Michael van Gerwen and Luke Littler faced off in the World Series of Darts semi-finals.
Luke Littler irritates Michael van Gerwen as darts star declares ‘this should not happen’
Michael van Gerwen admits he was ‘irritated’ by losing to Luke Littler and disappointed at how his emotions got the better of him in his World Series of Darts semi-final defeat.
Littler was in a league of his own in Amsterdam, averaging almost 108 and dominating Van Gerwen in front of his own fans. The 17-year-old sensation went on to win the tournament with a one-sided victory over Michael Smith in Sunday’s final.
He started playing better and better and with that my irritation increased,” Van Gerwen told Viaplay after the match. “I can blame myself for that
There is a very busy period coming up now and if I want to perform, this should not happen to me. I have to take this defeat on the chin.”
World No 3 Van Gerwen was posturing to go all the way in the World Series after taking a sequence of big scalps en route to his clash with Littler. The Dutchman even dispatched reigning world champion Luke Humphries in a thrilling 10-9 quarter-final
But the wind was knocked out of Van Gerwen’s sails when he came up against eventual champion Littler, forcing him to try and find an explanation. “Whether there was no spark against him? I don’t even want to say that yet,” he added.
However, I started the match well and put him under pressure from the start, at that point I was in the match very well. But then I came out of that break badly, I still won the first leg, but then I completely lost it. That’s where I seriously short-changed myself.”
Fellow Dutch darts star Vincent van der Voort believes that his countryman’s taxing win over Humphries left him with little left in the tank when the time came to face Littler in the Netherlands.
