Sport PDC announces participants
Prodigy Littler is in the Premier League of Darts
Status: 05.01.2024 | Reading time: 3 minutes
Thumbs up: Luke Littler decided to start in the Premier League
Source: dpa/Zac Goodwin
Luke Littler has been nominated for the Premier League after reaching the final of the Darts World Cup. The PDC announced the eight-player field of participants. In the end, he and his management made the decision themselves.
His first season on the professional tour of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) only begins with the first of 30 Players Championship on February 12th, but with his historic finale at the Darts World Championship, which ended on Wednesday, Luke Littler has already made his mark played world elite. In any case, the PDC nominated the 16-year-old Englishman for the Premier League that begins on February 1st in Cardiff.
In the invitation tournament, which is particularly financially lucrative, eight players fight for the title, which is worth 275,000 pounds (around 319,000 euros), on a total of 17 match days every Thursday. A daily win is rewarded with an additional 10,000 pounds (around 11,600 euros). A total of one million pounds will be distributed. The general conditions for the 20th edition had already been determined. On Thursday, the PDC announced the field of participants in addition to the new main sponsor BetMGM.
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The new world champion Luke Humphries, superstar and last year’s winner Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith and Nathan Aspinall had qualified as top 4 in the world rankings, the other starters were nominated by the PDC and the TV channel Sky broadcast in Great Britain by awarding wildcards. In addition to Littler, these also include Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross and Peter Wright. The only player from the top 8 of the Order of Merit was the Dutchman Danny Noppert who did not receive an invitation. Littler takes his place.
Premier League am 8. Februar in Berlin
The games will be played in Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Germany. On the second matchday on February 8th, the traveling circus will be performing in Berlin’s Mercedes-Benz Arena. In recent years, more than 10,000 tickets have been sold for the event in the capital. The other venues are Glasgow, Newcastle, Exeter, Brighton, Nottingham, Dublin, Belfast, Manchester, Birmingham, Rotterdam, Liverpool, Aberdeen, Leeds and Sheffield. The final play-offs will take place on May 23rd in London.
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There had already been major discussions in advance about Littler’s participation due to his young age and lack of experience. Many top players supported consideration. “This boy is incredible. He one million percent deserves a spot in the biggest tournament. The Premier League is made for young superstars like this,” GErwyn Price said. And the new world champion also spoke out in favor of the new superstar taking part: “If he wants to play in the Premier League and doesn’t think it’s too early, he should be there,” said Luke Humphries.
All eyes on Luke: Littler in the media room at Alexandra Palace after losing the World Cup final
Quelle: Getty Images/Tom Dulat
The PDC and Sky were probably particularly impressed by Littler’s charisma. His games at the World Cup set television coverage records on British TV, and ticket sales are likely to increase significantly with Littler. Ultimately, however, it is said that the PDC left the decision to Littler’s environment and management. This was positive.
