FRESH from his victorious European Tour debut, Cheshire's teenage darts sensation Luke "The Nuke" Littler resumes his PDC Premier League Darts campaign on Thursday.
And the 17-year-old former Padgate Academy pupil will be hoping the momentum picked up by winning the Belgian Darts Open - and throwing a nine-darter in the process - will lead him to his first nightly win of the tournament.
However, he faces the unenviable prospect of taking on current leader Michael van Gerwen in the quarter finals as darts' annual roadshow lands in Nottingham.
Littler goes into Night Seven of the tournament sitting in third place having made the semi-finals in all bar one of the six nights thus far.
While he beat van Gerwen to lift the Bahrain Darts Masters title in January, the Dutchman returned the favour to win his home Dutch Darts Masters tournament the following week and has edged the teenager out in both of their Premier League meetings this year.
Littler and Van Gerwen are expected on stage in Nottingham at 8.15pm after the rematch of the Night Six final between Luke Humphries and Michael Smith, which world champion Humphries won 6-3.
Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price will open the show, with Rob Cross vs Nathan Aspinall rounding off the last-eight line-up.
PDC Premier League Darts, competing players
Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, Nathan Aspinall, Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross, Peter Wright, Luke Littler.
Schedule for PDC Premier League Darts Night 7, Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, live on Sky Sports, Thursday, March 14:
Quarter-final 1: Peter Wright v Gerwyn Price, 7.15pm
Quarter-final 2: Luke Humphries v Michael Smith, 7.45pm
Quarter-final 3: Michael van Gerwen v Luke Littler, 8.15pm
Quarter-final 4: Rob Cross v Nathan Aspinall, 8.45pm
Semi-final 1: Winner of QF 1 v Winner of QF 2, 9.15pm
Semi-final 2: Winner of QF 3 v Winner of QF 4, 9.45pm
Final: Winner of SF1 v winner of SF 2, 10.30pm
Interesting fact:
Michael van Gerwen has won last-leg deciders in both of his Premier League meetings with Luke Littler this year, claiming victory in the Night Two final in Berlin and the Night Four semi-finals in Newcastle.
A reminder of what happened last week:
Results for PDC Premier League Darts Night 6, The Brighton Centre, Brighton, Thursday, March 7:
Quarter-Finals
Luke Humphries 6-2 Gerwyn Price
Rob Cross 6-2 Michael van Gerwen
Luke Littler 6-3 Nathan Aspinall
Michael Smith 6-5 Peter Wright
Semi-Finals
Luke Humphries 6-3 Rob Cross
Michael Smith 6-3 Luke Littler
Final
Luke Humphries 6-3 Michael Smith
PDC Premier League Order of Merit:
Format for PDC Premier League nights 2024:
Each night will see quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final played over the best of 11 legs (first to six).
Players will face each other twice in quarter-final ties throughout the season, with the fixtures being balanced for players to be in opposite halves of the draw in an equal number of weeks.
The fixtures for Night 8 and Night 16 will be based on the league table following Night 7 and Night 15 respectively.
The top four players from the final league table will progress to the Play-Offs, which will feature the semi-finals over the best of 19 legs and the final over the best of 21 legs.
The order of throw for all league night matches will be decided by a bull-off, which will be conducted beforehand in the practice room. For the Play-Offs, the semi-finals will see the higher-placed player from the final league table throw first, with a bull-off for the final.
League Points per Night:
Night Winner - 5 points + £10,000 bonus
Runner-Up - 3 points
Semi-Finalists - 2 points
Prize Fund:
Winner - £275,000
Runner-Up - £125,000
Semi-Finalists - £85,000 each
Fifth in League Table - £75,000
Sixth in League Table - £70,000
Seventh in League Table - £65,000
Eighth in League Table - £60,000
Nightly Winner Bonus - £10,000 x16
Total - £1,000,000
Schedule for remaining PDC Premier League Darts 2024, quarter final fixtures:
Night 7, Nottingham, March 14: Wright v Price, Humphries v Smith, Van Gerwen v Littler, Cross v Aspinall.
Night 8, Dublin, March 21: Fixtures confirmed following Night Seven.
Night 9, Belfast, March 28: Humphries v Littler, Smith v Van Gerwen, Aspinall v Price, Cross v Wright.
Night 10, Manchester, April 4: Aspinall v Cross, Littler v Van Gerwen, Smith v Humphries, Price v Wright.
Night 11, Birmingham, April 11: Wright v Humphries, Cross v Littler, Price v Smith, Van Gerwen v Aspinall.
Night 12, Rotterdam Ahoy, April 18: Smith v Littler, Cross v Price, Wright v Aspinall, Van Gerwen v Humphries.
Night 13, Liverpool, April 25: Littler v Price, Humphries v Aspinall, Wright v Van Gerwen, Smith v Cross.
Night 14, Aberdeen, May 2: Wright v Smith, Littler v Aspinall, Van Gerwen v Cross, Price v Humphries.
Night 15, Leeds, May 9: Van Gerwen v Price, Littler v Wright, Humphries v Cross, Aspinall v Smith.
Night 16, Sheffield, May 16: Fixtures confirmed following Night 15.
Play-Offs: The O2, London, May 23: The top four players after 16 nights.
Story of 2024 so far for Luke Littler:
PDC World Darts Championship runner-up
Bahrain Darts Masters Champion, including first leg nine-darter in quarter-final
Dutch Darts Masters runner-up
Premier League Night 1 (Cardiff) semi-finalist
Premier League Night 2 (Berlin) finalist
Players Championship 1 (Wigan) winner, including nine-darter in the last 32
Premier League Night 4 (Newcastle) semi-finalist
Premier League Night 5 (Exeter) semi-finalist
UK Open quarter-finalist
Premier League Night 6 (Brighton) semi-finalist
Belgian Darts Open Champion, including nine-darter in final
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