Michael van Gerwen branded his display as 'not acceptable' after being Nuked again by Luke Littler.
The Green Machine was out to try and avenge the agonising World Championship Final defeat he suffered at Ally Pally three weeks ago. Van Gerwen also had the backing of his homeland crowd with the packed out arena in Den Bosch thirsting for a triumph, which would have repeated his success in the Final of this event over the superkid 12 months ago.
However, Littler put an Gerwen through the wringer again as he ripped off the home star’s Dutch Darts Masters crown. The World Champ was way too strong and the home hero was disgusted with his effort as he told Viaplay: “I played terrible. This performance was not acceptable. I was really focused all day and wanted to win this trophy so much. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t get them when I wanted them. I was lucky to be 3-3, it could have been 6-0.”
Littler had too much for the defending champion, who lost his World Series title. The teenager was off to a flying start and, despite missing a host of doubles, he rifled into an early 3-0 lead.
Finally, his sloppiness on the outer ring was punished by MVG who suddenly staged a mini-rally mid match and levelled the game at 3-3. But Littler was unmoved and, when the pressure was back on and the scoreline all-square again, he just turned up the afterburners and surged clear to win by a 6-3 scoreline and maintain his strong recent work.
Read more on dailyrecord.co.uk
dailyrecord.co.uk
