Darts chief makes Luke Littler admission after star opts out of playing two tournaments

The chief executive of the PDC says Luke Littler's workload is being managed after the darts star opted against playing two tournaments next week.

The 17-year-old won't be at the Players Championship events on Monday and Tuesday, with darts chief Matthew Porter admitting he sometimes needs a rest.

Littler has taken the world of darts by storm since bursting onto the scene at the World Championship at Alexandra Palace in December.

He has since proven his performances at Ally Pally were no fluke and has already won three professional tournaments, hitting a nine-darter in each of them.

Littler has also had a solid start in his first season in the Premier League, sitting third in the table despite not yet picking up a nightly win.

The youngster has fulfilled a number of media requests, including appearing on The Jonathan Ross Show as well as Comic Relief on Friday.

Porter says the new-found fame is great for Littler and the sport as a whole.

But he insists there is a 'team effort' to ensure he isn't exposed to too much, too soon.

Porter told the Love The Darts podcast: "The media demands are high, still getting a lot of requests for high-end content.

"We saw him on The Jonathan Ross Show, he's doing Comic Relief, there are a lot of A-list people that want to speak to Luke which is great for him and great for darts and it's important that is managed properly.

"His manager Martin (Foulds) is excellent, his family are very supportive, we're involved and it's a team effort really just to make sure everything is geared around giving him the optimal opportunity to be the best he can on the oche and just get enough rest and time to himself to be a normal 17-year-old as best he can away from that.

"It's early days, it's hard to think we're only three months into the Luke Littler story but who knows how long it might last?"

Littler competed in the first four Players Championship events of the year, winning the first one he entered.

However, he won't be in Germany this week, with fellow Premier League stars Luke Humphries and Nathan Aspinall also taking the opportunity for a breather.

Porter says Littler's schedule for the remainder of 2024 is not yet set in stone and will be arranged on a 'short-term basis'.

He added: "What's been really positive is Luke's recent wins are going to help his schedule because it will reduce the number of qualifiers he has to play in which will be good for him.

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"We've got a full safeguarding policy, we've had a heavy involvement in youth darts for a decade now so we're well versed in dealing with minors.

"Not always at this level to be fair, but nevertheless there's a grounding in place and a lot of very experienced qualified people in place, support networks, the PDPA (Professional Darts Players Association) are there, everybody is fully aware of the situation.

"Luke's diary is kind of being managed on a short-term basis because it will change so frequently.

"We aren't looking ahead to August, September, October, November yet.

"It's very much on what's going to work this month to give him as much chance to play darts as he does to rest from darts."

Littler will now have the next few days to prepare for night eight in the Premier League, which takes place in Dublin on Thursday.

He will face 2023 world champion Michael Smith in the quarter-final.