Luke Littler and Luke Humphries top billing as Premier League darts hits Dublin

Dublin is the latest stop on the Luke Littler tour as the World Championship finalist bids to win a first Premier League event at the 3Arena tonight.

Such has been the hype surrounding the 17-year-old since his run to the Alexandra Palace decider aged 16, one may be forgiven for thinking that he actually won the Sid Waddell Trophy last January.

While he fell short in that match against Luke Humphries, ranked number one in the world, Littler has since gone on to win the Bahrain Darts Masters, a ProTour floor title, the Belgian Darts Open and hit three nine-dart finishes along the way.

What's missing from his list now is a Premier League night to call his own.

The Warrington teenager has reached the final once, on night two when he lost to Michael van Gerwen, and been to the semi-finals five times more.

There’ll be no panic, however, with his consistency across the eight nights so far getting him up to third in the table, with the top four qualifying for the play-offs in May after 16 regular-season rounds.

Littler, who averaged 114 in last week’s 6-2 victory over Van Gerwen and missed double 12 for a nine-darter, will take on 2023 world champion Michael Smith in the fourth of the night’s quarter-finals.

It won’t be Littler’s first time to throw in Ireland, however. His first senior title was the Irish Open in 2021. He was 14 years old.

LITTLER HITS A NINE-DARTER! ☢️