World Series of Darts Finals

The eleventh edition of the World Series of Darts Finals was held at AFAS Live in Amsterdam from September 12th to 14th. 32 players competed for the prestigious 2025 World Series title. Michael van Gerwen ultimately claimed the title for the sixth time after defeating Luke Littler in the final.

A total of six Dutch players will be in action in the first round. Unfortunately for them, four of the "home" players will play against each other. Michael van Gerwen won a thrilling match 6-5 against Wessel Nijman, and Kevin Doets defeated Jermaine Wattimena with the same score. Danny Noppert (6-4 against Stephen Bunting) and Raymond van Barneveld (6-5 against Cor Dekker) also won their first matches.

Luke Littler had a difficult first round, but as expected, he managed to win 6-4 against Simon Whitlock. Luke Humphries immediately plays a cracker against James Wade, defeating "The Machine" in a deciding leg: 6-5. Peter Wright, on the other hand, lost his head-to-head match against fellow countryman Cameron Menzies (6-3), but still averaged almost 99.

In the second round, Van Gerwen faced Rob Cross. Another tough match, but "Mighty Mike" (partly thanks to the crowd) won 6-5. The other Dutch players (Noppert, Doets, and Van Barneveld) failed to reach the quarterfinals. Van Barneveld played strongly against Gerwyn Price, but still lost to the Welshman with an average of 100. Luke Littler defeated Jonny Clayton 6-4, while Cameron Menzies' was defeated against Chris Dobey (6-1) with an average of 66.85.

In the last eight, Van Gerwen faced world number one Luke Humphries. The Dutchman showed that he feels at home on this stage, defeating the Englishman 10-5. Josh Rock (10-6 against Mike de Decker), Luke Littler (10-8 against Ross Smith), and Gerwyn Price (10-8 against Chris Dobey) also reached the semi-finals. This makes a very strong lineup on the final evening of play in Amsterdam.

First up, Van Gerwen plays Rock. The Northern Irishman hasn't yet managed to reach his first major final, as Van Gerwen is too strong with an 11-6 victory. The other semi-final is much more exciting: the "classic" between Littler and Price goes down to a decisive leg, in which Littler still manages to secure the victory 11-10. This means the last two winners of this tournament will now face each other directly in the 2025 final. Van Gerwen has never lost a World Series of Darts Finals final and won't do so this time either. He threw a strong final, defeating defending champion Littler 11-7. With this, Van Gerwen wins the title for the sixth time in his career and remains the only player to successfully defend it.