After we got Michael vs Michael in last year’s final, it’s the battle of the Lukes this time around and the darts world could not be any more excited about this one. The media presence has never been as high and a 16-year-old to reach the final of the world championships only makes for more stories, which can only be good for the sport.
Needless to say, Luke Littler is the youngest finalist ever, however, don’t expect him to be nervous out there. The new darting wonderkid does not feel any pressure and while he did struggle a bit with the slower rhythm of Andrew Gilding in their second-round encounter, he did not let himself get worked up by Rob Cross’ antics, comfortably beating the world champion of 2018 by 6 sets to 2. Littler averaged 106 points and hit 16 180s along with 3 ton-plus checkouts in just eight sets. Tomorrow’s pace should only suit him better, so expect a fluent match and only blink at your own risk.
After winning three majors in October and November, it took Luke Humphries a little while to keep going at the Ally Pally. A 93.58 average was enough to beat Lee Evans in his first match, but he was on the brink of defeat against Ricardo Pietreczko, who was 144 points away from beating Humphries 4-1 in the third round. Overcoming that scare and fighting through both his own struggles and the German fans teased out the best of Humphries again. He averaged 99.23 in his fourth-round win over Joe Cullen, 103.5 in his quarterfinal against Dave Chisnall and 108.74 in yesterday’s semifinal win over Scott Williams, the eighth-highest average ever played at the world championships.
Sky is the limit, not only for Humphries, but also for Littler and while no one knows where this one is going, everyone knows that it’s going to be great. Humphries will be the new world number 1 after this tournament, but the 28-year-old always said that he would leave everything behind for a world championship title. Both him and Littler are in the zone right now and I don’t think analyzing season average stats makes too much sense in this case. With both finalists playing their best darts and being fully focused, I would be extremely surprised if we saw a straightforward final.
In last year’s final, Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen both averaged around 100 points and hit a combined 37 180s in eleven sets, the minimum of sets I expect for this year’s final. Yesterday, Littler hit 16 maximums in eight sets while Humphries ended with 14 180s in just six sets. With the peak performances that Humphries and Littler have shown in the past few days and considering their fluent styles only suit each other, one would rather be amazed if they ended up with an average sub-100. Again, I’m expecting a final of highest quality and even if they played somewhat below their semifinal performances, the overs currently on offer should still get nuked. I hope you see what I did there and if you do, I wish you a final full of highlights!
P.S. I’m up 20+ units this WC and this is exactly what I bet. If this is your first time betting darts, please halve or quarter your stakes and bet accordingly.
Suggested Bets:
1u on Highest checkout Over 151.5 at 1.73 (-138) with bet365
0.5u on Over 11.5 sets at 2.33 (+133) with Pinnacle
0.75u on Over 33.5 180s at 1.87 (-115) with Pinnacle
0.5u on Over 36.5 180s at 2.63 (+163) with bet365
0.5u on Over 38.5 180s at 3.50 (+250) with bet365
0.5u on Over 41.5 180s at 5.50 (+450) with bet365
0.75u on Luke Littler 4+ 100+ checkouts at 2.25 (+125) with bet365
0.75u on Luke Humphries 4+ 100+ checkouts at 2.38 (+138) with bet365
1u on Luke Humphries 3-Dart Average Over 100.5 at 1.73 (-137) with Unibet
0.75u on Luke Littler 3-Dart Average Over 100.5 at 1.84 (-119) with Unibet
Over 18s Only (21+ in some jurisdictions). 1 unit = 1% of bankroll. These are my bets that I am making. Please enjoy your betting responsibly. Never bet more than you can afford to lose, and do not chase a loss.