“We’ve never seen this before... it’s quite worrying” – Vincent van der Voort highlights potential downside of Luke Littler’s dominance in darts

Gian van Veen experienced the tournament of his life at the Alexandra Palace, but in the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship final he never came close to producing an upset against Luke Littler. The 18-year-old Englishman confirmed his status as the undisputed force in darts by convincingly retaining the world title with seven sets on the spin. Former top darter Vincent van der Voort voiced his admiration afterwards, but also added a critical note about Littler’s dominance.

According to Van der Voort, the final of the PDC World Darts Championship lost its tension early. “It was a bit of an anticlimax,” he said on the Darts Draait Door podcast. Van Veen did take the opening set, but was then completely overpowered by the defending champion, who became the first player since Gary Anderson in 2016 to successfully defend his PDC world title.

Van der Voort mainly noticed how Littler seized the initiative immediately after a hesitant start. “It wasn’t as if the sets were close. It just wasn’t enough, but all credit to Littler. How good was that boy. He loses the first set and takes a knock, then he goes 2-0 down in the second set and from that moment he hardly misses a double. He was unstoppable, he played Gian off the board.”

Van Veen, however, began the final without visible nerves and again moved in front in the second set. “He didn’t have stage fright, in the second set he also goes 2-0 up. Only Littler keeps piling on the pressure so relentlessly. You can’t sustain those kinds of checkouts for an entire match. Littler also doesn’t suddenly ease off. There aren’t many who can keep that up.”

That constant pressure proved fatal. Littler decided the match without allowing a moment’s doubt. “I thought he was so good on the key moments with his doubles and checkouts. He gave Gian no chance and you got the sense that after a few sets Gian was played out of it, like: I can’t live with this. That’s no disgrace, almost everyone experiences that.”

That very aspect makes the defeat extra galling, Van der Voort believes. “He’s had a magnificent tournament with great matches and to finish it like this is a shame.”

With his second world title in a row, Littler capped an unprecedented year, in which he won all the major ranking tournaments bar the European Championship and the World Masters. “Whatever you say about him, words still fall short. We’ve never seen this before.”

At the same time, Van der Voort also sees a risk for the sport. “On the other hand it’s quite worrying, because people do need to come along who can beat him now and then. It’s nice for a year, but now the elite will have to look at how to get to him. That he wins is fine, but you need to get close. Gian didn’t manage that tonight.”

For Van Veen, pride ultimately prevails despite the clear defeat. “He’ll be disappointed, but I think he’ll also be very proud of himself. He should be, and he knows something has to happen to take a step closer to Littler. I think he’ll get over this quickly.”