Just over two years ago, Luke Littler and Jan van Veen met in the final of the World Youth Championship, a match that arguably marked the beginning of a long and thrilling rivalry.
Much has been said about the incredible Littler, who changed the perception of darts in England and became one of the country’s biggest stars, but in the Netherlands, van Veen has slowly climbed the rankings and is now Dutch No. 1, ending Michael van Gerwen’s nearly 14-year reign.
In last year’s World Championship final, the baton was passed from Van Gerwen to Littler. This year’s decider features two players who could tear the sport apart for decades to come and take it to new heights.
Sky Sports Darts’ Wayne Mardle said: “These are young stars. They are now. We’re saying this could be years and years in the future, but we still have Luke Humphries and Gary Anderson there.”
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Relive the full fifth set between Jan van Veen and Gary Anderson, where two big fish finished in quick succession as momentum swung back and forth.
“What this proves to me is that when you’re feeling good, you can do anything. It happened with Luke Humphries and Luke Littler.
“When you’re on a roll, you get the momentum of, ‘I’m playing well, I’m great.’ Van Veen has a rich vein of, ‘This is the best darts I’ve ever played in my life.'”
Littler and Van Veen go head to head.
While most darts players have lost head-to-head matches with Littler, 23-year-old Van Veen is actually level with the reigning world champion at 3-3.
The two first met in November 2023 at the World Youth Championships at the PDC circuit, with 16-year-old Littler defeating Van Veen 6-4, but a month later he had an incredible run at the World Championships, losing to Humphries in the final.
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Let’s take a look back at the 2023 World Youth Championship, where 16-year-old Luke Littler defeated Jan van Veen.
“I played OK, I played well, but after that game I think I said to myself, ‘Okay, now the whole world knows about Luke Littler,'” Van Veen said of the youth final.
“Going into that fight I was backed by the bookies and that was just over two years ago. It may sound really crazy to be backed against Luke Littler, but at the time it was.
“After that match, I knew what Luke was capable of and he showed it on that stage. I said to myself, ‘Okay, let’s give him a good fight.’ I missed one dart to go up 5-0, but there were a lot of great fights after that.”
Littler quickly became a powerhouse in the darts world, becoming Premier League champion and, after winning two other major titles, becoming world champion in early 2025.
Meanwhile, Van Veen is still slowly building his career, and although he became world youth champion, the only highlight of 2024 was reaching the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts.
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Van Veen defeated Humphries 11-10 in a dramatic European Championship final to win his first career major trophy in October 2025
However, the Dutch player was active in the 2025 season. He lost to Littler 10-4 in the British Open quarterfinals in March, but won 7-6 at The Players Championship 5, which was held behind closed doors.
He had an even more impressive win against Littler on the European Tour, winning 7-4 and 6-4 in front of a crowd. Granted, none of this happened in the majors, but it certainly gave Van Veen confidence that he could beat the best players in the world.
At the World Grand Prix in October, Littler defeated him in an epic first round match. The scoreline didn’t tell the whole story, as Littler won the set 2-0, but Van Veen posted the highest average in tournament history at 106.47. Littler posted checkouts of 151 and 144 on his way to an average of 105.58 (remarkable numbers considering the event requires him to start each leg with a double).
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Littler completed a sensational show with a stunning 144 to defeat Van Veen at the 2025 World Grand Prix.
If it’s anything like the recent match between the duo in Saturday’s World Championship final, it could be quite a deal. This head-to-head matchup suggests that if anyone can beat Littler, it will be Van Veen, who has been flying since winning his first senior major title at the European Championships in late October.
Will Littler’s lack of challenge hurt him?
Littler’s path to the World Championship final was opened on paper by the earlier-than-expected exit of several of his own seeds, including Gerwyn Price, Stephen Bunting and Chris Dovey.
The teenager did not drop a set in his opening three matches and lost only three matches in the entire tournament (two to Rob Cross in the fourth round and one to Ryan Searle in the semi-finals).
“The biggest test was against Rob. Obviously I was leading 3-1 and then he started taking the lead again. I just had to get him out of the way and get the job done, which I did,” Littler said.
“We had a tough test against David Davis. He missed a lot of doubles. If he hits a double, it’s a whole different game. But a win is a win.”
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After his win over Darius Labanauskas, Littler spent the beginning of his post-fight interview dodging the famous Alexandra Palace wasp.
If there’s a small weakness in Littler’s game, it’s that he may be a slow starter. He could have lost the first set to Lithuania’s Darius Labanauskas and Wales’ Davis Davies in his opening matches, but he showed the ability to almost lock in under pressure and produce incredible darts – a trait Van Veen will need to be aware of.
Littler lost the first set to Ryan Searle in the semifinals, but “Heavy Metal” didn’t have the firepower to step on the gas and respond to his opponent’s upped game. So Van Veen could at least make Littler work harder and punish the Englishman’s mistakes.
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Highlights of the World Championship Semi-Final between Littler and Ryan Searle
“Everyone has seen what Luke is capable of over the last few years,” van Veen, who had never won a match at the world championships until this tournament, told Sky Sports Darts.
“He played great in this tournament, and so did I. I’m really looking forward to that match. I hope it’s a great match.”
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Littler shares his thoughts on defeating Searle and reaching the World Darts Championship final again.
And Van Veen was particularly impressive in key moments of the match, winning three of six sets in a 5-1 quarterfinal victory over Luke Humphries.
When Gary Anderson staged a comeback in the semi-finals, the 23-year-old stepped up again and the crowd jeered at Van Veen to get him out.
“It was a little frustrating when the crowd got involved, but I’m relieved that I was able to get the job done in the end, even if the crowd was against me,” he said.
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Anderson and Van Veen hit the big fish with a crazy set of darts on Ally Pally!
Early stages of a new era?
Over the past decade, several players have been at the forefront of the darts world, including Peter Wright, Price, Cross, Michael Smith, Anderson, Van Gerwen and Humphries.
But Littler and Van Veen are older and will continue to get better. Their scoring has already been ferocious and both players will be aware they may need to win most of their legs within four innings to hold on to their throws in Saturday’s final.
“He (Littler) is going to put pressure on from the first set. It could be 13 sets,” Van Veen said.
“Hopefully, I’m going to take my chances and keep up with him in terms of scoring because he’s probably a better scorer than me. I’m just going to take my chances and take my chances and then I’ll have a chance.”
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Van Veen is confident he has what it takes to give Littler a good fight.
Littler’s record in the long game is incredible. He has only lost one of his 25 matches that lasted more than 20 legs, and that was against Humphries in the 2024 World Championship final.
The world number one is aiming to become the first player since Anderson a decade ago to defend his title, but Van Veen could be his thorn in the side for years to come as the pair rise to unprecedented heights.
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Littler on whether he or anyone else has a chance of matching Phil Taylor’s record of 16 world titles
Sky Sports Darts’ Mr Mardle said: “It doesn’t matter who wins or loses, it doesn’t change whether it’s the best spell of your life or not. You just have to keep chipping away at it.”
“We said Littler and Humphries were going to be in all these finals for years to come. We never thought that would happen.
“But since October when Van Veen won the European Championship, he will be challenging Luke Littler. It’s an exciting time for darts.”
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch all the matches live, exclusively, on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel (Sky channel 407), leading up to Saturday’s final. Stream darts and other top sports now.
