Less than a fortnight after being crowned world champion, darts prodigy Luke Littler returns to action on Thursday.
‘The Nuke’ is in Sakhir to defend his title at the Bahrain Darts Masters as he marks his return to the first World Series trophy he won. But the target on Littler’s back will be bigger than ever following his triumph at the World Darts Championship earlier this month.
After beating Michael van Gerwen in the Alexandra Palace final earlier this month, the question for Littler was what next after claiming the biggest prize in darts? And the answer is a swift return to the grindstone, competing for a £20,000 first-place reward, 25 times smaller than his winnings in London.
This is already looking like Littler’s year to tighten his grip on the sport. And Mirror Sport has all the need-to-know information to ensure you don’t miss the teenage titan’s comeback.
Less than a fortnight removed from making darts history, and Littler is already back to boost his coffers once again. The Bahrain Darts Masters is a two-day event taking place across Thursday and Friday, a far less arduous undertaking than his fortnight-long gauntlet at Ally Pally.
The Bahrain Darts Masters will run in the evening on both Thursday and Friday, with the opening session set to get underway at 5pm GMT. Littler is scheduled to participate in the sixth of eight matches and should take to the stage at around 7.30pm GMT (though this could be later).
Filipino veteran Lourence Ilagan will be tasked with attempting to stop Littler’s rampaging form first up on Thursday. A former World Masters semi-finalist, ‘The Gunner’ has been playing darts since 1993 – 14 year before Littler was born – and is one of the biggest names on the Asian circuit.
Ilagan, 46, has also featured in every edition of the World Darts Championship since 2019 and reached the second round in the 2023 tournament. However, he’ll need the performance of his life in order to defuse The Nuke.
Dethroned world champion Luke Humphries is in the running, and so are fresh Premier League additions Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey. Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Nathan Aspinall, and Peter Wright could also cross Littler’s path at one point or another in Sakhir, while eight Asian invitees (including two Bahraini qualifiers) are also in contention.
The Bahrain Darts Masters is available to watch on ITV4 for all viewers in the United Kingdom. Coverage will air from 5pm until 9pm on Thursday evening, while Friday’s session is due to run from 4pm until 8pm GMT.
Spectators can also live stream the action via either the ITVX website or app. Simply create an ITVX account, and you can watch all this week’s entertainment for free.
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