Premier League Darts 2024: Luke Littler set to make debut in Cardiff
- Published
Luke Littler: The only name on everyone's lips
Premier League of Darts |
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Venue: Utilita Arena, Cardiff Date: Thursday, 1 February Starts: 19:00 GMT |
Coverage: Live text commentary on BBC Sport website and app. |
Teenage darts sensation Luke Littler will make his Premier League Darts debut in Cardiff on Thursday.
In a rematch of the PDC World Championship final, 17-year-old Littler will play Luke Humphries at the Utilita Arena in one of four quarter-finals.
Also in the eight-man field are former world champions Gerwyn Price, Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, Peter Wright and Rob Cross with Nathan Aspinall.
The winner of the overall title will be crowned on 23 May.
World Championship rematches to begin Premier League
Former world champions Cross and Wright meet in the first quarter-final of the evening at 19:00 GMT before home favourite Price takes on Aspinall.
Fans will then be treated to rematches of the past two World Championship finals, as Van Gerwen plays Smith before Humphries and Littler meet once again.
Humphries beat Littler 7-4 in the World Championship final on 3 January, with the pair now taking part in their first full Premier League campaigns.
Luke Humphries was crowned PDC World Darts Champion for the first time in January 2024
Current PDC Youth World Champion Littler has since gone on to win the Bahrain Darts Masters, and became the youngest player to hit a televised nine-darter at the event.
Littler will become the youngest player to take part in the Premier League.
Premier League format
The Premier League spans 17 weeks and 17 locations.
At each event the eight players will compete in four quarter-finals, two semi-finals and then the weekly final - with every match the best of 11 legs.
Each player will have one quarter-final match against all seven other competitors between weeks one and seven, and weeks nine and 15.
On night eight and night 16, the quarter-finals will be determined by the standings at the time.
Players who reach the semi-finals will win two points per event, with the night's runner-up collecting three points and the winner awarded five.
Those points are collected through the first 16 weeks, with the top four players then progressing to the finals night at the O2 Arena in London on 23 May.
The two semi-finals will be the best of 19 legs, with the grand final later that evening a best-of-21 contest.
The 2024 champion will take home £275,000, with the runner-up collecting £125,000, while the winner of each weekly event wins £10,000.
Van Gerwen looks to continue dominance
Michael van Gerwen beat Gerwyn Price 11-5 in the 2023 Premier League Darts final
The Premier League has been something of a one-man show for much of the past decade.
Nine of the past 11 grand finals have featured Van Gerwen, with the Dutchman winning on seven of those occasions.
The 34-year-old is the only player in this year's competition to have lifted the trophy before.
Wright, Smith, Cross and most recently Price have all reached the final of the Premier League, only to be beaten by Van Gerwen.
Aspinall is also a former finalist in the competition, however he lost to 2020's surprise package Glen Durrant 11-8 in the final.
Victory over Price in last year's final brought Van Gerwen a seventh Premier League title - moving him clear of the six won by Phil Taylor.
Full schedule for 2024 Premier League Darts
Night 1 - Utilita Arena, Cardiff, 1 February
Night 2 - Mercedes-Benz Arena, Berlin, 8 February
Night 3 - OVO Hydra, Glasgow, 15 February
Night 4 - Utilita Arena, Newcastle, 22 February
Night 5 - Westpoint Arena, Exeter, 29 February
Night 6 - Brighton Centre, Brighton, 7 March
Night 7 - Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, 14 March
Night 8 - 3Arena, Dublin, 21 March
Night 9 - SSE Arena, Belfast, 28 March
Night 10 - AO Arena, Manchester, 4 April
Night 11 - Utilita Arena, Birmingham, 11 April
Night 12 - Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam, 18 April
Night 13 - M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool, 25 April
Night 14 - P&J Live, Aberdeen, 2 May
Night 15 - First Direct Arena, Leeds, 9 May
Night 16 - Utilita Arena, Sheffield, 16 May
Semi-finals and final - O2 Arena, London, 23 May