Darts

[Hasta]

Should be a good final.
 

Van Veen and Littler came up through the development tour together. Head 2 Head record is 4 wins each, with Van Veen leading 3-2 on meetings this year (albeit over shorter formats). Littler has won both of their televised meetings in the bigger tournaments though. However Van Veen won’t be going in stage a beaten man like many do against Littler.

[chaddyrovers]

Come on Luke

[chaddyrovers]

Luke Littler is in great form tonight 

[RevidgeBlue]

Feel gutted for Anderson playing that well and losing last night.

Unsurprisingly Van Veen unable to play so flawlessly again tonight.

[Gav]

I’ve not watched loads of the darts, but every time I’ve tuned in, Keir Starmer is a wanker……

[roversfan99]

I cant understand why anyone would want Littler to win.

Not even on a personal level. But why would you want an individual sport to be totally dominated by one person? 

[K-Hod]

After the first set, it’s just been totally one way traffic.

[K-Hod]

15 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I cant understand why anyone would want Littler to win.

Not even on a personal level. But why would you want an individual sport to be totally dominated by one person? 

It’s not that deep, some people just have their favourites.

[RevidgeBlue]

20 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I cant understand why anyone would want Littler to win.

Not even on a personal level. But why would you want an individual sport to be totally dominated by one person? 

The crowds are starting to turn on him slightly.

It's not that surprising really, most people don't want to to see someone winning ALL the time.

I couldn't stand Steve Davies when he was in his pomp.

Edited Saturday at 21:34 by RevidgeBlue

[Dreams of 1995]

21 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I cant understand why anyone would want Littler to win.

Not even on a personal level. But why would you want an individual sport to be totally dominated by one person? 

You can’t understand? Or you just don’t want him to win all the time?

You are allowed to have favourites in sport. Quite often, those favourites are the most entertaining. Winning is entertaining

Littlers scoring and finishing is sublime. It’s Phil Taylor level.

If you can’t understand supporting that, then you are not allowing yourself much room for enjoyment 

[Hasta]

Van Veen didn't even play badly but Littler just made him look levels below. GVV missed one dart to make it 2-0 in sets and from that moment on it was an avalanche.

We've had the Taylor era, who was dominant for 15+ years. We've had the MVG era. It's just another era of dominance coming up for Littler. 

He became World Number 1 in November surpassing Humphries on money earned. The rankings (based on prize money) now just show how far clear he has been over the last 2 years. (Although it does show how the World Championships influence the rankings a bit too much due to the size of the prize money compared to other tournaments.)

Will be interesting to see tomorrows Premier League picks, even though it's a tournament I rarely watch.

 

Edited Saturday at 21:44 by Hasta

[chaddyrovers]

Simply fantastic from Littler. 

27 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I cant understand why anyone would want Littler to win.

Not even on a personal level. But why would you want an individual sport to be totally dominated by one person? 

Are you being serious? Luke Littler is just fantastic darts player and why wouldnt you want him to win? 

Also Luke Humphries won the the Masters and the Premier League darts, Glen Van Veen won the European championship in 2025. 

12 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

The crowds are starting to turn on him slightly.

Wouldn't say that its few people turning on him but the majority of fans are right behind him

[chaddyrovers]

17 minutes ago, Hasta said:

Will be interesting to see tomorrows Premier League picks, even though it's a tournament I rarely watch.

Johnny Clayton will probably be part of it. 

I enjoyed watching Premier League Darts on a Thursday night

[chaddyrovers]

Big shout out to the PA announcer John Mcdonald, great at his job and now retiring. You will be big miss to darts

[Gav]

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

I cant understand why anyone would want Littler to win.

Not even on a personal level. But why would you want an individual sport to be totally dominated by one person? 

This lad has singlehandedly brought darts to a younger generation, the sport is booming.

This had now dominates the sport through graft and hard work, what’s not to like? 

Edited Saturday at 22:16 by Gav

[roversfan99]

41 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

It’s not that deep, some people just have their favourites.

 

33 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

You can’t understand? Or you just don’t want him to win all the time?

You are allowed to have favourites in sport. Quite often, those favourites are the most entertaining. Winning is entertaining

Littlers scoring and finishing is sublime. It’s Phil Taylor level.

If you can’t understand supporting that, then you are not allowing yourself much room for enjoyment 

I totally appreciate and respect that he is a fantastic player.

But from a spectacle, I dont enjoy just watching it when its uncompetitive like it was tonight and has been in all of his games.

Obviously its credit to him that hes so much better than everyone, but in this country especially we tend to root for the underdog too. Id enjoy it more if the games were closer but it was a boring final because there was never really any jeopardy.

[roversfan99]

1 minute ago, Gav said:

This lad has singlehandedly brought darts to a younger generation, the sport is booming and he now dominates the sport, are you being serious? 

Yes, for the reasons I have just posted above.

Its not a criticism of him as a player, hes a fantastic player clearly and will no doubt continue to break records. But I would enjoy it more if games didnt feel uncompetitive such is the disparity in quality. Because he is so good.

Tonight was the final of the main tournament and you want a final to feel like it could go either way, surely. As a neutral.

[roversfan99]

29 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Simply fantastic from Littler. 

Are you being serious? Luke Littler is just fantastic darts player and why wouldnt you want him to win? 

Also Luke Humphries won the the Masters and the Premier League darts, Glen Van Veen won the European championship in 2025. 

Wouldn't say that its few people turning on him but the majority of fans are right behind him

He is obviously a fantastic player, and I respect that.

But I wanted the underdog to win, I wouldnt want someone to win just because they are great. I wouldnt want someone to win a football league (beside us) repeatedly either. 

I didnt enjoy watching a final with such an obvious outcome. You want to be gripped. It wasnt gripping. 

[chaddyrovers]

23 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

He is obviously a fantastic player, and I respect that.

But I wanted the underdog to win, I wouldnt want someone to win just because they are great. I wouldnt want someone to win a football league (beside us) repeatedly either. 

I didnt enjoy watching a final with such an obvious outcome. You want to be gripped. It wasnt gripping. 

Well I did enjoyed the final and in fact Its was competitive final. Van Veen is a really good player and his average was 100 plus for most sets but When Littler gets on a roll and played like he did tonight, he is unstoppable. 

I wasn't a neutral tonight but wanted Littler to win. Players like Josh Rock, Johnny Clayton, Chris Dobey other favourites of mine but Littler is my favourite 

In fact, Its been great competitive tournament this year to watch..

Edited Saturday at 22:47 by chaddyrovers

[Dreams of 1995]

36 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

 

I totally appreciate and respect that he is a fantastic player.

But from a spectacle, I dont enjoy just watching it when its uncompetitive like it was tonight and has been in all of his games.

Obviously its credit to him that hes so much better than everyone, but in this country especially we tend to root for the underdog too. Id enjoy it more if the games were closer but it was a boring final because there was never really any jeopardy.

There has been some great moments in the tournament. Hood vs Noppert game, Van Veen against Humphries and Anderson are stand outs. Closer games and upsets are always better for sure but sometimes it’s just good to witness real quality

So it is not as though Littler ruined the tournament. What he has given the tournament though is a masterclass - very high scoring and very entertaining in how he goes about dismantling people

Unfortunately, that means on some days he blows his opponent away. On others, it’s a better game. The Humphries final last year being an example. Other people need to step up to his level 

He was the spectacle today. It would have been nicer if Van Veen performed more like he did vs Anderson, but he was poor throughout and lost his head after the 3rd set was decided. Not Littlers fault. I enjoyed it tonight - each to their own I guess

[Hasta]

39 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

He was the spectacle today. It would have been nicer if Van Veen performed more like he did vs Anderson, but he was poor throughout and lost his head after the 3rd set was decided. Not Littlers fault. I enjoyed it tonight - each to their own I guess

Poor is harsh. Against anyone else he would have gone close or probably won. It’s just Littler was that good.  Van Veen averaged 107.5 in set 7 and only got three darts at a double in the whole set.  

Littler’s problem is he is just a bit arrogant, and people are starting to notice. Same way Taylor was. Humphries won practically everything In a 12 month period and still came across as quite humble.

 

[roversfan99]

57 minutes ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

There has been some great moments in the tournament. Hood vs Noppert game, Van Veen against Humphries and Anderson are stand outs. Closer games and upsets are always better for sure but sometimes it’s just good to witness real quality

So it is not as though Littler ruined the tournament. What he has given the tournament though is a masterclass - very high scoring and very entertaining in how he goes about dismantling people

Unfortunately, that means on some days he blows his opponent away. On others, it’s a better game. The Humphries final last year being an example. Other people need to step up to his level 

He was the spectacle today. It would have been nicer if Van Veen performed more like he did vs Anderson, but he was poor throughout and lost his head after the 3rd set was decided. Not Littlers fault. I enjoyed it tonight - each to their own I guess

The tournament in general was very enjoyable, I totally agree. He certainly didnt ruin the tournament overall.

The Littler games were boring though. Van Veen got an average of 100+ and still it was not competitive.

The fact that the games are so boring IMO when Littler plays is purely because he is so good. Its a positive reflection on him. I dont think its realistic to expect people to step up to his level, hes a bit of a freak. I imagine it was the same in the Taylor days.

[roversfan99]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

Well I did enjoyed the final and in fact Its was competitive final. Van Veen is a really good player and his average was 100 plus for most sets but When Littler gets on a roll and played like he did tonight, he is unstoppable. 

I wasn't a neutral tonight but wanted Littler to win. Players like Josh Rock, Johnny Clayton, Chris Dobey other favourites of mine but Littler is my favourite 

In fact, Its been great competitive tournament this year to watch..

It certainly wasnt a competitive final. One player was well ahead and cruised to victory. 

[chaddyrovers]

9 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

It certainly wasnt a competitive final. One player was well ahead and cruised to victory. 

As me and others have said its was competitive final and Van Veen average was just short of 100 overall but in the first few sets he average was better. He has 4 or 5 ton plus finishers. 

For reason, you again are just Downplaying just how good Littler especially when he gets that momentum he is unstoppable just like Phil Taylor or Van Gerwan was. 

9 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

The tournament in general was very enjoyable, I totally agree. He certainly didnt ruin the tournament overall.

Great tournament with some great matches and some shocks in results

9 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

The Littler games were boring though. Van Veen got an average of 100+ and still it was not competitive.

The fact that the games are so boring IMO when Littler plays is purely because he is so good. Its a positive reflection on him. I dont think its realistic to expect people to step up to his level, hes a bit of a freak. I imagine it was the same in the Taylor days.

 

Littler hitting 170 finish to win the third set, how is that boring to watch RF99? 

That's was the key moment in the game and completely change the game in Littler favour and he just keep in going with no drop off in scoring or competitive 

[Hasta]

9 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

The fact that the games are so boring IMO when Littler plays is purely because he is so good. Its a positive reflection on him. I dont think its realistic to expect people to step up to his level, hes a bit of a freak. I imagine it was the same in the Taylor days.

It’s exactly the same. Taylor’s ability to average 105+ regularly was unseen. Think how good Littler’s looked last night, yet in Taylor’s 2009 final against Barney he averaged 110.9 People couldn’t get near his level unless he underperformed which only happened occasionally. The freakish thing is he was doing it at 30 years old and then still doing it at 55
 

MVG came along and could match those numbers at his peak. He did a full Premier League campaign where his average across 16 games was over 107. He’s just not been able to sustain those levels.
 

We’re now in a period where Littler appears to be similarly above the competition, but with the amount of academies all over the country (which sprung up pre-Littler but are now heavily populated) you will see a lot more challengers over the next few years.

 

Edited yesterday at 09:53 by Hasta