Luke Littler bids for back-to-back titles at Dutch Masters
- Published
Luke Littler beat Michael van Gerwen 8-5 to win the Bahrain Masters last week
Dutch Darts Masters | |
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Venue: Maaspoort Den Bosch Dates: 26-27 January Coverage: Live text commentary of all matches from 18:00 GMT |
Luke Littler says it feels as if the "world has gone mad" as he bids to continue his rapid rise by claiming back-to-back World Series titles at the Dutch Masters this weekend.
Littler, who turned 17 last Sunday, shot to prominence at the World Darts Championship earlier this month as he reached the final on his debut.
He followed that up by winning his first PDC senior title at the Bahrain Masters on 19 January.
"I was happy to win it," Littler said.
"It was a good experience. It was different to Ally Pally - you could hear everything in the crowd.
"It was good to see so many youngsters at the live draw.
"Eight of us [seeded players] took pictures and signed autographs. The world has gone mad."
Littler, who is a Manchester United fan, met the players and manager Erik ten Hag at their Carrington training ground earlier this week, also playing darts against Christian Eriksen and Harry Maguire., external
While Littler lost to world number one Luke Humphries at the World Darts Championship, he put that behind him by recording victories over three of the world's top five ranked players - including Michael van Gerwen in the final - to claim the Bahrain title.
"I didn't expect to beat those players," he added. "I know I have got my own ability and I believe in my ability and that is what gets me over the line."
Littler will face a tough test in the Netherlands as Raymond van Barneveld, Danny Noppert, Gian van Veen and Dimitri Van den Bergh make up the field as local representatives.
He begins on Friday against Dirk van Duijvenbode and faces a potential rematch with Humphries if they both come through their first-round matches.
"The standard is going to be good once again," Littler said of the Dutch Masters, which will be live on ITV4 on Friday and ITV3 on Saturday.
"All eight of the representatives are good. Every first-round game is going to be tough for us, so it's going to be a good weekend."
The Dutch Masters features two sessions. The first round takes place from 18:00-22:00 GMT on Friday, 26 January and the tournament concludes on the Saturday with quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals taking place between 18:00 and 22:00 GMT.
After this event, Littler will return home to prepare for the opening night of the Premier League darts, when he will meet Humphries on 1 February in Cardiff.