Michael van Gerwen failed to capture his fourth World Darts Championship title on Friday evening.
Mighty Mike failed to overcome Luke Littler in the 2025 final, extending his run to six years without a world crown.
MVG is undoubtedly one of the best players of all-time, but he was far from at his best in this World Darts Championship final.
Perhaps it was due to the fact Littler is only 17 years old, or perhaps it’s due to the fact the Alexandra Palace crowd was so in favour of The Nuke, but Michael Van Gerwen really didn’t manage to get going in this game.
Van Gerwen said Littler wasn’t at his best before the game, but it was MVG who wasn’t at it in this match.
MVG’s struggles were apparent from the first set of the match, and the Dutchman made two important errors in the first set that showed his head wasn’t necessarily straight.
The two mistakes Michael van Gerwen made early in the World Darts Championship Final
Van Gerwen is usually one of the best players on tour when it comes to power scoring, double hitting and board management, but, for one reason or another on Friday, he was making some basic errors.
MVG failed to win the first set of the match after busting his score on a 25 checkout, hitting the single nine followed by a double 16 rather than a double eight.
That 25 was left behind after MVG hit a 180 off 205, which was a rather peculiar way to go.
Indeed, 180 off of 205 leaves a two-dart combo, after hitting his first two treble 20s, Van Gerwen should’ve switched to an odd-numbered treble to set up something more favourable.
Sky Sports commentator, Rod Studd even noted that this was a silly mistake.
Meanwhile, in the second set, Van Gerwen hit a 180 with 308 left on his score, a great shot, but a bad bit of board management.
Indeed, MVG threw his third dart with 188 left on his score, and if he’d hit a single 20, he would’ve left a bogey number.
What should Michael van Gerwen have done?
We’re not going to sit here and tell the three-time world champion how to play darts, but the percentage shots here are quite easy to figure out.
Indeed, after hitting two treble 20s off of 205, van Gerwen had 85 left on his score with one dart in hand, he would’ve been much better off throwing at the treble 15 segment to leave double 20 or even going for treble 19 to leave double 14 rather than a two-dart combo.
As for hitting 180 off of 308, that was a brilliant set-up shot, but for safety reasons, van Gerwen should’ve switched to the treble 18 segment to set up a potential 170 finish had he missed the treble rather than a bogey 168 score had he missed the single 20.
| What Michael van Gerwen did | What Michael van Gerwen should have done |
| Hit 180 off of 205 to leave 25 | Hit 165 off of 205 to leave 40 |
| Hit 180 off of 308 to risk a bogey 168 | Switched to treble 18 after hitting two treble 20s |
Van Gerwen wasn’t at his best in this World Championship final, and that, sadly, was evident from the outset.
Littler said Van Gerwen was capable of winning the World Championships, but, unfortunately for The Green Machine, he wasn’t able to pick up his fourth world title here.