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Luke Littler 7-1 Gian van Veen: PDC World Championship darts final – as it happened
Luke Littler produced an astounding display to regain his world title, winning 21 of the last 24 legs I was just afraid of losing. Afraid of what people might think of me. What if I lose this game? What are my parents going to think of me? And that’s when it started. Dartitis, with me, was just being afraid to fail. And that was because I wasn’t confident in myself, not in darts, not in my personal life. This piece, on Gian van Veen’s struggle with dartitis among other things, is well worth a re
Luke Littler thrashes Gian van Veen to retain PDC World Darts Championship
Teenager beats Dutchman 7-1 in one-sided final Littler clicks into gear after losing opening set The winning moment seemed to drain all the strength from his body. He leaned against the drinks table and let it take all his weight, clasped his face in his hands, cried a little. As if only just feeling the shape and hue of the unspeakable thing he had just done. As if some act of great violence had just left his hands. Perhaps it had. And before the double world champion, before the social media
Gian van Veen denies Gary Anderson in epic to set up final against Luke Littler
Van Veen wins classic against Gary Anderson 6-3 World No 1 Littler swats aside Ryan Searle 6-1 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 a
PDC world darts semi-finals: Van Veen edges Anderson in classic to set up final with Littler – as it happened
Gian van Veen prevailed in a thriller with Gary Anderson and will face the defending champion, Luke Littler, in Saturday’s final First set: *Littler (0) 0-1 Searle (0) *denotes next to throw first Searle gets down to 56 and takes it out with Littler waiting on double top. “Ryan, Ryan, Searle” chant the crowd, to the perhaps overused tune of KC & the Sunshine Band’s “Give it Up.” Ryan Searle to throw first, as the crowd remind the rest of us that “there’s only one Luke Littler …” Continue readin
PDC World Championship darts quarter-finals: Van Veen and Littler cruise into semis– as it happened
Gian van Veen stunned Luke Humphries with a 5-1 victory after Luke Littler whitewashed Krzysztof Ratajski *Searle (1) 2-0 (0) Clayton Another break of throw for Searle! Clayton missed a dart at D16, a terrible effort, and Searle took out 116 on tops with the air of a man strolling to the paper shop on a brisk winter morning. His finishing has been outrageous. Searle (1) 1-0 (0) Clayton* Continue reading...
PDC world darts: Van Veen dumps Humphries out as Littler wins over crowd
Former world champion beaten 5-1 by rising star Littler cheered during rout of Krzysztof Ratajski For the third time in this match, Gian van Veen is lining up the bull finish for a 170. This time, though, he steps away from the oche, and as the noise builds and swells around him, as the applause hardens into a tribal rhythm, he smiles. And in that moment, with millions of pairs of eyes on him, with glory within his grasp, he just knows. Knows that after all the years of hope and toil, of dream
Gary Anderson and Ryan Searle show class and surge into world darts semis
Scot chasing third world title, 10 years after last triumph Searle talks about playing through eye condition on oche Gary Anderson returned to the World Championship semi-finals for the first time in four years after ending Justin Hood’s dream debut run. The 55-year-old is enjoying a renaissance and is now just two wins away from lifting a third world title, 10 years after his last. If he can do so, he would become the oldest player to lift the PDC world title and join Michael van Gerwen in se
Glorious Gary Anderson revels in remarkable renaissance to take out Van Gerwen
Scotsman rolled back years to reach first quarter-final since 2022 at the expense of toiling Michael van Gerwen “I’m just here to cause a headache,” Gary Anderson had told everyone in advance of this game, and for the great Michael van Gerwen the hangover from this crushing 4-1 defeat will comfortably outstrip any quantity of New Year’s Eve festivity. It was a little nervy at the end, a little scrappy and short of breath. But somehow the result had never really been in doubt from the early stage
‘I lost my head’: Luke Littler on darts crowd booing him at Alexandra Palace
PDC hot favourite was jeered during quarter-final victory ‘It definitely fuelled me up and it made me play better’ Luke Littler admits he lost his head when reacting to the hostile crowd during his fourth-round PDC World Darts Championship win over Rob Cross and still has some learning to do. The 18-year-old was booed and jeered as he beat Cross 4-2 to book his place in the quarter-finals at Alexandra Palace. Littler let the emotion out after throwing the winning darts, running around the stag
Luke Littler forced to battle the boos in tense win at PDC World Championship
Littler’s missed doubles cheered in win over Rob Cross Champion denies being bothered in unconvincing style They say you either die a hero, or live long enough to become the villain. At a feverish and hostile Alexandra Palace, the same crowd that cheered Luke Littler on as a 16-year-old boy now jeers him to victory as an 18-year-old man. The character arc has come full circle; the heel turn complete. He is three matches from retaining his world title, and remains the overwhelming favourite to
Bunting hurt by online abuse of teenage son after exit from darts world championship
Toby, 13, was in crowd when fourth seed lost ‘He has had hate from some trolls online’ Stephen Bunting has revealed his 13-year-old son has been a victim of online abuse. Toby Bunting was in the crowd at Alexandra Palace as his father, the fourth seed, was knocked out in the third round of the PDC World Championship by James Hurrell. Bunting said in a post on X that his family have been hurt by the social media trolling. “Hi guys, sorry I’ve had a few days away from my socials, but I just need
Tom Jenkins’s best sport photographs of 2025
The Guardian sport photographer selects his favourite images he has taken this year and recalls the stories behind them This is a selection of some of my favourite pictures taken at events I’ve covered this year, quite a few of which haven’t been published before. Several have been chosen for their news value, others purely for their aesthetic value, while some are here just because there’s a nice story behind them. Continue reading...