Luke Littler set to skip event for second straight year despite winning it before and already qualifying

The Sun

a day ago

LUKE LITTLER is set to skip the chance to compete in the PDC World Youth Championship.
The Warrington-thrower won the tournament back in 2023 and has already qualified for it.
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Littler, 18, was just 16 years old when he won the title as he beat Gian van Veen in Minehead.
He pocketed £10,000 from being victorious in the final but did not return to defend his title last year.
The World Youth Championship is made up of 128 players and has boasted some huge names as previous winners.
This includes the likes of previous world champions Luke Humphries and Michael Smith.
Belgian ace Dimitri van den Bergh is the only star to win the title twice as he went back-to-back in 2017 and 2018.
Littler automatically qualifies for the tournament as he is a PDC player and within the 16-24 age limit.
This means he could compete among the sports' youngest stars until 2031.
However, he has opted to skip it for a second consecutive year, as confirmed last week.
The tournament is set to begin in October with the opening rounds in Wigan.
Once the competitors have been whittled down to just two, they will then face off in a final at Minehead in November.
Littler is expected to be competing in the Players Championship instead.
He was beaten in the final last year by Humphries as he settled for the runner-up position.
The Nuke recently tasted success in the World Series of Darts as he won it for the third time in his career.
He also won the Australian Darts Masters in Wollongong by beating Mike De Decker in the fina l.