venue: bahrain international circuit date: January 18th-19th coverage: Live text commentary for selected matches. Matches are scheduled to start at 16:00 GMT on both days. |
The 16-year-old, who won the nation’s hearts, says, “I’m back to work,” as he prepares to return to Oche.
Luke Littler entered the 2024 PDC World Championship as a ranked outsider, little known outside the darts world.
Three weeks later he was making a name for himself, beating two previous winners to reach the final, breaking the television record and winning the huge prize of £200,000.
Since losing to Luke Humphries in the final, Littler has continued to capture the public’s imagination.
On Thursday, world number 31 Littler will return to his day job and be back on TV screens for the Bahrain Darts Masters, which will be broadcast on ITVX.
The BBC Sport website and app will provide live text commentary for selected matches.
“Now I’m back to work,” Littler said.
“Since the World Championship final, I have relaxed and not thrown many darts, but I am confident that I will be fine once I get into the practice room.
“I always like to play, but after the World Championships I wanted to get away somewhere. Me and my family did that. It would be nice to have a good event here to get back to playing.” but.”
The event was attended by eight leading PDC players and eight “Asia representatives”, two of whom passed through the regional qualifiers.
Littler will be joined by Humphries, former world champions Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross, Peter Wright and world matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall.
“I’m very motivated right now. I want to be more dedicated than ever and continue to be successful and win more major titles,” Humphries said.
The PDC players will be separated in Thursday’s opening match, with Littler facing Hong Kong’s Manlok Leung. Littler’s opponent is tied for 126th in the world.
The eight winners will advance to the quarterfinals, with the semifinals and finals to be held on Friday.
The champion will receive a cash prize of £20,000.