COMPARED to how things have been going of late, Luke “The Nuke” Littler has found the going somewhat tougher this week.

A shock first-round exit from the Baltic Sea Darts Open over the weekend followed being blown away by Michael Van Gerwen in the PDC Premier League Darts Night 15 semi-finals, but he still stands on the brink of capping his debut Premier League campaign with a top-of-the-table finish ahead of Finals Night in London on May 23.

Warrington’s teenage sensation and his seven Premier League rivals head to Sheffield on Thursday for the final night of the competition’s league phase, and Littler will secure top spot by beating rock-bottom Peter Wright in the quarter-finals.

If he fails to do so, the door will be open for Humphries but even then, the world number one must repeat his nightly win in Leeds last week to overhaul the 17-year-old.

Littler and Wright will open the show at the Utilita Arena with the winner facing either Nathan Aspinall or Michael Smith in the semi-finals.

The winner of Aspinall vs Smith will claim the last remaining place at Finals Night alongside Littler, Humphries and Van Gerwen.

PDC Premier League Darts, competing players

Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, Nathan Aspinall, Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross, Peter Wright, Luke Littler.

Schedule for PDC Premier League Darts Night 16, Utilita Arena, Sheffield, live on Sky Sports, Thursday, May 16:

Quarter-final 1: Luke Littler vs Peter Wright, 7.15pm

Quarter-final 2: Nathan Aspinall vs Michael Smith, 7.45pm

Quarter-final 3: Luke Humphries vs Gerwyn Price, 8.15pm

Quarter-final 4: Michael Van Gerwen vs Rob Cross, 8.45pm

Semi-final 1: Winner of QF 1 v Winner of QF 2, 9.15pm

Semi-final 2: Winner of QF 3 v Winner of QF 4, 9.45pm

Final: Winner of SF1 v winner of SF 2, 10.30pm

A reminder of what happened last week:

Results for PDC Premier League Darts Night 15, First Direct Arena, Leeds, Thursday, May 9:

Quarter-Finals

Michael van Gerwen 6-3 Gerwyn Price
Luke Littler 6-1 Peter Wright
Luke Humphries 6-1 Rob Cross
Michael Smith 6-3 Nathan Aspinall

Semi-Finals

Michael van Gerwen 6-1 Luke Littler
Luke Humphries 6-1 Michael Smith

Final

Luke Humphries 6-5 Michael van Gerwen

PDC Premier League Order of Merit:

Warrington Guardian:

 

Format for PDC Premier League nights 2024:

Each night will see quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final played over the best of 11 legs (first to six).

Players will face each other twice in quarter-final ties throughout the season, with the fixtures being balanced for players to be in opposite halves of the draw in an equal number of weeks.

The fixtures for Night 8 and Night 16 will be based on the league table following Night 7 and Night 15 respectively.

The top four players from the final league table will progress to the Play-Offs, which will feature the semi-finals over the best of 19 legs and the final over the best of 21 legs.

The order of throw for all league night matches will be decided by a bull-off, which will be conducted beforehand in the practice room. For the Play-Offs, the semi-finals will see the higher-placed player from the final league table throw first, with a bull-off for the final.

League Points per Night:

Night Winner - 5 points + £10,000 bonus

Runner-Up - 3 points

Semi-Finalists - 2 points

Prize Fund:

Winner - £275,000

Runner-Up - £125,000

Semi-Finalists - £85,000 each

Fifth in League Table - £75,000

Sixth in League Table - £70,000

Seventh in League Table - £65,000

Eighth in League Table - £60,000

Nightly Winner Bonus - £10,000 x16

Total - £1,000,000

Schedule for remaining PDC Premier League Darts 2024, quarter final fixtures:

Night 16, Sheffield, May 16: Littler v Wright, Aspinall v Smith, Humphries v Price, Van Gerwen v Cross

Play-Offs: The O2, London, May 23: The top four players after 16 nights.

Story of 2024 so far for Luke Littler:

PDC World Darts Championship runner-up

Bahrain Darts Masters Champion, including first leg nine-darter in quarter-final

Dutch Darts Masters runner-up

Premier League Night 1 (Cardiff) semi-finalist

Premier League Night 2 (Berlin) finalist

Players Championship 1 (Wigan) winner, including nine-darter in the last 32

Premier League Night 4 (Newcastle) semi-finalist

Premier League Night 5 (Exeter) semi-finalist

UK Open quarter-finalist

Premier League Night 6 (Brighton) semi-finalist

Belgian Darts Open Champion, including nine-darter in final

Premier League Night 7 (Nottingham) semi-finalist

Premier League Night 9 (Belfast) winner

Premier League Night 10 (Manchester) winner

Premier League Night 11 (Birmingham) finalist

Premier League Night 13 (Liverpool) winner

Austrian Darts Open Champion

Premier League Night 14 (Aberdeen) winner