Luke Littler has done it again, claiming the inaugural Poland Darts Open title with a commanding 8-4 victory over Gian van Veen in Krakow tonight.
The world champion was absolutely devastating on the oche, firing in seven 180s and averaging just over 108 to pocket the £35,000 top prize.
It’s Littler’s fifth European Tour triumph, and he becomes the first-ever winner of this Polish event – the opening European Tour competition of 2026.
The 19-year-old from Warrington was simply too good for his Dutch opponent, who suffered yet another final defeat at the hands of the teenage sensation.
Luke Littler proved too strong for Gian van Veen despite the Dutchman hitting a nine-darter
|PDC
The match looked to be swinging Van Veen’s way when he produced something truly special in the fifth leg.
Back-to-back 180s followed by a clinical 141 checkout gave the Dutch number one his first-ever televised nine-darter, putting him 3-2 ahead.
But rather than deflating Littler, the perfect leg seemed to fire him up.
“It definitely spurred me on,” Littler admitted afterwards. “In my head I was like ‘let’s get him now he’s a bit tired’.”
Gian van Veen screamed in delight after a beautiful nine-darter
|PDC
The Englishman responded in ruthless fashion, rattling off six of the following seven legs to wrap up the title in emphatic style.
Littler’s route to the final was impressively smooth, as he dispatched Ross Smith, Josh Rock and Chris Dobey without breaking much of a sweat.
His semi-final against Dobey was particularly clinical – a 7-3 win with an average just under 106 and 44 per cent on the doubles.
Van Veen had a tougher journey to the showpiece, scraping past Nathan Aspinall 6-5 in a nail-biting last-leg decider before seeing off compatriot Wessel Nijman.
His biggest scalp came in the semis, where he overcame world number two Luke Humphries 7-5 despite squandering eight match darts in the penultimate leg.
VAN VEEN HITS A NINE-DARTER IN POLAND 9️⃣🚨
Magnificent from Gian van Veen 🔥
The Dutch number one hits his first-ever televised nine-darter against Luke Littler in the final of the Poland Darts Open ‼️
📺 https://t.co/YyBPPwoMK8 #ET1 pic.twitter.com/NT7LmkSGN0
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) February 22, 2026
Littler was refreshingly honest about how much he needed this victory after a rocky start to the Premier League campaign.
“In the first three weeks of the Premier League I’ve not felt the best, so I definitely needed this one,” he said. “We can take it onto Belfast on Thursday.”
Van Veen, meanwhile, was left rueing the emotional toll of his perfect leg.
“I wish I missed the double 12!” he joked. “Of course I’m very happy to hit the nine-darter but the next two or three legs I was not good. I was so excited about the nine-darter, my first ever on stage, that cost me the final.”