Littler Resists 9-Dart Perfection To Claim Poland Darts Open

Poetically – and with an air of inevitability – Luke Littler added another inaugural conquest to his burgeoning catalogue, capturing the first ever Poland Darts Open title with a commanding victory over Gian van Veen, who etched his own fragment of history courtesy of a sublime nine dart leg.

Since The Nuke’s assimilation into the PDC firmament, a curious pattern has emerged: wherever a new European Tour season begins, he’s been the one packing the trophy in his suitcase. Success in Krakow completes an eye-catching hat trick leaving the Dutch number one in the unwanted yet familiar runners-up berth.

The World Champion’s intent was unmistakable from Sunday afternoon’s outset. Ross Smith was briskly dismantled in a performance of unrelenting propulsion. As the evening amphitheatre filled, Josh Rock became the next recipient of the teenager’s accelerating brilliance.If anything, Littler intensified his authority in the semi-final, extinguishing the challenge of Chris Dobey.

The Geordie had earlier terminated Michael Smith’s resurgence, with Bullyboy navigating a gauntlet of former Masters victors before succumbing to the 2023 one. Dobey’s aspirations of a maiden European Tour coronation were abruptly curtailed as the Warrington prodigy shifted into an even higher cadence.Van Veen’s expedition was forged through resilience.

His quarter final against Nathan Aspinall demanded reclamation from a 4-2 deficit, a scenario in which the Dutchman inverted the script, summoning a composed counteroffensive to prise the match from the Englishman’s grasp.

The reigning PDC World Youth Champion then encountered compatriot Wessel Nijman in an all Dutch confrontation notable not only for its quality but for its rather imposing combined height. In fact, only substituting in Jimmy van Schie would have elevated that particular metric further in a domestic derby.

As it was, Gian delivered a scintillating exhibition, compiling a 107.50 average to dismiss Nijman with emphatic assurance.The gradient steepened further against Luke Humphries. Locked at 3-3, Van Veen displayed commendable nerve, edging ahead to orchestrate a reprise of the recent World Championship final – much to the delight of a Polish audience eager for theatre.

However, as transpired at Alexandra Palace mere months prior, the denouement proved identical. Littler compiled an imperious average north of 108, exerting suffocating control to perpetuate his extraordinary habit of annexing silverware at first acquaintance with new tournaments. Granted, on this weekend the entire field were debutants in Poland, but only one treated the unfamiliar terrain as personal dominion.

The tournament’s incandescent moment arrived in the fifth leg of the final, when Van Veen constructed a pristine nine darter that propelled the Krakow congregation into delirium. That immaculate sequence afforded him a fleeting advantage. Regrettably for the Gian, it was ephemeral. He would collect just one further chalk as the rampant Littler reasserted supremacy with clinical ruthlessness to become the inaugural custodian of the trophy.In aggregate,

it was a thoroughly absorbing spectacle, culminating in an outcome that bookmakers had likely inscribed in prohibitive ink long before the combatants had arrived in Poland.

2026 PDC Poland Darts Open

RESULTS

Round Three

Luke Littler 6-2 Ross Smith

Cristo Reyes 3-6 Josh Rock

Luke Woodhouse 5-6 Chris Dobey

Jonny Clayton 4-6 Michael Smith

Luke Humphries 6-1 Boris Krcmar

Stephen Bunting 6-1 Jermaine Wattimena

Gian van Veen 6-5 Nathan Aspinall

Wessel Nijman 6-1 Cameron Menzies

Quarter-Finals