Cool Hand Luke is ready to fire!
WELCOME TO STUTTGART, arrow-lovers!
Day 2 of the European Darts Grand Prix 2025 is UNDERWAY at the IG Stuttgart Arena!
World number one Luke Humphries takes centre stage TODAY as he kicks off his title charge in the afternoon session.
Cool Hand Luke has been ABSOLUTELY SENSATIONAL this year, sitting pretty at the top of the PDC Order of Merit with a WHOPPING £1,893,750 in prize money!
But there’s NO SIGN of teenage sensation Luke Littler this weekend after the wonderkid pulled out!
The 18-year-old darting genius – who’s been SMASHING RECORDS with an incredible FIVE Premier League nightly wins already this season – is taking a breather before pulling on the England shirt at next month’s World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt.
We’ve got TONS of tungsten action coming your way with the afternoon session starting at 1pm local time before the evening drama kicks off at 7pm. GAME ON!
De Decker on top
Mike de Decker has leapfrogged Dimitri van den Bergh to become the top Belgian on the PDC – but he’s not at all bothered.
De Decker, who plays Rob Cross at 3pm, said: “To be honest, I don’t pay too much attention to the rankings.
“But of course, it’s kind of cool to officially be the No 1 in Belgium.
“It’s nice to be able to say that, I suppose.
“It’s mostly the people around me who bring it up – like my mate Jimmy, who said, ‘Buddy, this weekend you’re the new number one!’
“So yeah, I hear it from all sides, but it’s not like I’m going to walk into the players’ room on Friday shouting about it.
“That would be mad.”
Littler will play World Cup
There had been some doubts as to whether Luke Littler would be playing in the World Cup of Darts in June.
He missed the tournament last year, with Michael Smith winning the crown alongside Luke Humphries.
Littler, who qualifies to play alongside Humphries as the top two English players, then went on social media to say he may boycott German events in the future.
He quickly deleted the message, but he did then withdraw from the European Grand Prix this weekend – although this appears to be so he can avoid burnout because of the hectic schedule.
And although he won’t play here, Littler has confirmed he WILL appear alongside Humphries in the World Cup.
The teenager said: “No, no I was always [going to play].
“Luke will want to go back-to-back and obviously I want to win it for the first time.
“Even though it’s not a major, it’s still playing for your country.”