Littler takes out 170 twice to beat Van Gerwen

Luke Littler produced form close to his sensational best to overpower Michael van Gerwen and win his third Premier League night of the season in Berlin.

The 19-year-old beat the previous highest average (now 108.58) in Berlin in his semi-final victory over Gerwyn Price, but it was the final where he really turned it on.

He raced into a 3-0 lead but was pegged back to all square by the seven-time Premier League winner Van Gerwen.

Littler held in leg seven before a stunning 170 checkout – deliberately left with a single on his previous visit – saw him move to within one leg of victory.

He had the throw in the ninth but 36-year-old Van Gerwen broke back and the final looked destined for a final-leg decider.

However, world number one Littler found an extra gear, producing another brilliant 170 checkout to seal his third night win in the past four weeks.

Van Gerwen, who had not won a match since week two before this event, must wonder what it is about Littler, after the world champion also hit the maximum checkout against the Dutchman in Dublin last week.

The victory sees Littler climb to the top of the Premier League standings at the halfway point of the season.

It continues a resurgence from the 2024 winner, who sat seventh after the opening four weeks of the campaign.

“This is definitely the best I’ve played in a night,” Littler told Sky Sports.

Northern Ireland’s Josh Rock has endured a difficult debut Premier League campaign, losing in the quarter-finals in the first seven weeks.

The 24-year-old had followed the trend of Stephen Bunting in 2025 and it was in Berlin where the Liverpudlian picked up his first points with a nightly win.

Rock is now off the mark with a deserved quarter-final win over Clayton, who led the standings going into the night, but he soon faltered in the semis against Van Gerwen.

Rock went into the night with the lowest average of the eight players (91.67) and checkout percentage (21.67%) and, although he was closer to his trademark power scoring in Berlin, his finishing was again well below the required standard.

He missed darts to go 3-0 up against Van Gerwen, his doubling caused problems throughout and he finished the match with an 18.75% success rate on the checkouts.

One has to wonder if the quarter-final and the emotion of that – a visibly emotional Rock sunk to his knees at the end – took too much out of him.

Speaking to Sky Sports after his quarter-final, Rock said: “I had to show my emotions – relief is an understatement. I’m up there to win as much as I can and it just hasn’t happened in the first seven weeks but I am on the board now.

Uber Arena, Berlin

Quarter-finals

Jonny Clayton 3-6 Josh Rock

Luke Humphries 3-6 Michael van Gerwen

Luke Littler 6-3 Stephen Bunting

Gerwyn Price 6-1 Gian van Veen

Semi-finals

Rock 3-6 Van Gerwen

Littler 6-4 Price

Final

Thursday, 2 April – AO Arena, Manchester

Quarter-finals

Michael van Gerwen v Stephen Bunting

Gerwyn Price v Luke Humphries

Gian van Veen v Luke Littler

Premier League Darts is played across 16 initial weeks in the league stage with quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final each night.

Each of the eight players is guaranteed to face the other seven in the quarter-finals in weeks one to seven and 9-15, with week eight and week 16 fixtures done off the table. It means we will get fourth v fifth in Sheffield on the final league-stage night, with the play-off spots potentially on the line.

Players earn two points per quarter-final win, an additional point if they win their semi-final and five for winning the night.

The top four players after the group stage progress to the play-off night at London’s O2 Arena on 28 May, with first facing fourth and second against third in a best-of-19-leg match. The final, which is the best of 21 legs, follows.