London ¨C Teen sensation Luke ¡°The Nuke¡± Littler blasted past Stephen Bunting 6-1 on Thursday to set up a compelling PDC World Darts Championship title showdown with Dutch seven-time finalist Michael van Gerwen.

The 17-year-old Englishman, who took the darts world by storm last year when he reached his first final, surged to a 4-0 lead before ¡°The Bullet¡± fired back to take the fifth set and prevent a whitewash.

Bunting, 39, had a golden chance to secure back-to-back sets but failed to seize it as his opponent, with an ice-cool gaze as steady as his hand, fired back and went 5-1 up with a brutal bullseye checkout.

There was no coming back from that, with Littler on another level and hitting another bullseye for 170 to go 2-1 up in the last set before punching his ticket to a second successive final.

¡°I can¡¯t wait for tomorrow night ... if we both turn up like we did tonight, it¡¯s going to be really good,¡± Littler said of Friday¡¯s final.

¡°As soon as (2024 champion) Luke Humphries went out, that¡¯s what everyone was looking at, but I just had to focus on the quarterfinals and semifinals. Now I¡¯ve done that, I can focus on Michael tomorrow.

¡°We all know he¡¯s hunting for that other (fourth) world title. I¡¯m hunting for my first.¡±

¡°Green Machine¡± van Gerwen hammered Chris Dobey by the same scoreline earlier in front of a raucous crowd of thousands, most enjoying the party atmosphere in fancy dress, packed into London¡¯s Alexandra Palace.

The three-time world champion, whose last title in the tournament came in 2019, was a man on a mission ¡ª and in a hurry ¡ª as he piled the pressure on an opponent who was making his first semifinal appearance.

Van Gerwen finished with a 98.84 average, with eight 180s and a stunning 158 checkout in the sixth set, to Dobey¡¯s 94.77.

The No. 3 seed took just six minutes to win the opening set.

¡°We¡¯re not even close yet,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯re still so far away ... the title is far away. That¡¯s what you have to keep telling yourself.

¡°A 99 average is not that bad. I¡¯m happy with the performance. I wasn¡¯t playing as explosive as the last game but I was efficient.

¡°It¡¯s my passion, it¡¯s my life, of course after my family. I really enjoyed this.¡±