FILE PHOTO: Darts - 2025 PDC World Darts Championship - Alexandra Palace, London, Britain - January 2, 2025 Michael van Gerwen in action during his semi final match against Chris Dobey Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
LONDON (Reuters) -Teen sensation Luke "The Nuke" Littler blasted past Stephen Bunting 6-1 on Thursday to set up a compelling PDC World Darts Championship title showdown with Dutch seven times finalist Michael van Gerwen.
The 17-year-old Englishman, who took the darts world by storm last year when he reached his first final, surged to a 4-0 lead before "The Bullet" fired back to take the fifth set and prevent a whitewash.
Bunting, 39, had a golden chance to secure back-to-back sets but failed to seize it as his opponent, ice-cool gaze as steady as his hand, fired back and went 5-1 up with a brutal bullseye checkout.
There was no coming back from that, with Littler on another level and hitting another bullseye for 170 to go 2-1 up in the last set before punching his ticket to a second successive final.
"I can't wait for tomorrow night...if we both turn up like we did tonight, it's going to be really good," Littler said of Friday's final.
"As soon as (2024 champion) Luke Humphries went out, that’s what everyone was looking at but I just had to focus on the quarter-finals and semi-finals. Now I’ve done that, I can focus on Michael tomorrow.
"We all know he’s hunting for that other (fourth) world title. I’m hunting for my first."
'GREEN MACHINE'
"Green Machine" van Gerwen had earlier hammered Chris Dobey by the same scoreline in front of a raucous crowd of thousands, most enjoying the party atmosphere in fancy dress, packed into London's Alexandra Palace.
The three times world champion, whose last title in the tournament came in 2019, was a man on a mission - and a hurry - as he piled the pressure on an opponent making only his first semi-final appearance.
Van Gerwen finished with a 98.84 average, with eight 180s and a stunning 158 checkout in the sixth set, to Dobey's 94.77.
The number three seed took just six minutes to win the opening set.
"We're not even close yet. We're still so far away...the title is far away. That's what you have to keep telling yourself," he said.
"A 99 average is not that bad. I'm happy with the performance. I wasn't playing as explosive as the last game but I was efficient.
"It’s my passion, it’s my life, of course after my family. I really enjoyed this."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
