Luke Littler was beaten 10-6 by Michael van Gerwen in the first round of the World Matchplay on Monday, leaving the teenage darts prodigy red-faced after a series of confident comments leading up to the showdown.
Littler took a sly dig at Van Gerwen last week, claiming that he was psyching himself up for their clash in Blackpool while the Dutchman was still relaxing overseas. The 17-year-old told Sky Sports: “I think he’s still on holiday at the minute, don’t know if he’s back yet, but I know I’m putting the work in.”
He took it up another notch when the first-round draw was announced, listing the names of the venues in which he has beaten Van Gerwen with ticks next to ‘MSG’, ‘Ally Pally’ and ‘O2’, and putting a sand timer emoji next to ‘Winter Gardens’. “Get your popcorn ready,” Littler wrote on X. “It’s gonna be sick.”
As it turned out, there wasn’t much enjoyment to be had for Littler. With Van Gerwen dictating terms and taking a 5-2 lead, the youngster was always chasing the game and never managed to claw back the deficit.
Both players peppered the treble 20 and averaged over 100 as edginess early in the contest gave way to a free-scoring bonanza. Van Gerwen was all business as he took out a sublime 146 finish to go 8-5 up without offering so much as a reaction.
Littler needed a miracle to stay in the first-to-10 match, but it never came. After coming within a whisker of sealing the victory with a show-stopping 170 finish, Van Gerwen stepped back up to the oche and knocked Littler out of the World Matchplay by hitting double eight.
“It is always enjoyable playing game of these standards,” Van Gerwen told Sky Sports after booking his spot in the next round. “He is incredible, but you have to face it and you can’t let yourself down.
“I’ve had a holiday but I worked hard on my holiday. This means a lot to me because I’ve been going through a rough time, so to actually do something good and be rewarded for all your hard work is always nice.
“I don’t have to prove a point but it is nice when you play well and average over 100. That is an incredible feeling. That is what you hope to continue for the rest of the tournament.”