Luke Littler can’t wait to be introduced as the reigning world champion for the first time as he defends his Bahrain Darts Masters title.
When master of ceremonies John McDonald presents Luke the Nuke on stage at the Bahrain International Circuit’s Dome arena in Sakhir on Thursday the 17-year-old sensation will be living the dream.
In his last tournament before he turns 18, Littler faces dark horse Lourence Ilagan of the Philippines in his first competitive appearance since his 7-3 blitz of Michael van Gerwen in the PDC World Championship final at Alexandra Palace a fortnight ago.
And the Warrington whizzkid hopes he’ll make another big impression on the Persian Gulf, where he hit a nine-darter in the opening leg of his first round win against Nathan Aspinall 12 months ago.
Littler said: “I”m feeling good – coming here last year it was a case of trying to win it, to prove that reaching the World Championship final was not a fluke, but this time I’m here to try and defend it.
“I’d probably say Lourence is one of the best in-form players on the circuit – him or Paolo Nebrida. I played him at the Grand Slam of Darts and beat him. Hopefully I can do the same again.”
Littler’s triumph in Bahrain last year, when he beat Van Gerwen in the final to land the first of 10 titles in his maiden season on the PDC hamster wheel, proved to be a marker for the extraordinary sequence of events that would follow.
He won the Premier League, beating his predecessor Luke Humphries in the final including another perfect leg, banking £315,000 prize money in the process. And after he won the Grand Slam, including nail-biting wins against Mike De Decker and Gary Anderson, to seal his second TV major, bookies installed Littler as favourite to win the world title – a burden he shouldered memorably at Ally Pally.
In a 16-player field including six world champions past and present, Luke Humphries meets Abdulla Saeed while Peter Wright takes on Alexis Toylo.