WARRINGTON’S Luke Littler will face Luke Humphries in the quarter-finals of Night Six of Premier League Darts on Thursday as the world’s top two go head-to-head at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena.
World number one Humphries and World Champion Littler have won four of the opening five nights between them, with Humphries currently occupying a two-point lead over the teenager at the top of the table.
But Littler, aged 18, has claimed a hat-trick of titles over the past fortnight. He followed up his UK Open triumph by winning Night Five title in Brighton last Thursday, before retaining his Belgian Darts Open crown in Wieze on Sunday.
His incredible 19-match winning run eventually came to an end at the Players Championship on Tuesday, but only after he averaged 122.93 against Damon Heta, having also landed a nine-darter earlier in the day.
“I’ve always been confident in my own ability,” Littler said. “The way my darts are going at the minute, it’s probably the best I’ve ever played on a consistent basis.
“That is why I can find those extra gears and dig myself out of trouble when I need to.
“I said at the start of the year, if I don’t win anything all year I’m still a world champion. I’m just enjoying my darts at the minute.”
Humphries has also enjoyed a terrific start to the season, recording nightly victories in Belfast and Exeter to establish an eight-point buffer in the race for play-off qualification.
Littler edged out Humphries to triumph in Glasgow’s Night Two decider, but the world No 1 avenged that result in Exeter, ending a run of six straight Premier League defeats to the young phenom.
Humphries was then beaten in the Night Five quarter-finals by an inspired Rob Cross last week, despite landing his first televised nine-darter in the early stages of their last-eight meeting.
Littler and Humphries are due a 7.15pm start, with the winner facing Rob Cross or Chris Dobey in the semi-finals.
The Premier League Darts Thursday night rounds involve mini tournaments over 16 weeks in arenas across Europe in the race to win a £275,000 top prize at the O2 Arena in London at the end of May.
