Luke Littler reveals change to his darts for Bahrain Masters as world champion eyes perfect 18th birthday present

Buzzing Luke Littler can’t wait to be introduced as World Champion for the very first time as he hunts an early 18th birthday present.

But The Nuke has confessed he’s laid-off the arrows which brought him Ally Pally glory. Littler is back in action on Thursday when he begins the defence of his Bahrain Masters title. The kid has just been crowned king of darts after his record-breaking success in London.

That means Littler’s walk-on will begin by being announced as World Champ and he said: “It’s going to be good. It’s going to be heard all year round. But the main one, I can’t wait for the first time in front of a sold-out arena here in Bahrain. It’s sold out for both nights, Thursday and Friday. So, hopefully, us Premier League players can get through that tough first game and then we’ll see what happens on Friday. I feel fine. I’ve got a brand new set of darts. I’m not going to throw away the ones I won the World Championships with. They’re going to be in a frame. But now it’s just all about breaking in a new set. I just can’t wait to play now.”

Littler turns 18 on Tuesday and fancies another title as his ideal gift as he added: “It was a present last year going into my 17th birthday. So, hopefully, it can be another present for my 18th. Yes, obviously, I started the new, new year as World Champion. But I think all the Premier League players, they want to kick off this year with a win in Bahrain. So, I know everyone’s going to be up for it.

“But as long as I can get past that first game, I’ll be happy.”

Littler faces Lourence Ilagan wary of the threat as he said: “It was tough [against Ilagan] in the Grand Slam, but I was just that notch better than him. But obviously, it’s the first proper game back of the year.

“It’s