Luke Littler will not be able to play for England at the World Cup of Darts. The Nuke has become one of the most famous names in British sport, ever since he reached the final of the Paddy Power PDC World Darts Championship.
The 17-year-old faces Michael Smith in the Premier League darts semi-final at the O2 Arena having already topped the table in his debut campaign. Many darts fans would have relished the prospect of ‘The Nuke’ representing England in the World Cup of Darts.
However, Littler’s fellow Premier League semi finalists Smith and Luke Humphries will be representing the country when the competition in Germany begins on June 16. This is because both world champions are more highly ranked than the teenager.
The PDC order of merit only ranks Littler as the No.25 player in the world, while Smith and Humphries are No.2 and No.1 respectively. England only picks the two players with the highest ranking in the PDC’s ratings.
The PDC rankings is solely decided by the amount of prize money a player accumulates over a period of two years. Littler only joined the senior tour when he made his debut in the World Championship in December 2023.
He earned his place at Alexandra Palace by winning the youth world darts championship one month before. As well as reaching the final, where he was eventually beaten 7-4 by Humphries, Littler has gone on to win the Bahrain Darts Masters, the Austrian Darts Open and the Belgian Darts Open.
He now has his eyes set on winning the Premier League in his debut campaign. In an interview with Sky Sports, Littler said: “I’ve got Michael tomorrow night, everybody is saying it’s going to be tough but this is what it comes down to.
“As long as you get yourself into the top four, you’ve just give it your all and see what happens. I’ve said I might win when it matters. I would be happy to win it, I’m young, living my dream, if I get my hands on the trophy I’ll be happy.”
Meanwhile his opponent Smith, who beat Littler five times over the Premier League campaign, is a huge fan of the teenager. The 2023 world champion said: “After the Worlds the hype went insane.
“I don’t think it’s calmed down. Even the Premier League nights, he’s shipped off doing interviews, pictures and us boys are practising doing nothing.
