Luke Littler lit up last Christmas and new year when he dominated headlines on the front and back pages with his astonishing run to the World Darts Championship final.
The Warrington wonder was only 16 at the time and looked unstoppable as he ploughed his way through the field at London’s Alexandra Palace.
But instead of blowing aside Luke Humphries in a stunning showdown, The Nuke was disarmed as the world No.1 rocketed his way to victory.
Littler has enjoyed a successful 2024, winning the Premier League and World Series, but he has remained in Humphries’ shadow as Cool Hand Luke has won six televised ranking titles while also lifting the World Cup with Michael Smith.
His rise to the top began when he won his first significant title, the World Grand Prix, 12 months ago and he returns to Leicester bidding to join Phil Taylor and Michael Van Gerwen as the only players to celebrate victory in the tournament in consecutive years.
Humphries, who also won the World Matchplay at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool in July, has reached eight of the last ten PDC finals so it is somewhat surprising to see Littler chalked up as the 7/2 favourite with Paddy Power, Betfair and Betway among others to hoist aloft the trophy on Sunday.
Humphries has to be the one to beat and he’s 9/2 with StarSports, SpreadEx and Sporting Index to begin the countdown to his world championship defence on a triumphant note.
Humphries is also backable at 6/5 with William Hill to win the first quarter of the draw which includes Ross Smith, Stephen Bunting, Johnny Clayton and Raymond van Barneveld.
Littler, meanwhile, is 6/4 with Betfred to win the second quarter although Nathan Aspinall is big at 8/1 with Betway if he catches fire, while Chris Dobey is 11/2 with Sky Sports to win a fourth quarter headed by Van Gerwen.
The leaves the third quarter which should be taken by Gerwen Price at 7/2 with Unibet, BetUK and BetMGM. The Welshman is worth an each-way dabble at 14/1 with StarSports and SpreadEx to win the title he claimed in 2020 given that he’s in the opposite half of the draw to the two Lukes.
• Stick Dave Chisnall, Ross Smith, Johnny Clayton, James Wade and Nathan Aspinall in an opening day acca with World Grand Prix sponsors BoyleSports.
• Kansas City can extend their perfect start to the NFL season to 5-0 when the erratic New Orleans Saints visit Arrowhead Park for a Monday Night Football battle. The Chiefs are chasing an unprecedented three straight World Series successes and look as strong as ever as they finish the fourth quarter strongly to claim the W. The Saints struggle to close out games as well and Kansas are 10/11 with the majority of firms to win by over 5.5 points. Saints wide receiver Chris Olave is 12/5 with SpreadEx to score a touchdown at any time and JuJu Smith-Schuster can post six points for the Chiefs at 9/2 with William Hill as he fills the breach for injured top target Rashee Rice.
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