Luke Littler averts Dimitri van den Bergh scare as Michael van Gerwen eases past Dirk van Duijvenbode
PDC
Michael van Gerwen and Luke Littler have made it through the opening night of the Dutch Darts Masters in Den Bosch in differing tests on a night where the big name seeds have been majorly tested.
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Van Gerwen had no issues in his first match since the World Championship FInal after he went to Thailand on holiday and had a refresh and reset. He saw off Dirk van Duijvenbode who majorly struggled on his home stage losing 6-1.
Van Duijvenbode's only leg came early on as he held throw to draw level with a 180 halfway through. Van Gerwen with Van Duijvenbode well over 200 set up double 10 pinning it for 2-1. MVG managed to get a first break of throw as he went 3-1 up and continued to outscore his opponent.
He broke again for 5-1. He missed double 20 and set himself on next throw on double 10. After Van Duijvenbode made nothing of his attempts, MVG hit single 10 with his penultimate dart before taking out double five for 5-1. As 'The Titan' couldn't get going, he sealed a 6-1 win.
While Luke Littler averted a scare against Dimitri van den Bergh who lead in the latter stages but couldn't get towards the finishing line as 'The Nuke' won 6-4 with a 101 average and hit five 180's.
Littler started well despite a bust, he pinned double 20 second time around for 1-0. He hit 134 for 2-0. But missed darts at double saw Van den Bergh turn it around as he stayed on his coattails.
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Van den Bergh hit 87 for a 4-3 lead but a 102 saw Littler level up and he led 5-4 as despite a bust, Van den Bergh couldn't take advantage and Littler sealed the win from there 6-4.
Michael van Gerwen opens his bid for back-to-back Dutch Darts Masters titles with a comprehensive 6-1 win over Dirk van Duijvenbode!
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 24, 2025
Impressive from The Green Machine! 👏 pic.twitter.com/bsquksM6xR
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