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Topics: Luke Littler, Darts
Jack Kenmare
Luke Littler has made an honest admission about the World Grand Prix as he prepares to take part in a tournament that features the much-talked-about 'double in, double out' format.
The 18-year-old is the bookies' favourite to win arguably the most unique event in the PDC calendar, which gets underway on Monday.
In total, 32 players will feature at the tournament, which is made up of the 16 best-ranked players from the PDC's Order of Merit, combined with the best 16 from the last 12 months via the Order of Merit who had not already qualified.
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Unlike any other major PDC event, however, the World Grand Prix is the only one that features a double start, a rule that requires players to hit a double to start and finish each leg of the 501 game.
A player must hit a double or the bullseye on their first dart to begin scoring points. If they miss, they receive no score for that dart and the turn continues. To win a leg, the player must also hit a double with their final dart.
Littler will come up against the highly-rated Gian Van Veen in round one, but he isn't exactly keen on the World Grand Prix format.
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“Obviously it’s the next big one for me. But I’ll be honest, I didn’t like it last time," he said, as per The Sun. "I didn’t like the double start. It’s one of the toughest tournaments to win.
“There is the World Championship, the Matchplay, the Premier League. But the double start – if you don’t get off, then you’re in trouble. I can’t say I really practice the double start often but obviously leading up to it, I think I’ll have to – just to get used to it."
He added: “Every year we’ll see someone hit a treble 20 first out and then they forget. It’ll be tough. But we’ve still got plenty of darts to play this year.”
Glen Durrant, who reached the semi-final of the 2019 World Grand Prix, predicts a tough test for Littler on Tuesday.
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"Gian van Veen has beaten Littler the last two times they have played on the European Tour, one with a 110 average, so their opening-round match is a fascinating one," he told Sky Sports.
"Gian is not frightened of Luke as they have been playing each other since their development days. In normal circumstances, I would say this is an awful draw for Luke.
"With this being a double start at the World Grand Prix it does feel like a different game but it is certainly not the draw Littler would have wanted.
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"Luke is a genius. As a commentator, I find myself just saying wow all the time. He is unique and the total opposite preparation-wise to what I would do. He throws nine darts before a game, barely practises, but when he wants to win something, he wins it."