Luke Littler heads into the World Matchplay this week in disappointing form.
The Premier League Champion has lit up the darting world since bursting onto the scene at the World Championship.
The then 16-year-old reached the final on debut and has since picked up six titles in 2024, hitting a record four nine darters.
A mammoth task awaits him in the opening round as he’s set to battle three-time World Matchplay Champion Michael van Gerwen.
Littler heads into the clash as favourite but there are question marks over his form after two disappointing events last week.
‘The Nuke’, however, has offered an explanation to his poor showings and has vowed to put things right.
Littler says lack of practice to blame for form
This year has been hectic for Littler.
On top of a gruelling darts and travel schedule, the teenager has appeared on a host of talk shows and podcasts.
Speaking to the Love the Darts podcast, he admitted that he forwent practice leading up to last week’s Pro Tours where he only won one game.
He said: “Like you say, the Pro Tours, I didn’t practice up towards them, they were just a bit of match practice for myself, and now I’ve been practising at home towards the Matchplay.”
Littler averaged under 80 in one game, a rare sight for the power scorer.
Luke Littler still one of the favourites for the World Matchplay
Despite his disappointing showings last week, the 17-year-old remains a danger to the title.
Undoubtedly he has a horror draw against Van Gerwen, who he has lost five times to this year.
Littler has secured the victory in four meetings, however, and the Dutchman has notably struggled to produce his best form consistently this year.
The youngster is a big stage player and expect him to produce once again under the bright lights.
If he can upset the ‘Green Machine’ in round one, we could witness more history in the coming weeks.