Michael van Gerwen brutally reminded Luke Littler of the big opportunity the teenager missed in Glasgow as the Dutchman made it back-to-back Premier League wins in Scotland on Thursday. ‘MVG’ was below his best for much of the night, but fought back from 4-2 down against Luke Humphries in the final to eventually prevail 6-5.
That was after Littler had himself turned in a below-par display, losing in the first round against Gerwyn Price. After Littler let a 4-3 lead slip it was the ‘Iceman’ who took the deciding leg with the youngster visibly frustrated as he walked off stage after missing a match dart at double 12.
Price was then duly beaten by Humphries, exacerbating the notion that Littler wasted a huge opportunity to register a first Premier League win in Scotland given he has three successive wins over world No. 1 Humphries. The teenager remains third in the table on five points, but it’s Van Gerwen who is the runaway leader on 10 points after backing up last week’s success in Berlin.
And the three-time world champion candidly admitted afterwards he triumphed despite not finding his best form, meaning Littler would’ve had a good chance of beating him had he reached the final. “I won tonight and I didn’t even play well, that’s a good thing,” Van Gerwen told Sky Sports.
“Last year I said to myself I want to win so many weeks, I want a certain number of points. This year I do it different, I play week by week, no targets now. There’s been a lot of pressure on my shoulders.”
Indeed, Van Gerwen’s average of 93.85 in the final was well below Humphries’ 101.37, while both players struggled on finishes. The Dutch star took out 30 per cent of his chances, with the 2024 Ally Pally winner finishing on 29.4 per cent.
The 34-year-old had faced home favourite Peter Wright in his last-eight tie, and cruised to a 6-2 win with a clearly struggling ’Snakebite’ missing 17 darts at doubles. That was followed by a 6-4 win over Rob Cross, who was also off the boil against the world No. 2.
But when it really mattered in the final Van Gerwen showed his mettle, taking command at 5-5 against Humphries with a maximum 180. He duly finished on double top, and the defending champion now has breathing space ahead of the next round in Newcastle next Thursday.
Michael Smith lies second on seven points. Littler, Humphries and Price meanwhile, are all on five, one ahead of Rob Cross, while Wright and Nathan Aspinall are both yet to get off the mark.
