Luke Littler survived a hard-fought 6-3 semi-final win against Gary Anderson at Alexandra Palace, and the Dutchman will now face Jan van Veen in the World Darts Championship final.
Littler will be playing in his third world final in as many years, but “The Nuke” has only lost one match on this stage — the 2024 final against Luke Humphries in his debut year.
He becomes the fourth player to reach three consecutive world finals, joining Dennis Priestley, Phil Taylor and Anderson, who defeated Ryan Searle 6-1.
Van Veen, on the other hand, was competing in the World Darts Championship for the third time and advanced to the final for the first time after a fierce battle with Anderson. The match took nine sets to produce a winner, the most in the tournament’s semifinals in the last four years.
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Anderson and Van Veen hit the big fish with a crazy set of darts on Ally Pally!
Van Veen and Anderson put on one of the most exciting shows we’ve ever seen. Their fifth set is the stuff of darts legend.
Dubbed ‘A Set of Darts from the Gods’ by Sky Sports Darts’ Wayne Mardle, this set features two 170 finishes, one 10 darter, one 11 darter and two 12 darters. It proved to be an important set, with Van Veen winning and moving into a 4-1 lead, but Anderson continued to battle his corner and won the next two sets before the Dutchman stood firm and finished the match. win.
In 2025, Van Veen had the statistical advantage over Littler, defeating Littler in three of the five times they faced each other.
However, Littler defeated Van Veen in the 2023 World Youth Finals, where ‘The Nuke’ won 6-4.
Now they will compete on the biggest stage as perhaps two of darts’ most exciting talents face off in their biggest showdown yet.
Littler advances to third world final with clinic with Searle
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Littler received a mixed reaction from the Ally Pally crowd before his semifinal match against Searle
Littler earned a 6-1 overall victory over Searle and qualified for the Big Dance for the third year in a row.
Searle got off to a great start with the darts in his favor in the first set, holding his throws well and posting a 75 percent success rate on the outer ring to secure an early lead at D8.
However, Littler fought back with two pitching breaks and averaged over 103 to tie the game at 1-1, earning his first top score in the process. Then he took things up a notch.
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After Littler misses the nine darter, Searle reels in the big fish!
The reigning champion reached new heights in the fourth set as his average soared to over 108, winning five consecutive legs with a score that left Sarr with no room for maneuver and quickly making it 4-1 as ‘Heavy Metal’s’ slim chance faded.
Searle showed a moment of brilliance in the sixth set when Littler missed nine darts with eight darts and reeled in a big fish, but then returned to his usual serve and Littler’s scoring accelerated again to seal the victory at the top.
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Littler shares his thoughts on defeating Searle and reaching the World Darts Championship final again
Littler told Sky Sports: “This is crazy. There was a bit of booing and cheering, but there was quite a crowd. Big shout out to Paddy Power for blurring out the sign after Ryan’s comment, because he’s partially blind in one eye.”
“I wasn’t the happiest after losing 1-0. I didn’t think I played very well. We all know that, but I just want to get up 1-0 and ride that lead.”
“I said to myself, ‘We’ll find it,’ and the results went 1-1, 2-1, 3-1. Big shout out to Ryan. He did great in this tournament. He can be proud.”
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Littler is ready to join darts greats Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen after winning the World Darts Championship final
Van Veen and Anderson produce Ally Pally classic
It was expected to be an epic semi-final between Anderson and Van Veen, but they delivered impressive results with 25 180’s and 67 140’s, averaging over 102 each.
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Van Veen vs. Anderson epic World Championship semi-final highlights
It was the Scot who took an early advantage with legs of 15, 11 and 18 darts, including a break of a throw, to take a 1-0 lead.
But Van Veen’s scoring reached a new level in the second set, starting with 10 darters and reaching an incredible average of 113, helping him break back and level up. After that, he continued to defend his throws under intense pressure and set two consecutive sets.
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Anderson scored a stunning 144 checkout against Van Veen.
Things then started to look troubling for Anderson, as Van Veen rallied to an average of 109, hit a perfectly timed 11 darter to find his first slow break since the second set, and clinched the deciding leg to take a 3-1 lead.
The atmosphere then kicked up a notch with one of the most amazing dart sets I’ve ever seen. After Anderson started with a 10-dart leg and reeled in the big fish to beat Van Veen’s throw, the Dutchman only had to get 11 darts before sealing it with a stunning 170 checkout of his own.
Anderson could not believe his luck when the Dutchman matched up with him and broke through the clutch on D4 to take a solid 4-1 advantage. The “giant” clapped his head to show that he understood what the moment meant.
Undeterred, the ‘Flying Scotsman’ used his big game experience to make a break throw to bring the score to 4-2. Even though the doubles started to run away, they again overcame the pressure and brought the score back to 4-3.
But as the nervous darts took over, Van Veen broke away on top and took a one-set lead, landing a D16 to book his place in the final.
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Van Veen defeated Anderson in an Ally Pally thriller and will face Littler in the final!
“Gary threw everything at me to win a match like this. His finishing and scoring were great,” Van Veen told Sky Sports.
“I put up with it. Of course the crowd was a little against me, but Gary is such a great human being and such a great darts player, so this is fair play. I’m very happy!”
“Even though I’ve won this game now, five years ago I was struggling to play darts. Three or four years ago I was in Barnsley and I was crying at the table, struggling with darts.
“Look at me four years later. Everything has paid off. All the people who worked hard for me, even my parents when I was 12, 13 years old, taking me to tournaments all over the Netherlands. And here we are, unbelievable.”
What’s next?
The World Darts Championship concludes on Saturday 3rd January with Littler and Van Veen battling it out to be crowned champions.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? You can watch the final live exclusively on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel (Sky Channel 407) on 3rd January. Stream darts and other top sports now.
