Luke Littler to face darts star who raged 'what's the point' after rule change
Luke Littler will face Ryan Searle in the first round of the World Matchplay on July 20, a matter of months after 'Heavy Metal' blasted changes to the European Tour. It is another difficult draw for the 18-year-old, who was knocked out in the first round of the major last year.
Michael van Gerwen overcame 'the Nuke' 10-6 to send the World No. 2 crashing out of the competition in Blackpool. While it is not 'Mighty Mike', Searle is a huge banana skin for the world champion.
The long-haired world No. 19 will also be looking to claim a huge scalp, a matter of months after hitting out at structural changes he felt favoured top players like Littler.
In January, the Professional Darts Corporation announced an upheaval of European Tour regulations. These amendments saw the top 16 players on the PDC Order of Merit be granted byes into the second round of the competition.
However, it also meant that players within the top 16 of the Pro Tour Order of Merit, but outside the top 16 of the PDC standings, had to compete in the opening round of the tour events. Searle was left furious by these changes, stating the rule change made the Pro Tour Order of Merit redundant.
He took to X and wrote: "What is the point of the ProTour Order of Merit? The one that shows the true form and consistency of players. Asking for a friend."
At the time, Damon Heta, who was ranked eighth in the PDC rankings, humoured Searle's post with his own reply. The Australian said: "Mate I thought it was a New Year, new you, with no complaining."
Perhaps annoyed his rival and darts colleague did not back his point up with his own post, Searle would go on to reply: "You are already on the face doesn't fit blacklist, so back me up."
At the time, Heta had been excluded from the Premier League Darts list, despite the fact he was ranked higher than the likes of Gerwyn Price and Nathan Aspinall – who both reached the semi-final stages at the O2 Arena – at the time.
After the PDC Winmau World Masters in February, Searle reaffirmed his feelings towards the changes when he said: "Obviously, I'm not happy about that, because I'm not in the top 16 yet. If I beat Johnny (Clayton) tomorrow, I might get in the top 16 so it won't affect me, but that doesn't mean that I still agree with it.
"The top 16 are protected as it is anyway, and that only makes it worse. So yeah, obviously I do a lot of travelling, going to all the Euro Tours, I try and do as many Pro Tours as I can and it just feels like a bit of a kick in the teeth.
"It's just one of those things and I'll deal with it. I try not to moan too much, I've said this year that I'm not going to moan. I'm just going to get my head down, put a lot more effort in than I have in the past and see where that takes me.'
If Searle goes on to beat Littler in round one, it would likely be extra sweet, given his previous grievances. The competition, which will see the winner earn £200,000, begins on Saturday, July 19 and will be opened by world No. 1 and defending champion Luke Humphries taking on Gian van Veen.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Darts fans are kicked out of Matchplay event in Blackpool after protesting against transgender player Noa-Lynn van Leuven during women's tournament
Darts fans have claimed they were kicked out of the Winter Gardens at Blackpool after protesting against the inclusion of Noa-Lynn van Leuven in the Women's World Matchplay tournament. Eight of the top women's players in the world took part in the one-day tournament on Sunday, playing quarter-finals, semi-finals and an eventual final. Beau Greaves was the heavy favourite to win the competition, while Fallon Sherrock also took part, but it was Lisa Ashton who took home the trophy. One incident away from the oche, though, attracted attention, with three women claiming they were escorted out the building for attempting to protest as van Leuven made her entrance. Van Leuven, 28, who began her gender transition as a teenager, has stormed up the women's rankings in recent months by winning multiple titles, and completed her hormone therapy in 2022. She has been taking part in the women's series recently, though three women protested on Sunday - with one holding a banner reading: 'He's a man' an the other wearing a shirt which said: 'Save women's sport.' WARNING : Strong language This is the footage of the moment we were removed. For standing up at Women's World Matchplay Darts who let Noa-Lynn Van Loeven play against women. We hadn't said anything when they attacked us with force. @OfficialPDC these are your security. — Jean Hatchet (@JeanHatchet) July 27, 2025 Darts fans have claimed they were kicked out of the Women's World Matchplay for protesting against Noa-Lynn van Leuven The incident took place when van Leuven was set to make her entrance to take on Lorraine Winstanley - a game she won 4-0. The two protestors appeared to stand, with security leaping to them right away and appeared to take them out the premises. The two demonstrators struggled as they were moved away, with writer Jean Hatchet claiming she was one of the women and sharing her version of events on social media on Sunday evening. She shared a video of the incident, captioned: 'This is the footage of the moment we were removed. For standing up at Women's World Matchplay Darts who let Noa-Lynn van Loeven play against women.' She also explained how her partner had a banner that read: 'Noa-Lynn a man.' Hatchet also claimed that she, alongside her girlfriend, who was also removed, was at no point asked to leave and would have done so had she been asked. When approached by Mail Sport for comment, Hatchet said: 'We saw that PDC the organisers intended to allow Noa-Lynn Van Leuven to compete again in the UK despite the recent Supreme Court ruling clarifying the meaning of the word woman to mean, as it has always meant, "biological female". 'We wanted to make a simple statement that Van Leuven is a man, he should compete as he used to in the men's competition. We sat quietly enjoying the darts. People held up many signs with different messages encouraged by the event. I don't know how or why but when I held up one saying "he's a man" within seconds I was grabbed hard by security and the sign ripped from my hands. 'My girlfriend didn't get a chance to hold hers up at all before we were attacked by more security. They grabbed us hard and pushed us and then more arrived. I shouted that I just wanted to get my bag and I'd leave. They refused and really grabbed me hard. I tried to struggle because they were really hurting me. I said "let me walk out, just give me my bag" but they all grabbed me harder. I have really serious bruises. At one point the man said "Why are you doing this homophobic s***?" 'It was painful and humiliating and they pushed and shoved me when they finally dropped me. It was disgusting. They handed me over to Winter Gardens Staff who looked a bit shocked but didn't intervene.' Van Leuven revealed before the World Championship last year that she had faced adversity in the build-up, receiving death threats, while team-mates Aileen de Graaf and Anca Zijlstra refused to play with her and English player Deta Hedman against her. She became the first transgender player to compete at the Grand Slam of Darts in November last year, and she has qualified to play at the World Championship at Alexandra Palace for the first time last Christmas. PDC chief executive Matt Porter insisted last year that the current policy on transgender players is 'fair', giving Van Leuven the green light to compete on the biggest stage. Still, both men and women compete equally in the tournament. Focus has generally been on the star competing in women's events, with Hedman arguing: 'People can be whoever they want in life, but I don't think biologically born men should compete in women's sports.' Van Leuven again opened up on the discrimination she has faced, suggesting she does not have an advantage over other women at the oche. 'Sometimes I'm accused of having an advantage over others because of my height,' she said. 'But look at Beau [Greaves]. We're the same height. Or look at Phil Taylor. He's beaten everyone and he's a small guy.' 'Others see an alleged advantage in the movements of my hips. I would stand differently than CIS women. Then there are people who come up with a study from handball, according to which there are differences between men and women in the throw, specifically in the backswing, and also in the lunge movement. 'So, the last time I played darts, I didn't do a backswing or a lunge. It's f***ing darts. What are we talking about?'
The Sun
5 hours ago
- The Sun
World Matchplay Darts 2025 LIVE RESULTS: Luke Littler BEATS James Wade and makes HISTORY to take home title
LUKE Littler has WON the World Matchplay in Blackpool - and has made HISTORY in the process! Teenage sensation Luke Littler made history by becoming the youngest triple crown winner ever, winning the World Championship, Premier League Darts and now World Matchplay. James Wade featured in his SEVENTH World Matchplay final against him, but was unable to stop the continuous rise of Luke Littler at the Winter Gardens. Llast year's champion Luke Humphries suffered a SHOCK first round exit against Gian van Veen, with his English teammate Littler taking the title from him.
Metro
6 hours ago
- Metro
Luke Littler eyes mammoth Phil Taylor record after historic World Matchplay win
Luke Littler is not ruling out breaking Phil Taylor's monumental record in the World Matchplay after winning the event for the first time on Sunday night. The 18-yaer-old turned in a stunning performance to beat James Wade 18-13 in a brilliant final in Blackpool. The world champion finished the match with a blistering average of 107.24, throwing 17 180s over the piece. Wade enjoyed the dream start to the match, racing into a 5-0 lead, and played beautifully for most of the contest, incredibly averaging 101.54 over 31 frames and still losing. Littler was in untouchable form, though, and expects to be for a long time to come as he is already having a look at Taylor's absurd record of 16 World Matchplay titles. The Power made the Blackpool event his own, so much so that the trophy is named after the legend of the oche, and it was stirring for the Nuke to get his hands on it for the first time. 'It means everything,' he said. 'Obviously he came here on his last Matchplay and picked up the trophy. To win it 16 times, Phil was the player he was, but just to get my name on the trophy means a lot.' On his chances of reaching 16 titles himself, Littler added: 'That's the only thing, its carrying on for that amount of time, but maybe in the next 16 times I might have broken it. I might come back every year and just win it! 'I want to conquer everything in this sport and I've ticked this one off tonight. I want to win one of everything and we'll see what happens from there.' Littler has given himself a target of ticking off every major PDC title once and few would doubt that he can achieve that, but what would come next? 'That's what everyone's probably thinking, what do I do after I've won one of everything,' he said. 'But for myself, just build on it, get multiple of everything. get triple of everything. But yeah, once I win one of everything I won't pack it in just yet.' When the dream becomes a reality❤️ means the world to have my hands on the Phil Taylor trophy and complete the triple crown🏆 — Luke Littler (@LukeTheNuke180) July 27, 2025 The teenager is not short of targets and before 16 World Matchplays and one of every title, he is eyeing up the world number one spot, which he is yet to claim in his career. Despite Littler's incredible success so far in his career, Luke Humphries has held onto the top spot in the rankings, but the Nuke knows he could usurp him by the end of the year. 'Obviously I've looked at the rankings, provisional world number one for the Worlds, if Luke doesn't defend all that prize money,' he said. 'Obviously I don't want him to, I'd love to be world number one.' Littler landed a record 64 180s in his World Matchplay campaign, beating the previous high watermark of 56 set by Adrian Lewis in 2013. More Trending It was a stunning string of performances from the world number two, including a nine-darter against Josh Rock in the semi-finals. Wade also enjoyed a fabulous tournament, returning to the Blackpool final for the first time since 2015, remarkably his seventh Matchplay showpiece. His run was ended in the final by Littler, just as it was at the UK Open this season, but his performance was massively better on Sunday than it was in Minehead, when he was brushed aside 11-2. MORE: Luke Littler names darts rival with best mentality in the sport MORE: Signing Viktor Gyokeres makes it a win-or-bust season for Mikel Arteta at Arsenal MORE: Alexander Isak odds: Would Newcastle really sell their star striker to Arsenal or Liverpool?
