Luke Littler thrashes Gian van Veen to clinch back-to-back world titles
By Jonathan Veal, Press Association
Luke Littler overcame the Ally Pally wasp to thrash Gian van Veen and cement his position as one of the greats of the sport after winning back-to-back World Championship titles.
The 18-year-old joins Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson in winning successive crowns and he is the new king of Alexandra Palace.
Littler burst onto the scene with an epic debut run to the final two years ago and has not lost on that stage since after a masterful 7-1 win over Van Veen, which earned him a record £1million prize cheque.
With an average of almost 106, 15 maximums and a ‘Big Fish’ 170 checkout, this was one of the great final performances.
He has been a tour de force over the last year, winning five of the last six major tournaments, and looks set for an era-defining period of domination similar to what Taylor enjoyed.
Indeed, his biggest obstacle on a trouble-free night was the reappearance of the Ally Pally wasp, who made a beeline for Littler in the fourth set, causing a short delay while both players and referee George Noble swatted it away.
Even though the final was not the close contest people were expecting, Van Veen has emerged as a serious contender and Luke Humphries is still his number one rival, but Littler has been virtually unbeatable in all of the big tournaments.
He has become the first man to retain his Ally Pally title since Anderson a decade ago.
Certainly there is no one to match him over the longer contests. He suffocates his opponents with his relentless scoring and his ability to go through the gears and deliver a golden spell means he is always in every match.
That is what he did to Van Veen, who fell at the final hurdle in his breakout competition.
The 23-year-old beat former champions Humphries and Anderson en route to the final but this was a match too far.
Van Veen was beaten up by an unforgiving Littler and he left a blood mark on the board after cutting his hand.
Still, Van Veen is the new world number three despite falling just short in his quest to follow in the footsteps of countrymen Raymond van Barneveld and Michael van Gerwen by winning the World Championship.
But his performance over the course of the competition has proved he will operate at the top of the sport alongside Littler for many years.
It should be no surprise that these two contested the youngest-ever final at the World Championship as the pair met in the World Youth Championship two years ago, with Littler’s victory kickstarting his journey to the top of the sport, where he looks set to finish for some time.
Littler paid tribute to Anthony Joshua’s friends who were killed in a car crash earlier this week, before recreating the former heavyweight champion’s famous catchphrase.
He said on stage: “It feels amazing. I think I’m a bit late, but I’ve been wanting to say this.
“Obviously everyone knows what happened with Anthony Joshua and his guys and his team. Rest in peace to his friends.
“But just like AJ said, the first time was so nice, I had to do it twice.”
Littler’s friend and king of the jungle Angry Ginge was in attendance and Littler has a new job for him – tackling the wasp.
“I’ll get Angry Ginge to sort it,” he laughed. “I still, I say every year, someone has to bring that wasp out. They don’t just come out of nowhere. No chance.”
Van Veen was disappointed he was unable to give Littler a real game.
“I would have liked to lift the title, but I would have liked more to give Luke a game, and that’s what I didn’t do.
“I lost too many legs while I wasn’t involved. I missed too many chances. But you know, looking back at this tournament, I’m very proud for getting even to the final.”