Reigning World Champion Luke Littler has decided Belgium is basically his second home, completing a Euro Tour hat-trick on their soil by defeating Josh Rock in a final that had everything – nerves, drama, and just a touch of genius.
The Nuke leaves Antwerp as the 2025 Flanders Darts Trophy champion, casually collecting trophies like most 18-year-olds collect parking fines.
He may not be particularly fond of playing in Germany, but across the border in Belgium? Different story. The Nuke walked away with the Belgian Darts Open for the past two years in Wieze and has just added Antwerp to the scrapbook.
Forget Belgian beer and chocolate – Littler clearly prefers their silverware. That said, there’s a good chance he is fond of their kebabs too.
And to think, he almost didn’t play. Emergency dental surgery on the eve of the tournament threatened to keep him out, but instead of resting up like a normal human, Littler decided to battle through the pain and share the suffering with his opponents.
First up, Ryan Searle – in what turned out to be one of the highest-quality Euro Tour matches you’ll ever see. Heavy Metal averaged a shade over 104, which normally wins you the match. Except when your opponent is a toothache-ridden teenager firing in a 110.33 average just to rub salt (or perhaps mouthwash) in the wound.
The quarter-finals brought Damon Heta, who pushed Littler to a deciding leg. The Heat was hoping to return to the oche for match darts on tops, but instead, he ended up watching in anguish as Littler coolly took out 79. Classic darts heartbreak: so near, yet so far.
Then came Daryl Gurney. Poor Superchin. He’s been having a decent year, but against Littler it was 7-1 and thank you for coming. Littler wasn’t even close to top gear, but Gurney’s doubling (one out of nine) meant it didn’t matter. If you’re going to beat Littler, you need to hope he’s at least not firing a ton plus average and be at your very best. Sadly for Daryl, his finishing made that look like a generous comparison.
The final saw Littler square off with the other half of Northern Ireland’s World Cup-winning duo, Josh Rock, and this time the hype actually delivered. The Antwerp crowd got their dream – two of the sport’s brightest young stars trading haymakers leg after leg. Rock charged into a 4-1 lead and, having blown a 5-0 lead to Littler in their recent Matchplay clash, wasn’t counting his chickens. Wise move.
Sure enough, Littler clawed back and after ten legs they were level. The final four legs all went against the darts, setting up a winner-takes-all showdown with Rock throwing first. Unfortunately for him, the only thing he managed to throw open was the door for the ‘Warrington Wonder’.
Luke pounced – cool, clinical, and with enough wiggle room to remind everyone why he’s turning Belgian darts into his personal holiday resort.
That’s now seven titles this year for Littler, and he’s showing absolutely no signs of slowing down. At this point, the only real question is whether he’s going to start charging the PDC excess baggage fees for hauling all these trophies home.
2025 Blåkläder Flanders Darts Trophy
Sunday August 31
Afternoon Session (1300 local time, 1200 BST)
Third Round
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Mensur Suljovic
Josh Rock 6-5 Stephen Bunting
James Wade 6-2 Leon Weber
Gian van Veen 6-3 Martin Schindler
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Danny Noppert 6-4 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Damon Heta 6-4 Ryan Joyce
Luke Littler 6-3 Ryan Searle
Evening Session (1900 local time, 1800 BST)
Quarter-Finals
Josh Rock 6-4 Luke Woodhouse
James Wade 6-4 Gian van Veen
Daryl Gurney 6-0 Danny Noppert
Luke Littler 6-5 Damon Heta
Semi-Finals
Josh Rock 7-5 James Wade
Luke Littler 7-1 Daryl Gurney
Final
Luke Littler 8-7 Josh Rock
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC Europe
