THE PDC Premier League Darts crosses the Irish Sea for the next fortnight and Luke Littler will be hoping to have returned with that elusive first nightly win.
Night Eight of the tournament sees darts’ annual roadshow land in Dublin, with another raucous crowd expected inside the city’s 3Arena.
Warringtonian Littler takes to the stage in the fourth and final quarter-final against his “local rival” – St Helens’ Michael Smith – as he looks to rebound following a mixed Night Seven.
“The Nuke” was in sensational form to thrash Michael Van Gerwen 6-2 in the quarter-finals in Nottingham but ran into an inspired Nathan Aspinall in the semis, going down 6-3 to the Stockport man.
Littler and Smith are due on stage at around 8.45pm for what will be their third meeting in the past four nights – Smith took advantage as Littler ran into double trouble in the Night Six semi-finals in Brighton to pick up a 6-3 win while the teenager was victorious in the Night Five quarters in Exeter, winning 6-2.
The winner of the tie will face whoever advances from the quarter-final clash between Michael Van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price in the second semi-final.
Luke Humphries - the winner of the last two nights - opens the show against Peter Wright before Aspinall takes on Rob Cross in the second quarter final.
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 8, 3Arena, Dublin, live on Sky Sports, Thursday, March 20:
Quarter-final 1: Luke Humphries vs Peter Wright, 7.15pm
Quarter-final 2: Nathan Aspinall vs Rob Cross, 7.45pm
Quarter-final 3: Michael van Gerwen v Gerwyn Price, 8.15pm
Quarter-final 4: Luke Littler vs Michael Smith, 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
Interesting fact:
Luke Littler is the only player currently in the Premier League's top four without a nightly win to his name. Michael Van Gerwen has three, current leader Luke Humphries has two and Nathan Aspinall has one.
A reminder of what happened last week:
Results for PDC Premier League Darts Night 7, Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, Thursday, March 14:
Quarter-Finals
Peter Wright 6-5 Gerwyn Price
Luke Humphries 6-4 Michael Smith
Michael Van Gerwen 2-6 Luke Littler
Rob Cross 5-6 Nathan Aspinall
Semi-Finals
Peter Wright 1-6 Luke Humphries
Luke Littler 3-6 Nathan Aspinall
Final
Luke Humphries 6-3 Nathan Aspinall
PDC Premier League Order of Merit:
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 8, Dublin, March 21: Humphries v Wright, Aspinall v Cross, Van Gerwen v Price, Littler v Smith
Night 9, Belfast, March 28: Humphries v Littler, Smith v Van Gerwen, Aspinall v Price, Cross v Wright.
Night 10, Manchester, April 4: Aspinall v Cross, Littler v Van Gerwen, Smith v Humphries, Price v Wright.
Night 11, Birmingham, April 11: Wright v Humphries, Cross v Littler, Price v Smith, Van Gerwen v Aspinall.
Night 12, Rotterdam Ahoy, April 18: Smith v Littler, Cross v Price, Wright v Aspinall, Van Gerwen v Humphries.
Night 13, Liverpool, April 25: Littler v Price, Humphries v Aspinall, Wright v Van Gerwen, Smith v Cross.
Night 14, Aberdeen, May 2: Wright v Smith, Littler v Aspinall, Van Gerwen v Cross, Price v Humphries.
Night 15, Leeds, May 9: Van Gerwen v Price, Littler v Wright, Humphries v Cross, Aspinall v Smith.
Night 16, Sheffield, May 16: Fixtures confirmed following Night 15.
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
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