Michael van Gerwen set for 7th PDC World Darts Championship final: This is how he fared in his previous attempts

Michael van Gerwen will take on Luke Littler in the final of the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship on Friday night. The winner of that duel will get to take the Sid Waddell Trophy and collect the top prize of £500,000 in prize money.

For Littler, it will be his second World Championship final in a row, after losing to Luke Humphries twelve months ago. Van Gerwen meanwhile, will be playing his seventh World Championship final. Below, we take a look at how he fared in his previous finals at Alexandra Palace....

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2013: 4-7 loss against Phil Taylor

It is the lost World Championship final that Van Gerwen probably would have liked most to have won. It would also have been a symbolic victory, if the then crown prince of darts had won over the best dart player of all time. There were indeed chances to beat Phil Taylor, as "Mighty Mike" was ahead 4-2 in sets and had two chances to make it 5-2. Then it probably would have been game over. Van Gerwen missed those chances though and then lost five sets in a row.

2014: 7-4 win against Peter Wright

A year later, that first world title came for the Dutchman. At the age of 24, he became the youngest winner of the PDC World Darts Championship by defeating Peter Wright 7-4. By winning this final, Van Gerwen also became the world number one, a position he held for seven years.

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2017: 7-3 win against Gary Anderson

A remarkable second world title came in 2017 for Van Gerwen, who that year became the best world champion ever numerically. His lowest average during the tournament was 103.08 in his quarterfinal against Daryl Gurney (5-1), while the Dutchman produced an incredible average of 114.05 in his iconic semifinal against Raymond van Barneveld (6-2). In the final, Van Gerwen triumphed 7-3 against Gary Anderson with an average of 107.79. His tournament average eventually ended at 106.32, a record that still stands.

2019: 7-3 win against Michael Smith

A year after a particularly painful defeat in the World Darts Championship semifinals against Rob Cross, in which Van Gerwen missed five matchdarts, 'Mighty Mike' took his third world title. It was a fairly convincing title for Van Gerwen, who also surrendered only five sets in his five matches to the final. In the final, he was 7-3 too strong for Michael Smith.

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2020: 3-7 loss against Peter Wright

In 2020, Van Gerwen managed to reach the World Championship again, however, he failed to follow in the footsteps of Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson, the only three darters in history to successfully defend their titles. Van Gerwen lost out to his old rival Peter Wright in the final, 7-3.

2023: 4-7 loss against Michael Smith

Three years Van Gerwen had to wait for another chance to win his fourth world title. Unfortunately for "Mighty Mike," he once again fell short of becoming world champion. The Dutchman was, however, part of a World Championship final that went around the world because of an incredible moment in the second set. Both players started the third leg of the second set with six perfect darts. Van Gerwen was first to throw for the nine darter, but missed the double 12. Then it was Smith's turn, who sensationally pinned the nine darter. It was 'Bullyboy' who eventually captured the world title too, beating Van Gerwen 7-4.

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