Littler vows to take “more days off” as he targets historic clean sweep

LUKE LITTLER says he is going to have “more days off” on the PDC circuit to give himself valuable time to rest.

The world No1 featured in just three European Tour events this year and withdrew from the opening 26 Players Championship tournaments.

Littler, 19, also skipped the recent World Series visits to New Zealand and Australia last month.

PDC President Barry Hearn recently issued a warning to the sport’s biggest stars over regularly missing competitions.

But Littler believes his position at the top of the rankings gives him the freedom to be more selective, holding a huge £2.1million lead over Luke Humphries.

He told the Press Association: "I think obviously it's just what's best for me and my family, just having those crucial days off.

"I think we're going to see more days off just to rest.

"That's all I'm doing. I'm obviously world number one, and there's a massive gap between myself and world number two.

"I can sort of take that step back and not go chasing every single tournament.

"It allows me to have, obviously, days off and weeks off, and yeah, just about balancing the schedule."

Littler has now returned to the floor circuit because he needs to qualify for the Players Championship Finals as he chases an unprecedented clean sweep.

The Nuke has already won the first six major titles of the season and is bidding to claim all 11.

But he must qualify for Minehead in November to have a chance of completing the feat.

The teen sensation finally made his comeback in Leicester a fortnight ago and his hopes of making the Premier event could hinge on what happens at the World Series Finals in Amsterdam this week.

He added, speaking through his role with KP Nuts: “That's all you can do. I can't be looking forward any more than what's next, which is the World Series in Amsterdam.

“If I hopefully do win the World Series, then Tuesday and Wednesday I'll be in Den Bosch for the Pro Tours, try and qualify for Minehead.

“We've just got to see what happens in Amsterdam this weekend.”

Words: Aaron Nijjar

Image: Taylor Lanning