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Dutch Darts Masters 2024 | Day Two Preview and Order of Play

Michael van Gerwen denies Luke Littler to claim Dutch Darts Masters crown

Jamie Shaw in Dutch Darts Masters 28 Jan 2024
Home hero Van Gerwen triumphs (Photo by Kelly Deckers/PDC)

Michael van Gerwen claimed his 20th World Series title on home soil at the Dutch Darts Masters with an 8-6 victory over Luke Littler in the final on Saturday.

The Dutch number one delighted the partisan crowd in Den Bosch as he avenged his defeat to Littler at the same stage of last weekend’s Bahrain Masters.

Van Gerwen defeated his fellow countrymen Vincent van der Voort, Raymond van Barneveld and Gian van Veen to reach the final – where he went on to lift the Toon Greebe Trophy, named in honour of his close friend who passed away last year.

The 34-year-old swept aside Van der Voort in Friday’s opening round, before launching a sensational fightback to deny his old adversary Van Barneveld in the Quarter-Finals.

Van Barneveld looked set to secure a memorable victory over his nemesis after producing 131 and 96 finishes to establish a 5-2 lead.

However, Van Gerwen conjured up sensational checkouts of 144 and 124 in the latter stages and survived a match dart in each of the last two legs to win through an epic encounter.

The three-time World Champion then ended the hopes of World Youth finalist Van Veen in the Last Four with a 7-4 success, winning four of the last five legs to set up a clash against Littler.

Littler stole an early march in the final with a break of throw in leg three, but Van Gerwen responded with an 11-darter, before converting a 78 checkout to regain the lead.

Littler hit back with a clinical 104 checkout on tops, and the pair continued to trade holds of throw in a frenetic affair, with Van Gerwen firing in a superb 130 finish in leg nine.

The 17-year-old continued to apply the pressure on the home favourite, missing the bull for a 121 finish in leg 11, which was bookended by 14-darters as he levelled at six apiece.

However, Littler paid the price for missing two darts at double eight to break throw in the penultimate leg, as Van Gerwen sank double ten to move to the cusp of victory.

World Championship runner-up Littler almost forced a last-leg shoot-out, missing the bull for a 170 checkout, only for Van Gerwen to wrap up victory with a 12-darter.

“Luke put me under so much pressure,” reflected Van Gerwen, who averaged 100.6 and converted eight of his 12 attempts at doubles.

“Luke has a very bright future ahead of him. We all know that, but you still want to stop him, and you have to do the right things against him, which is what I did tonight.

“His scoring power is immense so you have to keep on fighting, but I am glad that I was able to.

“I’ve had some really tough matches in finals over the last year. I underperformed a lot of times, but it’s important to keep your fighting spirit and never give up.”

“To this trophy means a lot to me. Me and Toon had some great times when we were playing youth darts together, so lift this trophy in front of my home crowd feels amazing.”

Littler was unable to make it back-to-back World Series titles in Den Bosch, despite defeating Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price on Finals Day at De Maaspoort.

The teenage superstar came through a last-leg decider against Humphries in the Quarter-Finals, crashing in five 180s to gain a semblance of revenge for his defeat to the world number one in the World Championship final.

He then continued his winning run with a 7-4 success over Price, averaging 98 and landing four 180s to reach a third consecutive televised final.

“I will take the positives from this,” insisted Littler, who averaged 106.7 in defeat.

“It was an unbelievable game. I put Michael under a lot of pressure, but he just wouldn’t miss.

“The crowd have been amazing. They wanted Michael to win and I get that, but respect to Michael.

“I cannot wait to go down to Cardiff for the Premier League next week, and hopefully I can continue my good form there.”

Price succumbed to Littler in the semis for the second week in succession, having missed double 12 for a nine-darter during the penultimate leg of his Quarter-Final tie against Kevin Doets.

Van Veen, meanwhile, enjoyed an impressive World Series debut, following up a First Round win over 2023 World Champion Michael Smith by brushing aside world number seven Danny Noppert 6-3.

Dutch Darts Masters 2024 Day Two Results

Saturday January 27

Quarter-Finals
Luke Littler 6-5 Luke Humphries
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Kevin Doets
Michael van Gerwen 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Gian van Veen 6-3 Danny Noppert

Semi-Finals
Luke Littler 7-4 Gerwyn Price
Michael van Gerwen 7-4 Gian van Veen

Final
Michael van Gerwen 8-6 Luke Littler

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