AFTER a fruitful fortnight, Luke “The Nuke” Littler is now the man to catch in the PDC Premier League Darts.
And this week, Warrington’s teenage sensation will look to join Luke Humphries and Michael Van Gerwen in winning a third night in a row as darts’ annual roadshow rolls into Birmingham.
Littler triumphed in Manchester last week – beating Gerwyn Price, Nathan Aspinall and Van Gerwen along the way – to back up his first nightly win in Belfast the previous week.
That means he tops the overall table on 23 points – one clear of Humphries – and is all but certain of a spot in the play-offs with six nights still to play.
The 17-year-old opens his evening against Rob Cross, who has fallen at the first hurdle in the past four nightly events.
Littler vs Cross is the second quarter-final match on stage and is due to get underway at 7.45pm after Humphries opens the show against Peter Wright, with the winners of those two matches meeting in the semi-finals.
PDC Premier League Darts, competing players
Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, Nathan Aspinall, Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross, Peter Wright, Luke Littler.
Schedule for PDC Premier League Darts Night 11, Utilita Arena, Birmingham, live on Sky Sports, Thursday, April 4:
Quarter-final 1: Peter Wright vs Luke Humphries, 7.15pm
Quarter-final 2: Rob Cross vs Luke Littler, 7.45pm
Quarter-final 3: Gerwyn Price vs Michael Smith, 8.15pm
Quarter-final 4: Michael Van Gerwen vs Nathan Aspinall, 8.45pm
Semi-final 1: Winner of QF 1 v Winner of QF 2, 9.15pm
Semi-final 2: Winner of QF 3 v Winner of QF 4, 9.45pm
Final: Winner of SF1 v winner of SF 2, 10.30pm
Interesting note:
The last meeting between Littler and Cross saw "The Nuke" hit a nine-darter on his way to winning the Belgian Darts Open final in March.
Littler's run to the World Darts Championship final also included a victory over Cross in the semi-finals
Their two Premier League meetings between the two have yielded one win each - Cross won 6-3 in the Night Five semi-finals in Exeter while the Night Two quarter-final meeting in Berlin saw Littler edge a decider to win 6-5.
A reminder of what happened last week:
Results for PDC Premier League Darts Night 10, AO Arena, Manchester, Thursday, April 4:
Quarter-Finals
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Rob Cross
Luke Littler 6-3 Michael van Gerwen
Michael Smith 6-3 Luke Humphries
Gerwyn Price 6-4 Peter Wright
Semi-Finals
Luke Littler 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
Gerwyn Price 6-3 Michael Smith
Final
Luke Littler 6-3 Gerwyn Price
PDC Premier League Order of Merit:
Format for PDC Premier League nights 2024:
Each night will see quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final played over the best of 11 legs (first to six).
Players will face each other twice in quarter-final ties throughout the season, with the fixtures being balanced for players to be in opposite halves of the draw in an equal number of weeks.
The fixtures for Night 8 and Night 16 will be based on the league table following Night 7 and Night 15 respectively.
The top four players from the final league table will progress to the Play-Offs, which will feature the semi-finals over the best of 19 legs and the final over the best of 21 legs.
The order of throw for all league night matches will be decided by a bull-off, which will be conducted beforehand in the practice room. For the Play-Offs, the semi-finals will see the higher-placed player from the final league table throw first, with a bull-off for the final.
League Points per Night:
Night Winner - 5 points + £10,000 bonus
Runner-Up - 3 points
Semi-Finalists - 2 points
Prize Fund:
Winner - £275,000
Runner-Up - £125,000
Semi-Finalists - £85,000 each
Fifth in League Table - £75,000
Sixth in League Table - £70,000
Seventh in League Table - £65,000
Eighth in League Table - £60,000
Nightly Winner Bonus - £10,000 x16
Total - £1,000,000
Schedule for remaining PDC Premier League Darts 2024, quarter final fixtures:
Night 11, Birmingham, April 11: Wright v Humphries, Cross v Littler, Price v Smith, Van Gerwen v Aspinall.
Night 12, Rotterdam Ahoy, April 18: Smith v Littler, Cross v Price, Wright v Aspinall, Van Gerwen v Humphries.
Night 13, Liverpool, April 25: Littler v Price, Humphries v Aspinall, Wright v Van Gerwen, Smith v Cross.
Night 14, Aberdeen, May 2: Wright v Smith, Littler v Aspinall, Van Gerwen v Cross, Price v Humphries.
Night 15, Leeds, May 9: Van Gerwen v Price, Littler v Wright, Humphries v Cross, Aspinall v Smith.
Night 16, Sheffield, May 16: Fixtures confirmed following Night 15.
Play-Offs: The O2, London, May 23: The top four players after 16 nights.
Story of 2024 so far for Luke Littler:
PDC World Darts Championship runner-up
Bahrain Darts Masters Champion, including first leg nine-darter in quarter-final
Dutch Darts Masters runner-up
Premier League Night 1 (Cardiff) semi-finalist
Premier League Night 2 (Berlin) finalist
Players Championship 1 (Wigan) winner, including nine-darter in the last 32
Premier League Night 4 (Newcastle) semi-finalist
Premier League Night 5 (Exeter) semi-finalist
UK Open quarter-finalist
Premier League Night 6 (Brighton) semi-finalist
Belgian Darts Open Champion, including nine-darter in final
Premier League Night 7 (Nottingham) semi-finalist
Premier League Night 9 (Belfast) winner
Premier League Night 10 (Manchester) winner
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