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Christmas is now just around the corner and for many darts fans around the country, that means one thing.
The PDC World Darts Championship is back for another year, with fans being treated to a festive festival of darts at Alexandra Palace.
Last year’s tournament was one of the most memorable ever, with two Lukes dominating the headlines back in January. While the Sid Waddell trophy and £500,000 jackpot was won by Luke Humphries, the story of the competition was undoubtedly Luke Littler, who shot to fame overnight at the age of 16.
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After coming into the tournament as a relative unknown, the teenager from Runcorn took the competition by storm, knocking out the likes of Brendan Dolan, Rob Cross and his own childhood hero Raymond van Barneveld on the way to a final showdown with Humphries. While he was beaten in the end, Littler’s success saw him become somewhat of a household name in a matter of weeks after garnering a huge fanbase.
Since then, he has gained some revenge against Humphries by winning the Premier League and beating him in the final, hitting a nine-darter to boot. As well as that, he won his first major ranking title last month following a stunning performance at the Grand Slam of Darts.
Littler is now the bookies’ favourite to win the World Championship trophy in the new year. However, while the tournament got under way on Sunday, December 15 – with the likes of Humphries already taking to the oche – fans will have to wait a while before seeing ‘The Nuke’ in action.
The teenager’s first match isn’t until the evening of Saturday, December 21, with his fourth-place standing in the top 32 seeds meaning he will enter this year’s competiton in the second round. He is set to either face ‘Queen of the Palace’ Fallon Sherrock or Ryan Meikle, who are going head-to-head in their first round match on Tuesday (December 17).
For those wanting to watch Littler in action, Sky Sports is broadcasting every match from Ally Pally live. If you’re not a Sky Sports subscriber, you can buy a sports membership from the Sky-owned NOW streaming service.
A day pass costs £14.99, while a monthly membership is available for £26, down from the usual price of £34. Alternatively, talkSPORT is providing live radio commentary throughout the tournament.