Luke Littler confirmed he will play at the World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt in June, despite having withdrawn from this weekend’s European Darts Grand Prix, also held in Germany.
There had been some confusion over whether Littler would also miss the World Cup as, after beeing booed at the German Darts Grand Prix in Munich, he took to social media to say: “Next one in Germany for me is Dortmund [in October] and I am glad to say that.”
Having made Premier League Darts history with a fifth nightly win of the season in Birmingham on Thursday, Littler clarified that this summer’s World Cup is still very much on his radar.
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Highlights of Luke Littler’s win over Michael van Gerwen to claim a record fifth night win in the Premier League.
“No, no I was always [going to play],” he told Sky Sports. “Luke [Humphries] will want to go back-to-back and obviously I want to win it for the first time.”
“Even though it’s not a major, it’s still playing for your country.”
Sky Sports commentator Stuart Pyke alaso clarified on air that Littler’s withdrawal from the upcoming Euro Tour event was purely due to scheduling, and his comments about Germany were overblown.
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Stuart Pyke confirms that Luke Littler has withdrawn from European Darts Grand Prix but will play World Cup of Darts alongside Luke Humphries.
“The reason he’s pulled out of this weekend’s Euro Tour is scheduling, nothing less. It’s all a bit of fuss out of nothing. He said something, he didn’t mean it,” Pyke said.
Littler beat Michael van Gerwen 6-4 in the Night 13 final in Birmingham to claim his record fifth nightly win – and first since Night Eight – having earlier won final-leg deciders against both Stephen Bunting and Nathan Aspinall.
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Luke Littler’s Night 13 victory makes him the first ever player to win five nights of the Premier League in the same season.
Topping the table with 35 points in the standings, the defending champion is also in touching distance of breaking the record for most points in a Premier League Darts season.
“It’s definitely up there with some of the things that I have done, and the records that I’ve broken,” Littler said after his Birmingham victory.
“I’m just glad to get over the line and do it now. It’s been a few weeks since I even won my first game. As soon as I won the first, I had that winning mentality back.”
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Luke Littler reflects on his Night 13 victory and what it means to confirm his qualification for the Premier League play-offs.
Littler added: “Obviously it feels amazing, setting records in a Premier League where it’s only my second year, but it’s also a good thing to be clear at the top of the table and heading to the O2.
“I’ve done it last year. Why can’t I do it again? And obviously the points record as well, that could be broken. But these next few weeks, I’m just going to relax and see where the darts land.”
Where does the Premier League head next?
The Premier League continues at the First Direct Arena, Leeds on Thursday, May 8 as Michael van Gerwen takes on Luke Humphries, while Luke Littler faces Nathan Aspinall. Watch Night 14 of Premier League Darts, in Leeds, live on Sky Sports Action from 7pm and Sky Sports Main Event from 10pm – stream with NOW.
Sky Sports will once again be the home of the Premier League in 2025, with every night exclusively live along with the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix, Grand Slam of Darts and more! Stream darts and more top sport with NOW
