Darts ace insists Littler skipping events is “not new” and compares him to Taylor

PAUL NICHOLSON has backed Luke Littler’s reduced schedule and insists his decision to skip events is “not new”.

The world No1 withdrew from Players Championship 29 and 30 in Den Bosch after his bid to complete a record-breaking clean sweep of major titles was ended by Jonny Clayton.

Littler, 19, was beaten 10-4 by Clayton in the quarter-finals of the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam.

The Nuke had endured a hostile reception from Dutch fans throughout the tournament, with the teen sensation jeered and whistled at during several matches.

Littler threatened to boycott events in the Netherlands if the treatment continued and has now pulled out of next month’s Dutch Darts Championship in Maastricht.

But former pro Nicholson insists Littler was set to skip the final two European Tour events of the season after already securing his place at the European Championship.

The Warrington thrower has played just three events on the circuit this year but has picked up £75,000, with wins at the Czech Open and Poland Open putting him fifth on the Order of Merit.

Nicholson says there is therefore little reason for Littler to continue adding events to his schedule.

He told the Love the Darts podcast: “This has been happening for years. When Phil Taylor was in his full pomp, when the European Tour was on, he barely played it.

“He only played when he needed to. As soon as Littler wins in Prague and he is sitting down with his family and the trophy is sitting at the edge of the table, he is just decompressing for 20 minutes before he goes back to his hotel.

“And at that point, I don’t even need to see him. I’m not seeing him on the European Tour again this season because he doesn’t need to go.

“He’s already won in Poland. He has won in Prague. Why does he have to go to the rest of the tournaments? He doesn’t have to.

“What he is doing is prioritising in what is silly season to all of us. He is making sure he is energised for every tournament he plays.

“He has a lot of other commitments away from the PDC as well, as we know.

“What benefit is it to him to go to Switzerland, to go to Maastricht? There is none.

“This whole thing about Den Bosch, I don’t know where this has come from because he was never going in the first place.

“He’s going to the last two. If he gets through to Minehead, great, he has a chance to defend his title.

“But if he doesn’t make it, then there will be some tweaking at the start of 2027 to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

“The same happened with Nathan Aspinall in the last couple of years. It’s not new.”

Littler returns to action on September 28 when he begins his World Grand Prix title defence against Luke Woodhouse in the first round.

Words: Aaron Nijjar

Image: Taylor Lanning