Luke Littler's brilliance eliminates World Grand Prix record average from Gian van Veen

Gian van Veen entered the tournament as one of the best non-seeded players.

He has since cracked the top 16, meaning he will be a seeded player moving forward in majors.

When the draw for the 2025 World Grand Prix of Darts came out, the first round match between Luke Littler and Gian van Veen immediately stood out as a must-watch game. Somehow, it managed to exceed the expectations.

Littler beats van Veen in World Grand Prix classic

The first set of the game required a last-leg decider, which Littler was able to come away with to claim set one.

Van Veen's scoring and double-hitting at the beginning of legs seemed like it should have been enough to force a third leg, but Littler took over and dominated the second set.

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Littler went on to sweep van Veen in set #2, winning the set 3-0, and winning the match 2-0.

It's a shame the match was only best-of-three sets, because the scoring in this game was incredible.

Littler finished the game with an average of 105.58, but believe it or not, van Veen managed to have a higher average.

Van Veen averaged a 106.47 in his loss to Littler, which broke a 24-year-old record for the highest average in a World Grand Prix game (record previously held by Alan Warriner, 106.45).

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It was also the highest losing average a player has had in the tournament's history, 8.69 points higher than the previous high held by Dave Chisnall.

It will be rare to see these two players square off this early in a tournament in the future, as they're more likely to meet in the later rounds of majors, as van Veen continues to move up the order of merit.

Littler will be back in action on Thursday, as he'll play the winner of Mike De Decker vs. Peter Wright.

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