Michael van Gerwen has already explained why he will not be joining Luke Littler at next week's Bahrain Darts Masters. The Dutchman has not played a competitive match since losing to his teenage rival in the final of the World Darts Championship.

Seventeen-year-old sensation Luke 'The Nuke' Littler thrashed Michael van Gerwen 7-3 on Friday to become the youngest ever PDC darts world champion and bank a 500,000 pound ($621,600) winner's cheque.

Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen are set to write to latest chapter of their engrossing rivalry when they face off in the World Darts Championship final on Friday. The pair have been the two outsanding players this year at Ally Pally and cruised through their semi-finals to set up a blockbuster final which has all the makings of a potential classic.

Luke Littler v Michael van Gerwen – how the rivals match up ahead of final - Littler is trying to win his first World Championship title while Van Gerwen is chasing a fourth.

Luke Littler lifted the lid on what Michael van Gerwen told him after his historic victory in the World Darts Championship final on Friday evening. Having come up short in last year’s final on debut,

Luke Littler to face Michael van Gerwen in blockbuster final after dominant wins - Littler and Van Gerwen dropped just one set each as they breezed through their last-four matches

Luke Littler hammers Michael van Gerwen to win first World Championship - The 17-year-old sensation beat Van Gerwen 7-3 in a one-sided final to become the youngest ever world champion.