Central Event
It says a lot about the new class in darts that Michael van Gerwen will not be taking center stage on Saturday night at the World Championships.
Instead, Luke Littler will star at Alexandra Palace when he takes on Ian White in their third round meeting.
It has been a remarkable 12 months for the 17-year-old who was midway through his finals run this time last year as he established himself as one of the sport’s biggest names despite his tender years.
However, Littler showed a rare vulnerability in his opening match against Ryan Meikle last Saturday. He was completely out of sorts for the first three sets before making a switch and posting a stunning average of 140.91 in the fourth – the highest single-set average in the history of the tournament.
THE LITTLE ONES WIN WITH A RECORD SET 🤯
An eleven-dart, a ten-dart and a dart from Luke Littler as he averaged 140.91 in the final set to beat Ryan Meikle.
Just ridiculous from this special talent 🙌
He entered the Third Round! pic.twitter.com/0j9CQGYHKU
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) December 21, 2024
But he was unable to complete his on-stage interview, breaking down in tears and admitting he was suffering from nerves.
That could be a factor again tomorrow, although he could be helped by the fact that he is playing a familiar face with White also hailing from Littler’s hometown of Runcorn.
White, who beat Ritchie Edhouse in the second round, used to compete against his grandfather Littler in the North West championships.
The 54-year-old said: “When I first started darts I played with his grandad, Phil, in Runcorn.
“I kept hitting him. He played for Albion. Local groups. We played against him many times. We had banter.
“I’m looking forward to it. I can’t wait.”
Van Gerwen is not the force he once was and will face a tough test against Irish veteran Brendan Dolan in the second match of the evening session.
The Dutchman beat James Burrell 3-0 in his first opener and showed flashes of brilliance that have taken him to three world titles.
“I think I’ve done well in patches, but the tank is still full,” he said.
“I think I did enough, and that’s all that matters, especially knowing I didn’t have the best 12 months of my career.
“I like to play in such scenes. It gives me a lot of energy and the atmosphere definitely gave me chills.”
Series of play – all third round matches
Afternoon session (from 1230 UK time)
Ryan Joyce vs. Ryan Searle
Scott Williams to Ricardo Pietreczko
Nathan Aspinall v Andrew Gilding
Afternoon session (from 1900 UK time)
Chris Dobby vs. Josh Rock
Michael van Gerwen v Brendan Dolan
Luke Littler vs. Ian White
How to watch
The PDC World Championship is shown on Sky Sports in the UK.
You can watch the afternoon session on Sky Sports Darts and the Main Event from 12:30 GMT. The evening session has been on Sky Sports Darts and Main Event since 1900.
Predictions
The fascination with Littler is not so much whether he wins, but how he performs. He will have too much firepower for White, but his amazing battle of nerves against Meikle would be an eye-opener for his opponents.
If he can show his usual composure then business as usual will resume and his campaign will be back on track. If not, then there will be more doubt about his chances this year.
Van Gerwen could struggle against world number 30 Dolan, but should have enough to get over the line.
The evening session begins with an interesting clash between Dobey and Rock. Dobey is the bookmakers’ favorite for the match, but we fancy Rock to cause a minor upset.
In the afternoon session, all three races should be close affairs.
But we’re going for wins for Searle, Williams and Gilding.
