LUKE ‘The Nuke’ Littler will contest a World Darts Championship replay with Michael van Gerwen in The Netherlands.

The Warrington 18-year-old defeated Belgian Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4 in the Dutch Darts Masters first round on Friday night to seal a blockbuster showdown with van Gerwen in Saturday's quarter-finals in Den Bosch.

Dutch legend Van Gerwen, who defeated Littler 8-6 in the final of this World Series of Darts event last year, booked his passage by smashing fellow countryman Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 in their last-16 contest on Friday night.

The meeting in De Maaspoort of the two biggest names in darts will be their first since 'The Nuke' flattened MVG to be crowned world champion at Alexandra Palace on January 3.

They will be the second match of the session, expected to be on stage at around 6.30pm, with the winner going on to face Stephen Bunting or Raymond van Barneveld in the semi-finals.

Van Gerwen, returning from a family holiday in Thailand, cruised past Van Duijvenbode in a comfortable first round win.

Van Duijvenbode shared the opening two legs of their tie, hitting a 14-darter to level, but had no answer as Van Gerwen reeled off the next five without reply.

"It's a tough draw but I'm happy with this," said Van Gerwen. "I felt comfortable and I did the right things at the right moment to put him under pressure.

"There's more to build on but I'm fine. I felt really relaxed and in patches I played really well. Tomorrow's going to be a really important night."

New World Champion Littler, meanwhile, was pushed all the way by Van den Bergh before eventually prevailing 6-4 in his first outing since turning 18 on Tuesday.

Van den Bergh responded to Littler's 134 finish in leg two by taking four of the next five to move 4-3 up.

Littler, though, hit back with a 102 finish to level, broke throw by punishing the Belgian's miss on double 16 before landing two 180s as he sealed victory in leg ten, ending with a 101.07 average.

A dramatic opening night to the World Series of Darts event saw three PDC representatives knocked out by their Dutch opponents - led by Jermaine Wattimena's brilliant 6-3 win over world number one Luke Humphries.

Humphries took the opening two legs in a bright start, but paid for missed doubles in the third as Wattimena got off the mark.

The Dutchman then seized control of the tie with a brace of 12-darters as checkouts of 153 and 111 catapulted him ahead, with a 78 finish and a 13-darter moving him to the brink of victory.

Humphries hit back in leg eight, but missed tops to continue his fightback before a last-dart double 12 for Wattimena completed a memorable triumph.

Raymond van Barneveld thrilled the Den Bosch crowd with a stunning 144 checkout to win a deciding leg against Chris Dobey in an 11-leg epic.

Dobey led 3-1 and also took out 138 as he moved 4-3 up, but Van Barneveld kept himself in the contest as a 14-darter forced a decider which he claimed in dramatic fashion to thrill the Barney Army.

"I'm so over the moon with this win," said Van Barneveld. "I had to keep putting Chris under pressure but he kept taking his moments.

"In the last leg I started well and I'm really happy that the 144 went in. I'm looking forward to tomorrow night now."

Kevin Doets followed up an impressive World Championship - where he reached the last 16 - by knocking out Nathan Aspinall 6-1, hitting six doubles from ten attempts.

The Dutchman became the first local star to progress as he clinically saw off Aspinall, who took leg three but saw his opponent finish a key 138 on his way to victory.

Doets now plays Gerwyn Price, reeled off four straight legs to race into the quarter-finals with a 6-2 defeat of Danny Noppert, averaging 101.85 in a strong display.

The Bahrain Darts Masters runner-up last week shared the opening four legs with the Dutch ace, but a key 124 finish broke Noppert's resistance before legs of 14 and 13 darts sealed the win.

Stephen Bunting made an impressive start to his bid for back-to-back World Series titles by seeing off World Youth Champion Gian van Veen 6-5 as both players averaged above 102.

Bunting continued the form which saw him claim the Bahrain Darts Masters title last week in a high-quality contest with Van Veen, taking out 70 in a sudden-death leg to end the tie with six doubles from nine attempts.

"I'm glad that I hit that winning double at the end - I knew it was now or never and it needed to go in," said Bunting, who now plays Van Barneveld.

"I felt like it was a great game throughout - he's got a massive future ahead of him. He's up there with one of the best players in the world and I'm thankful to be through that game.

"I'm on the crest of a wave at the moment and I hope it can continue. I won't take anything for granted and I'll be ready for tomorrow."

Rob Cross bounced back from his first round exit at the Bahrain Darts Masters by overcoming a stern test from Richard Veenstra.

The Dutchman produced combination finishes of 84, 97 and 110 as he led 3-2, but Cross took four successive legs to seal his spot against Wattimena in the quarter-finals.

The PDC World Series of Darts event concludes on Saturday night with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final in Den Bosch, where the winner will lift the Toon Greebe Trophy.

UK viewers can watch all the action live on ITV4 and ITVX.

2025 TOTO Dutch Darts Masters:

Draw Bracket:

(1) Stephen Bunting v Gian van Veen

Chris Dobey v Raymond van Barneveld

(4) Luke Littler v Dimitri Van den Bergh

Michael van Gerwen v Dirk van Duijvenbode

(2) Gerwyn Price v Danny Noppert

Nathan Aspinall v Kevin Doets

(3) Luke Humphries v Jermaine Wattimena

Rob Cross v Richard Veenstra

Dutch Darts Masters results:

First Round

Rob Cross 6-3 Richard Veenstra

Nathan Aspinall 1-6 Kevin Doets

Stephen Bunting 6-5 Gian van Veen

Chris Dobey 5-6 Raymond van Barneveld

Gerwyn Price 6-2 Danny Noppert

Luke Humphries 3-6 Jermaine Wattimena

Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Luke Littler 6 Dimitri Van den Bergh 4

Dutch Darts Masters Schedule of Play

Saturday January 25 (1900 local time, 1800 UK):

Quarter-Finals:

Stephen Bunting v Raymond van Barneveld - 6pm

Luke Littler v Michael van Gerwen - 6.30pm

Gerwyn Price v Kevin Doets - 7pm

Jermaine Wattimena v Rob Cross - 7.30pm

Semi-Finals:

Bunting/Van Barneveld v Littler/Van Gerwen - 8pm

Price/Doets v Wattimena/Cross - 8.40pm

Final to follow - 9.30pm

Dutch Darts Masters format:

First Round - Best of 11 legs

Quarter-Finals - Best of 11 legs

Semi-Finals - Best of 13 legs

Final - Best of 15 legs

Dutch Darts Masters Prize Fund:

Winner:  £30,000

Runner-Up: £16,000

Semi-Finalists: £10,000

Quarter-Finalists: £5,000

First Round Losers: £1,750

Total: £100,000

Dutch Darts Masters Roll of Honour:

2022: Dimitri Van den Bergh beat Dirk van Duijvenbode 8-2

2024: Michael van Gerwen beat Luke Littler 8-6

2025 World Series Order of Merit:

12 - Stephen Bunting

8 - Gerwyn Price

5 - Luke Humphries, Peter Wright

3 - Luke Littler, Chris Dobey, Nathan Aspinall, Paolo Nebrida

1 - Rob Cross, Lourence Ilagan, Alexis Toylo, Lok Yin Lee, Nitin Kumar, Xiaochen Zong, Basem Mahmood, Abdulla Saeed

World Series of Darts – Full Roll of Honour:

2013 - Dubai Darts Masters - Michael van Gerwen defeated Raymond van Barneveld 11-7

2013 - Sydney Darts Masters - Phil Taylor def Michael van Gerwen 10-3

2014 - Dubai Darts Masters - Michael van Gerwen def Peter Wright 11-8

2014 - Singapore Darts Masters - Michael van Gerwen def Simon Whitlock 11-8

2014 - Perth Darts Masters - Phil Taylor def Michael van Gerwen 11-9

2014 - Sydney Darts Masters - Phil Taylor def Stephen Bunting 11-3

2015 - Dubai Darts Masters - Michael van Gerwen def Phil Taylor 11-8

2015 - Japan Darts Masters - Phil Taylor def Peter Wright 8-7

2015 - Perth Darts Masters - Phil Taylor def James Wade 11-7

2015 - Sydney Darts Masters - Phil Taylor def Adrian Lewis 11-3

2015 - Auckland Darts Masters - Adrian Lewis def Raymond van Barneveld 11-10

2015 - World Series of Darts Finals - Michael van Gerwen def Peter Wright 11-10

2016 - Dubai Darts Masters - Gary Anderson def Michael van Gerwen 11-9

2016 - Auckland Darts Masters - Gary Anderson def Adrian Lewis 11-7

2016 - Shanghai Darts Masters - Michael van Gerwen def James Wade 8-3

2016 - Tokyo Darts Masters - Gary Anderson def Michael van Gerwen 8-6

2016 - Sydney Darts Masters - Phil Taylor def Michael van Gerwen 11-9

2016 - Perth Darts Masters - Michael van Gerwen def Dave Chisnall 11-4

2016 - World Series of Darts Finals - Michael van Gerwen def Peter Wright 11-9

2017 - Dubai Darts Masters - Gary Anderson def Michael van Gerwen 11-7

2017 - Shanghai Darts Masters - Michael van Gerwen def Dave Chisnall 8-0

2017 - US Darts Masters - Michael van Gerwen def Daryl Gurney 8-6

2017 - Auckland Darts Masters - Kyle Anderson def Corey Cadby 11-10

2017 - Melbourne Darts Masters - Phil Taylor def Peter Wright 11-8

2017 - Perth Darts Masters - Gary Anderson def Raymond van Barneveld 11-7

2017 - German Darts Masters - Peter Wright def Phil Taylor 11-4

2017 - World Series of Darts Finals - Michael van Gerwen def Gary Anderson 11-6

2018 - German Darts Masters - Mensur Suljovic def Dimitri Van den Bergh 8-2

2018 - US Darts Masters - Gary Anderson def Rob Cross 8-4

2018 - Shanghai Darts Masters - Michael Smith def Rob Cross 8-2

2018 - Auckland Darts Masters - Michael van Gerwen def Raymond van Barneveld 11-4

2018 - Melbourne Darts Masters - Peter Wright def Michael Smith 11-8

2018 - Brisbane Darts Masters - Rob Cross def Michael van Gerwen 11-6

2018 - World Series of Darts Finals - James Wade def Michael Smith 11-10

2019 - US Darts Masters - Nathan Aspinall def Michael Smith 8-4

2019 - German Darts Masters - Peter Wright def Gabriel Clemens 8-6

2019 - Brisbane Darts Masters - Damon Heta def Rob Cross 8-7

2019 - Melbourne Darts Masters - Michael van Gerwen def Daryl Gurney 8-3

2019 - NZ Darts Masters - Michael van Gerwen def Raymond van Barneveld 8-1

2019 - World Series of Darts Finals - Michael van Gerwen def Danny Noppert 11-2

2020 - World Series of Darts Finals - Gerwyn Price def Rob Cross 11-9

2021 - Nordic Darts Masters - Michael van Gerwen def Fallon Sherrock 11-7

2021 - World Series of Darts Finals - Jonny Clayton def Dimitri Van den Bergh 11-6

2022 - US Darts Masters - Michael Smith def Michael van Gerwen 8-4

2022 - Nordic Darts Masters - Dimitri Van den Bergh def Gary Anderson 11-5

2022 - Dutch Darts Masters - Dimitri Van den Bergh def Dirk van Duijvenbode 8-2

2022 - Queensland Darts Masters - Michael van Gerwen def Gerwyn Price 8-5

2022 - New South Wales Darts Masters - Jonny Clayton def James Wade 8-1

2022 - New Zealand Darts Masters - Gerwyn Price def Jonny Clayton 8-4

2022 - World Series of Darts Finals - Gerwyn Price def Dirk van Duijvenbode 11-10

2023 - Bahrain Darts Masters - Michael Smith def Gerwyn Price 8-6

2023 - Nordic Darts Masters - Peter Wright def Gerwyn Price 11-5

2023 - US Darts Masters - Michael van Gerwen def Jeff Smith 8-0

2023 - Poland Darts Masters - Michael van Gerwen def Dimitri Van den Bergh 8-3

2023 - New Zealand Darts Masters - Rob Cross def Nathan Aspinall 8-7

2023 - New South Wales Darts Masters - Rob Cross def Damon Heta 8-1

2023 - World Series of Darts Finals - Michael van Gerwen def Nathan Aspinall 11-4

2024 - Bahrain Darts Masters - Luke Littler def Michael van Gerwen 8-5

2024 - Dutch Darts Masters - Michael van Gerwen def Luke Littler 8-6

2024 - US Darts Masters - Rob Cross def Gerwyn Price 8-7

2024 - Nordic Darts Masters - Gerwyn Price def Rob Cross 8-5

2024 - Poland Darts Masters - Luke Littler def Rob Cross 8-3

2024 - Australian Darts Masters – Gerwyn Price def Luke Littler 8-1

2024 - New Zealand Darts Masters – Luke Humphries def Damon Heta 8-2

2024 - World Series of Darts Finals – Luke Littler def Michael Smith 11-4

2025 – Bahrain Darts Masters – Stephen Bunting def Gerwyn Price 8-4