PDC Daily Dose: Luke Littler ready to invest in Chinese restaurant with new fan favourite as Gian van Veen sets up record-breaking £1million final

Well, we’re almost at the end of this year’s World Darts Championship.

For a third consecutive tournament, Luke Littler comprises one half of the final pairing.

The 18-year-old is tantalisingly close from becoming the first player since Gary Anderson in 2016 to win back-to-back Sid Waddell trophies thanks to a 6-1 demolition of Ryan Searle.

Staring across the oche from Littler on Saturday will be Gian van Veen, who beat two-time world champion Anderson 6-3 in a modern classic to reach his maiden PDC World Championship final.

The two are no strangers to one another having played each other six times, with each darting dynamo winning three matches each.

In the latest instalment of talkSPORT.com’s Daily Dose, we look at how a victory for Littler could benefit one of his fellow pros as well as an intriguing stat proving Saturday’s final is the clearest evidence yet the next generation of oche superstars has arrived.

Did someone order a Chinese?

For the entirety of this year’s World Championships, darts fans have heard all about debutant Justin Hood’s dream of opening up a Chinese restaurant with his winnings.

It was an objective Hood revealed early on in the tournament and repeated right the way through to his run to the quarter-finals, where he was beaten by Anderson.

Thanks to Hood’s appearance in the last eight, he has banked £100,000.

All along, Hood proclaimed he would have the backing of Luke Humphries with the restaurant along with a few other unnamed keen investors.

‘Happy Feet’ may have just found another key backer in Littler.

Speaking after his victory over Searle, Littler – who had been complementary of Hood on his social media – was asked about the chances of being involved in the pint-sized star’s Chinese dream should he pocket the £1million prize for winning the world championship.

Getty

“Well, as long as I make money, then yeah, let’s do it,” Littler said.

“No-one knows this, but one of my good mates, Joe, he and his dad have got a few horses. I backed out of that one.

“But yeah, imagine opening a Chinese with Justin Hood? We’ll see, we’ll see.”

Time will tell whether such a link-up ever transpires.

Who left the fridge open?

For fans who ventured to the Ally Pally for Friday’s action as well as this reporter, they won’t need any reminders about the frosty conditions at the venue.

Littler was not immune from the low temperatures either.

Getty

In the first set against Searle, Littler displayed an unusual throwing motion and did not look overly comfortable at the oche.

It ultimately allowed Searle to take the first set, meaning Littler went behind on the scoreboard for the first time at this year’s World Championship.

Of course, Littler quickly defrosted and found his groove to rattle off six sets on the bounce for victory.

When asked whether the weather had affected his throw, Littler said: “Yeah, it is chilly in there, I was feeling it a little bit.

“But even then, I wasn’t happy going one-nil down.

“Obviously I started to warm up a little bit and find my darts and find the throw I wanted.”

Generation next

Out with the old and in with the new.

Van Veen’s victory over Anderson means Saturday’s final against Littler has created some baby-faced history.

The Dutchman is 23-years-old, while Littler, who is already the youngest-ever winner of the world title, is 18.

Together, their combined age is 41.

That means Saturday’s final will set the record for the youngest in history.

Unsurprisingly, Littler was involved in the previous record when, at 16, he faced a 28-year-old Luke Humphries in the 2024 final, meaning their combined age was 44.

Or, if you want to be precise, 44 years and 327 days.

With Littler firmly entrenched in the upper echelon of darts and Van Veen blossoming, don’t be surprised if this soon becomes more commonplace rather than the exception to the rule.

Fancy a flight?

It’s become almost customary for players to toss their flights into the crowd at the end of a match.

But why do players do that?

Wouldn’t it be an expensive exercise, constantly gifting your flights to fans and needing new ones for the next match, which is often days away?

Well, given players are sponsored by darts brands, they’ll often have a new set fresh and waiting for them.

But, as Van Veen outlined on talkSPORT Drive before Friday’s action, it actually makes quite a fair bit of sense to give some lucky crowd members a piece of World Championship memorabilia.

When asked if he ever keeps his flights after games, Van Veen explained: “I don’t keep them. If I don’t throw them out, I’ll probably give them away to a kid somewhere.

“After one match, the flights are probably damaged so next game, I’m always going to take a new set up, new flights, new shafts.

“Because even if it’s a 0.01 per cent chance that the flight is damaged, then it can cost you a double. I’d rather take my chance with a new set.”