either.)
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First round Cristo Reyes 3-1 (average 98.91)
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Second round Alan Soutar 3-1 (108.28)
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Third round Madars Razma 4-1 (97.91)
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Fourth round Charlie Manby 4-1 (98.48)
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Quarter-final Luke Humphries 5-1 (105.41)
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Semi-final Gary Anderson 6-3 (102.99)
Luke Littler's route to the final
With the exception of a marvellous match against Rob Cross, when he became embroiled with the crowd as well as an inspired opponent, Littler has strolled to the final, losing only three of his 28 sets.
It helped that a number of seeds fell by the wayside: he could have played Gerwyn Price in the quarter-final and Stephen Bunting in the semis. But let’s be honest, he’d probably have beaten them anyway.
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First round Darius Labanauskas 3-0 (avg 101.54)
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Second round David Davies 3-0 (97.15)
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Third round Mensur Suljovic 4-0 (107.09)
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Fourth round Rob Cross 4-2 (106.58)
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Quarter-final Krzysztof Ratajski 5-0 (100.04)
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Semi-final Ryan Searle 6-1 (105.35)
Preamble
It’s a story as old as time: an undisputed champion breaks the spirit of allcomers until a brilliant young talent emerges to offer a new and formidable challenge. That’s the set up for tonight’s PDC World Championship final at Alexandra Palace, where the world champion Luke Littler meets the world youth champion Gian van Veen.
The twist is that the world champion is five years younger than the world youth champion. That’s because Littler took the greatest shortcut in darts history by winning the world title at the age of 17; now he is aiming to become the first person since Gary Anderson a decade ago to retain the Sid Waddell Trophy.
Littler, an 18-year-old veteran, and Van Veen have a combined age of 41, making this easily the youngest world championship final. It’s barely two years since they met in the world youth championship final at Minehead, a thrilling game that Littler won 6-4. Van Veen has been the world youth champion in the last two years. He didn’t beat Littler in either of those tournaments but did have the better of their five contests in 2025: Littler 2-3 Van Veen. He won’t be intimidated tonight, not even when Littler goes into beast mode.
Everyone knew how good Van Veen was, yet he went into this year’s competition having never won a match at Ally Pally. While Littler reached the final on his first two appearances, and won the thing last year, Van Veen lost to Man Lok Leung and Ricardo Pietreczko.
Now they are in the final together. A year or two earlier than expected, perhaps, but it was always going to be like this.
The players will be on stage at 8.15pm GMT.
