The PDC have announced their eight-player line-up for the 2024 Premier League of Darts - and have made a decision on the participation of Luke Littler.
The 16-year-old produced an incredible run to reach the World Championship final on his debut, where he lost 7-4 to Luke Humphries on Wednesday evening.
Littler beat Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross and Brendan Dolan - with the former two being world champions.
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But 'Cool Hand Luke', who moved to number one after the championships concluded, proved to be too much for the darts sensation despite Littler putting in another strong display.
Now, the 16-year-old has indeed been rewarded with a spot in the prestigious Premier League - where eight players play a weekly competition before a final four showdown to determine the winner - amid many predictions and speculations.
The top four players in the current Order of Merit - Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith and Nathan Aspinall - are all automatically entered into the Premier League as a result of their rankings.
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They are joined by 2018 world champion Cross, who was beaten 6-2 by Littler in the semi-finals earlier this week at Alexandra Palace.
The 2021 champion, Gerwyn Price, is also included, having finished as runner-up in last season's Premier League and Grand Prix events.
And two-time worlds winner Peter Wright is the seventh name, despite dropping to eighth in the world rankings following a disappointing second round exit at Alexandra Palace.
That just leaves Littler, who has taken the darting world by storm and will get plenty of eyes on the Premier League as it enters a fresh season.
The Runcorn-born dartist will be 17 by the time the competition gets underway on February 1 in Cardiff.
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There is no place, though, for UK Open champion Andrew Gilding, while World Championship quarter-finalists Chris Dobey and Joe Cullen, as well as world number seven Danny Noppert, may also count themselves unlucky not to be involved.
The event takes place over a gruelling 17 weeks, with the eight players facing off in a straight knockout format on each night. Following that, the four players who have picked up the most points will qualify for Finals Night, where the 2024 Premier League winner is crowned.
The full list of players as is follows:
- Luke Humphries (England)
- Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands)
- Michael Smith (England)
- Nathan Aspinall (England)
- Gerwyn Price (Wales)
- Rob Cross (England)
- Peter Wright (Scotland)
- Luke Littler (England)
Topics: Luke Littler, Darts
