The Betfred World Matchplay in Blackpool has delivered the final it wanted, and the one plenty of darts fans will have been waiting for: Luke Littler against Gerwyn Price. Semi-final night at the Winter Gardens did not leave any room for doubt. Price beat Gian van Veen, while Littler thrashed Dirk van Duijvenbode, and that was enough to set up a heavyweight darts final.
That is the simple truth of a night that mattered more for what it decided than for any lingering drama. One man arrived with the job of proving he still belongs in the biggest conversations. The other played like someone determined to make the stage his own. By the end of it, Littler had booked his final against Price, and the bracket had the kind of shape that makes a tournament feel properly alive.
A final with real edge
Price v Littler is not a soft landing. It is not the kind of final that arrives by accident or through a gentle draw. It comes out of two emphatic semi-final wins, and that matters. Gerwyn Price was good enough to see off Gian van Veen, while Littler was ruthless enough to overwhelm Dirk van Duijvenbode. There is no need to dress that up. Both winners earned their place.
For Littler, the bigger story is not just that he won, but that he did it in the sort of manner that turns a semi-final into a statement. Thrashed is the right word for what happened to Van Duijvenbode. That is the kind of result that tells everyone else in the field they are not dealing with a player simply happy to be there. He is there to take the whole thing.
Price, meanwhile, keeps finding ways to stay in the conversation when the pressure is at its highest. Beating Gian van Veen in a World Matchplay semi-final is no small thing, and it ensures the final will have a proper edge to it. One side has the rising force. The other has the established threat. That is the sort of final that sells itself.
What semi-final night really confirmed is that the World Matchplay final now has a clear story attached to it. Luke Littler has booked his place. Gerwyn Price has done the same. And after a night of decisive wins in Blackpool, the only thing left is to find out which one of them takes the title when the final comes around.
