Luke Littler dubbed ‘better than Michael van Gerwen’ by darts star who sent him crashing out of Flanders Trophy

LUKE LITTLER has been dubbed as better than Michael van Gerwen after crashing out of the Flanders Trophy.

The teen sensation couldn’t keep up his incredible Euro form as Dirk Van Duijvenbode KO’d him 6-2 in the third round in Antwerp on Sunday.

Littler, 17, had no answer to the big Dutchman and never looked likely to match his final in Germany a week ago.

Van Duijvenbode then hailed him as even better than Van Gerwen when he was a teenager.

He said: “We’ve never seen a kid play like this. I know Michael van Gerwen doesn’t like to hear it, but this kid is better than Michael when he was 17.

“He isn’t at his best. He has so much more to improve and he’s already almost unbeatable.

“What can I say? I saw his averages yesterday and I thought OK he hit 135 with first three darts.

“I know I can do that but I don’t do it every time. So I was so focused. I was like ‘Dirk if you want to win you need to be at your best’.

“I was so focused at the beginning with 180 and 180. I think there were five maximums in the first four legs.

“Luke Humphries is World No.1 and World Champion but Luke Littler is No.2. We are talking about a 17-year-old kid.

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“He is better than me and better than a lot of players. If you beat him, it’s a massive confidence boost.”

Van Duijvenbode averaged 101.38 and threw five 180s during the match against the Nuke.

The 32-year-old will now head into the quarter-finals and play Ricardo Pietreczko in the last eight with the hopes of winning the £30,000 jackpot in Antwerp on Sunday.