The spectacular 17-week Premier League Darts roadshow gets underway in Belfast on Thursday night with a host of burning issues going into the event.
After much controversy over the four PDC picks to join the top four in the rankings for the schedule, the talking now stops. Luke Littler will top the bill everywhere he goes. Not only is he the defending champion, but he is also World Champion after his famous success at the Ally Pally after beating Michael van Gerwen last month.
However, he’s going to face furious competition from the likes of World No.1 Luke Humphries and seven-time winner van Gerwen over the four months of action which will run in tandem alongside ranking events such as the UK Open, Pro Tours and Euro Tour events. There’s been heated debate heading into Belfast and Record Sport looks at five of the burning issues ahead of Night One.
Can Luke Nuke the rest again?
Littler will have all eyes upon him at every venue with his sporting status through the roof. The 18-year-old has dealt with everything so far in his young career, but it’s not gone to plan since the Ally Pally. He’s yet to reach a Final since, with two early exits in the World Series events in Bahrain and Holland and a quarter-final loss at The Masters. He’s not invincible and Michael van Gerwen is also showing signs he can launch a push for a staggering eighth PL crown.
Will the picks justify their inclusion?
No-one was more annoyed than Mike De Decker at the PDC picks with the Belgian fuming at the inclusion of Nathan Aspinall and Gerwyn Price ahead of him. He wasn’t alone. Focus will be on the pair to deliver. Aspinall says he has nothing to prove, but the truth is people will be looking closely at his performances and waiting to criticise if he doesn’t deliver. Less so Price, perhaps, given he’s an ex-World champ and multiple major winner. Some feel Chris Dobey also has to justify inclusion.
Let’s go Bunting Mental
Stephen Bunting has built an army of support and could barely be going into the event in better form having risen to World No.5 on the back of his run to the Ally Pally semi-finals. He won the opening World Series event in Bahrain and reached the Final in Den Bosch before losing out at The Masters.
Nonetheless, he’s flying, but the focus turns now on whether he can maintain this elevated standard through the gruelling stretch.
Cool Hand of the World No.1
Luke Humphries showed everyone why he is top of the PDC rankings with his success at The Masters. It was a seventh major title success in just 15 months with a World Cup thrown in there for good measure. Cool Hand is a model professional and has the mindset and skills to stay at the summit through the course of the campaign. In the eyes of most observers, he is the one who can consistently upstage Littler.
Format fabulous or flawed?
The PDC never stands still and have made regular tweaks to the event. The latest was to move to the winner-on-the-night model which comprises quarters, semi and a final each night to give a venue winner. In one respect, it offers those inside the arena the chance to see a couple of their heroes as many as three times for the price of one ticket.
For those at home, it may mean a lot of repetition and seeing the same games time and again. Do you want the best against the best as often as possible? Or do you prefer the meetings to be rare and special? The opinion will be interesting.