Michael van Gerwen lost 8-5 to Luke Littler in the Bahrain Masters final on Friday, but the Dutchman issued a threatening warning to the 16-year-old.
Michael van Gerwen has warned Luke Littler, who lost to the 16-year-old sensation in Friday’s Bahrain Masters final, that he will come back to beat him.
Van Gerwen defeated Hasan Hadji, Rob Cross and Michael Smith en route to the final, while Littler defeated Man Lok Leong, Nathan Aspinall and Gerwyn Price. However, it was the teenager who came out on top in the eventful final. Littler won 8-5 and won his first World Series title.
Although “Mighty Mike” showed glimpses of his best form, he was unable to match Littler, who averaged 97.85 points throughout the tournament. It was a great performance from Littler in the final, but Van Gerwen admitted after the match that he was determined to bounce back and beat the teenager.
After the defeat, Van Gerwen told ITV4: “It’s never a good week when you don’t win, but Luke put in a great performance. We all know what he’s capable of. We’re going to let him develop and do his thing. I want them to do what they need to do.”
“What you haven’t shown in previous matches is punished. That’s how sports work. Of course I’m disappointed, but sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. I’ll get him, don’t worry!”
As for Littler, he continued his impressive form from the World Darts Championship onwards with victory in Bahrain. Littler, ranked 31st in the world, won his first world ranking title after not playing darts for more than two weeks, losing to Luke Humphries in the final at Ally Pally earlier this month.
“I’m happy to have won. I played well yesterday and I played well tonight. No one will believe it, but I haven’t thrown a dart since the world final,” Littler told ITV4.
“Michael is one of the best players and I’m happy he won on his debut. This week has been unbelievable so I’m happy to get the win.”
Early Friday morning, Littler hit nine darters in the first leg of the quarterfinal against Aspinall. After hitting two 180s, Littler finished with treble 20, treble 19 and double 12, becoming the youngest player to hit a televised nine-darter. It’s been nine years since Phil Taylor last hit in the World Series.
Join our new WhatsApp community! Click this link To receive your daily intake mirror football content. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read this. Privacy Notice.
TNT Sports gives you access to matches from the Premier League, Champions League, Europa League, Serie A, and more. For one monthly payment, you can also watch the biggest boxing, UFC, and WWE matches, as well as exclusive MLB matches. TNT Sport is available to watch via BT, EE, Sky and Virgin Media.
For £29.99 per month, get access to Discovery+ Premium at no extra cost
TNT Sports