Littler among big names aiming for ‘Bullseye’ as the Premier League come to Glasgow
By Jack Meney
The Premier League is always a weekly event that darts fans look forward to, with eight of the sport's biggest stars competing in arenas all over the UK and Europe.
Tonight, Glasgow's Ovo Hydro, yet again, hosts the Thursday night event and a night like this never disappoints. This is one of two televised PDC cards that Scotland gets to host, the other being the Premier League night in Aberdeen. It's fair to say that the Scottish Crowd takes advantage of the two dates that they have, always putting on a good show and cheering the whole night through.
Last year, when eight of the finest that darts had to offer came to Glasgow, it was three time world champion Michael Van Gerwin who was victorious on the night. The Lineup has two changes from last year with former world champions Michael Smith and Peter Wright dropping out for Stephen Bunting and Chris Dobey. The places were very competitive with a few players narrowly missing out. This year could have easily included Dave Chisnall, Johnny Clayton, Damon Heta and Danny Noppert, to name but a few.
Glasgow’s Ovo Hydro (Jeff J Mitchell via Gettyimages)
Scotland’s own Gary Anderson also could have been added to the lineup with him having a brillant year in 2024 but the ‘Flying Scotsman’ hinted that he will not want to be featured in the eight as he is nearing the end of his career.
The schedule for tonight’s quarter finals are very intriguing and promise to produce close and entertaining games. Last week’s winner Luke Humphries takes on World Championship semi-finalist Chris Dobey. Van Gerwin plays fan favourite, Stephen Bunting. Nathan Aspinall takes on Welshman Gerwyn Price. The opening match for tonight features rising star and newly crowned World Champion Luke Littler. The 18-year-old will be playing Rob Cross.
It will be interesting to see how the teenage superstar, Littler, will play tonight after a first round exit in Belfast. ‘The Nuke’ won the whole thing last year on his league debut which, alongside winning the World Series and the Grand Slam, cemented him as one of the best, even at his young age. His biggest achievement so far, can’t be topped as he won the World Championship at the start of this year, after falling short to Humphries in last year's final.
Luke Littler celebrates World Championship win (Ben Stansall via Gettyimages)
Humphries will be looking to build on the success he found last week when he won the opening night in Belfast. ‘Cool Hand’ reminded everyone of the reason why he is world number one, with a dominant performance against Dobey in the final, winning 6-1.
Another one to look out for is scouser Stephen Bunting. ‘The Bullet' started playing a long time ago and was always amongst the best. His form, however, dropped off, and he has not been in the Premier League for 10 years. 2024 was his comeback year and now he finds himself ranked fifth in the world, higher than he has ever been. Bunting revealed to Sky Sports that his return to the Premier League made feel emotional. He said: “It was very emotional. I expected it to be good but I didn’t expect it to be as good as it was”
Stephen Bunting Celebrating (Harry Murphy via Gettyimages)
The Hydro will be lively tonight, chants resonating around the arena, players walk ons echoing and most importantly, world class darts will be played. It will be very interesting to see how night two unfolds, with it being very early in the competition - player’s form in these short style matches is still unknown.
Can Littler show why he should be respected despite his age? Does Humphries' dominant spell continue? Will the players Cross, Aspinall and Bunting get some points on the board? All questions will be answered tonight in an action packed night in Scotland’s biggest city.