Delightful Dirk van Duijvenbode crushes Luke Littler as Dave Chisnall surges past Gabriel Clemens in Antwerp
PDC
Luke Littler reached the final last week at the German Darts Championship and was left in tears after losing to Peter Wright. But unlike 'Snakebite' who is into the final session, 'The Nuke' is an early casualty losing at the Flanders Darts Trophy.
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It was a delightful display from the Dutch dynamo Dirk van Duijvenbode who eased past the World finalist 6-2. 'The Titan' is finally starting to show glimmers again after being on the shelf on and off with shoulder issues for the best part of 18 months.
But he averaged 101 in easing through. Littler didn't play badly averaging 93 and hitting five 180's but he also sat at only 28.6% on the outer ring as Van Duijvenbode was marginally better and punished him to the hilt hitting 6/16 forging more chances more often.
Only early on it was closely fought as Littler hit a 105 checkout to make it 2-2 and both were averaging 110 hitting 180's for fun. But Van Duijvenbode from there won four legs on the spin without reply to seal a superb win. Next up for Littler will be the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam next weekend where he is top seed.
Whilst it was mixed success for German hopes as Gabriel Clemens who impressed so much last night couldn't back up his success. Impressing so much last year on the European Tour, Dave Chisnall revived those exploits.
He produced a near 101 average to defeat the German Giant 6-2 with four 180's apiece. But Ricardo Pietreczko was even better.
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'Pikachu' fired past Danny Noppert with consummate ease averaging almost 103 to advance to the Quarter-Finals. Blowing hot and cold since his emergence with a European Tour title last season, it was certainly the former as he swept aside 'The Freeze' with his doubling in particular standing out. He pinned 6/9 as he moved through with Noppert hitting a sole 130 checkout and a pretty miserable 1/6 on the outer ring.
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Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
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- Yes Phil,now the money in the game is bigger than ever,you'd play littler. Well so would I! Retire on your memory Phil,and your successful careerrick6709-11-2026
- And why should he listen to you?Deduce635807-11-2026
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- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
