The future is now! Luke Littler fulfils his destiny and takes 2025 PDC World Darts Championship with emphatic win over Michael van Gerwen
PDC
Luke Littler has reached the pinnacle of the darting world and been crowned the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship, realising his destiny in emphatic style with a 7-3 win over a helpless Michael van Gerwen and earning the eye-watering £500,000 top prize!
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After three dramatic weeks, the dream final in Littler vs Van Gerwen was produced by the teenage sensation seeing off the likes of Ryan Meikle, Ian White, Ryan Joyce, Nathan Aspinall and Stephen Bunting, whilst Van Gerwen soared past James Hurrell, Brendan Dolan, Jeffrey de Graaf, Callan Rydz and Chris Dobey.
There was early drama here too as Van Gerwen missed three darts for the opening leg, gifting Littler a break of throw. Comfortably taking out a 55 checkout for a hold of throw in the next leg, Littler moved two legs clear in set 1. With Littler then missing two set darts in leg 3, it was Van Gerwen's turn to punish, getting himself on the board in the final. Those misses didn't prove a fatal mistake for Littler in the set though, as he moved 1-0 with a solid hold in leg 4.
Although both fired 180s in the opening leg of set 2, it was again Littler that took the leg, continuing his early momentum. A ruthless 82 checkout then saw Littler break the MvG throw again in leg 2 to double his advantage in the second set. Averaging over 120 for the set, Littler sealed the whitewash in the next leg after Van Gerwen had missed bull, pinning double 10. 2-0 and all the early momentum to Littler.
Van Gerwen held strongly despite Littler pressure to open set 1, getting just his second leg on the board of the final. In a massive missed opportunity, Van Gerwen then saw three break darts go begging on double top. Littler punished brutally too, pinning double 5 last dart in hand. Despite Littler himself then missing a couple of break chances in leg 3, Van Gerwen couldn't punish, with 'The Nuke' returning to nail double 10. Moments later, the set was secured, Littler finding double 10 once again.
Beginning to show off, Littler went bull-double 10 to checkout 70 in the first leg of set 4. 88 checkout on double 7 then gave Littler another break, further punishing a helpless Van Gerwen. After the Dutchman missed double 16 for a break in leg 3, Littler missed two at the same target for a 4-0 lead. MvG returned to punish and keep himself alive in set 4. With Van Gerwen missing more in the next leg though, the 4-0 lead was secured by Littler.
Arguably the only thing that could make this performance even better for Littler would be a nine-darter. When the 17-year-old opened set 5 with four perfect darts the crowd began to get excited too. That perfect leg didn't come though, and in actual fact, Van Gerwen took the leg to hold throw. With the first ton-plus checkout of the contest though, Littler fired straight back. Van Gerwen wasn't done yet though and taking the next two legs unanswered the Dutchman finally got a set on the board, in style too with a 132 checkout.
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Getting ever closer to that perfect leg, Littler began set 6 with six perfect darts. This time Van Gerwen wasn't around to pick up the pieces either as Littler returned to get a foothold in the set. Both players then had a dart to take leg 2, before Van Gerwen saved his throw on double 1. Taking out 87 via treble 19, single 10, double 10 in the next, Littler continued to try and leave his favourite double by any means necessary. Van Gerwen forced a decider with a ice-cold 62, but for the third time in this set, Littler kicked off his throw with a maximum. With MvG unable to pressure, Littler pinned double 10 again to get a 5th set on the board.
Despite going wayward into double 4 when aiming for double 18 to start set 7, Van Gerwen recovered to find double 14 and hold throw. Littler continued to be relentless on his own throw though, levelling up the set with a 124 on the bull. Van Gerwen was definitely much improved than from the early stages however, and with a 12-darter held throw again in leg 3. With a pop-pop 46, Littler forced a decider, but it was Mighty Mike who had the advantage of throw and kicking off with 4 perfect darts, Van Gerwen wasn't giving up the set without a fight. With a 13-darter on tops the set was sealed, pulling Van Gerwen back to 5-2.
Double 10 continued to be Littler's friend as the 17-year-old moved 1-0 in set 8. Hitting a beautiful 177 set up shot, Littler then cleaned up 50 in two darts to double his advantage. With a 64 checkout in tops, Littler secured another whitewash set to move one away from the title.
With Van Gerwen having his back firmly against the wall, seeing Littler narrowly miss bull for a 164 break of throw would've been the last thing he needed. Credit to the Dutchman though, he showed no signs of pressure, nailing double 16 to take the leg and hold throw. Continuing to be absolutely ridiculous on tops and tens, Littler found double 20 to level the set in leg 2. With a comfortable hold of throw, MvG then nudged back infront before breaking throw to get a 3rd set on the board.
Still not showing signs of nerves though, Littler found double 10 again at the end of a 48 checkout to take the opening leg of set 10. Breaking throw, Littler was suddenly just one leg away. Despite missing double 16 for a match-winning 132, Little returned to nail double 16 and seal a famous win.
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Luke Littler is 4-0 up and cruising...#WCDarts pic.twitter.com/KNT0AjHRBY
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 3, 2025
Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026
- Fair play to Fallon. But...shows the mockery when a professional players wins what was meant to be an amateur v Pro event, Littlers performance was poor, and what about the players who didn't get a game? Would have been better if the pot was split amoungst all the winners and they all got a leg.BandB31-10-2026
- Not even slightly interestedrick6730-10-2026
- And yet the PDC has decided to aggravate this problem by doubling the Players Championship Finals field from 2027. I can't imagine there will be fewer withdrawals next year with even less reason to turn up. I can only hope that a whole slew of Challenge Tour top-up players receive enough prize money in the absence of much of the elite, that some of the more complacent among them struggle to scrape into even a heavily diluted field! More semi-pro players will get to test their mettle, but the standard of competition will be much inferior. It could hardly be said that the Players Championship series will provide an opportunity for darts' second string to test their Tour Card credentials anymore, but at least it will underscore the achievements of those Challenge Tour players of current and previous years, who were able to prove themselves as more than capable of competing with, and beating, the elite of the sport on a consistent basis, and reaping the due rewards.Deduce635828-10-2026
- No point in being there? Champions want to win.Deduce635828-10-2026