Luke Littler already knows Gian van Veen’s true opinion of him after ‘crying’ claim

Gian van Veen and Luke Littler will face off in the final of the World Darts Championship on Saturday and the Dutchman has already made a brutally honest admission about his teenage rival

Luke Littler faces his most demanding challenge yet at this year’s World Darts Championship as he prepares to take on Gian van Veen in the final. The 23-year-old Dutchman has already made his feelings about his opponent crystal clear.

The Nuke has transformed the sport of darts beyond recognition since he exploded onto the scene with that memorable Ally Pally final appearance two years back. He returned the following year and secured his maiden world crown, which is undoubtedly the first of many to come.

His title defence has been virtually flawless this time round, surrendering justthree sets on his path to Saturday’s showpiece. There, he’ll meet Van Veen, who has also experienced a meteoric ascent. Van Veen has conquered personal struggles to establish himself as the Dutch No. 1 and world No. 3 and he’ll be hoping to upstage Littler on the sport’s biggest platform.

However, before their showdown, Van Veen has already revealed his thoughts on the young English ace. Following an outstanding 2025 campaign, Van Veen reached new heights in October of last year when he captured his maiden major championship. He defeated Luke Humphries in a captivating European Championship final.

“It’s settled in a little bit, but not 100% yet,” Van Veen said when he was asked about his win at the time. “Maybe it’s going to take a couple of months before it really has, but the past week and a half has been like living on cloud nine.

“It’s been really nice. Loads of Dutch newspapers and TV stations wanted to do articles. We’ve been spoiled with Raymond [van Barneveld] and Michael [van Gerwen].

“But it’s been a while since someone new has won a major. Danny [Noppert] won the UK Open, but since then it’s been kind of quiet. So it’s great to see that attention again.”

At just 22 when he claimed this triumph, Van Veen inevitably faced comparisons with the teenage world champion. Addressing these questions following his victory, the Dutchman demonstrated immense respect for his World Championship final rival, praising Littler’s remarkable achievements.

“It’s nice to be mentioned in the same sentence as Luke Littler,” Van Veen remarked. “But what he’s done in the past two years is phenomenal. I don’t want to compare myself to him. If I did, I’d be crying in bed all week!

“He performs under pressure every week and that’s why he’s number two in the world and probably soon number one. Of course, I want to be there too, but I’m not in a rush. We’ll see what happens.”

Following Van Veen’s meteoric climb up the rankings during this tournament, both players are destined to cross paths far more frequently in the coming months.

Van Veen, currently ranked as the world No. 3, is thus assured a place in the Premier League should he choose to accept, where he’ll go head-to-head with Littler on a weekly basis. The top four in the world automatically secure their spots for the 17-week event, set to kick off in early February.

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The PDC World Darts Championship gets underway on December 11 and fans can watch every match exclusively live with Sky’s Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle.