MICHAEL VAN GERWEN brutally dismissed Luke Littler’s route to the PDC World Darts Championship final with a scathing assessment of his run.
MVG and Littler face off at Ally Pally tonight with the Sid Waddell Trophy on the line.
Both men cruised through yesterday’s semi-finals with emphatic 6-1 wins – Van Gerwen over Chris Dobey and Littler over Stephen Bunting.
The Dutchman knows he is one victory away from a fourth world title while Littler will be hoping to go one better than 12 months ago when he lost the final to Luke Humphries.
Littler was not at his best in his early wins against Ryan Meikle and Ian White – prompting Van Gerwen to label the Warrington teenager the “biggest disappointment” of the tournament so far.
The Premier League champion then saw off Ryan Joyce in a thriller before breezing past Nathan Aspinall with an average of 101.54 and then crushing Bunting.
But Van Gerwen remains far from impressed by Littler’s path ahead of their eagerly-anticipated oche showdown.
And shredded Aspinall with an X-rated summary of his performance in the quarters, claiming his four-year-old boy Mike could have come out victorious.
Van Gerwen said: “The last matches Littler played okay, but that’s also easy talking.
“Of course that (quarter-final against Nathan Aspinall) was his best match because he had absolutely no opposition.
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“Aspinall… I think my little son would have beat him, he didn’t throw s***.”
And Van Gerwen continued his bullish stance when quizzed on his chances against his 17-year-old opponent in the final.
The 2014, 2017 and 2019 darts champ boasted: “Who do you think yourself? Don’t ask those silly questions, right?
“Of course I’m the favourite.
“Purely in terms of quality, what I’ve shown in recent years. And not only that, also the past matches.
“We are still too far away from the title, from that trophy. You have to stay with yourself, keep your head up and make sure you don’t make any mistakes.”
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However, despite his brimming confidence, Van Gerwen actually has an even record with Littler.
From their 12 previous meetings, the pair are locked at 6-6.
Crucially, though, the youngster has won their last two going into their Ally Pally final – 11-4 in the World Series Finals and then a crushing 6-1 victory in the European Tour Championship.
Despite the comments, there is plenty of respect between the two.
But there will be no customary handshakes on stage – because Van Gerwen is aware many players lick their entire hands before stepping out and finds it “disgusting”.
