Schedule for PDC Premier League Night 1 in Cardiff

The 17-year-old superstar, who grew up initially in Runcorn and now lives in Warrington, will head into his debut weekly arena campaign having reached the finals of his three maiden senior competitions, including winning the Bahrain Darts Masters on his World Series of Darts debut a fortnight ago.

‘The Nuke’ pushed Michael van Gerwen to the wire in the Dutch Darts Masters last week, and he took the global sporting scene by storm with his record-breaking PDC World Championship run.

Luke Littler with his Dutch Darts Masters runner-up trophy (Image: Kelly Deckers/PDC)

And those came on the back of being crowned the PDC World Youth Champion and JDC Junior World Champion at the back end of 2023.

Now he heads to Cardiff for the first of 16 Premier League nights, with Luke Humphries being his first opponent tonight, Thursday, in the fourth quarter-final scheduled to start at 8.45pm.

A win would hand him a 9.45pm semi-final shot against Michael van Gerwen or Michael Smith, with the final to follow at 10.15pm – all live on Sky Sports.

Humphries narrowly defeated the former Padgate Academy student in the World Championship Final at Alexandra Palace last month, but Littler gained some revenge in beating the world number one on his way to facing Van Gerwen in a thrilling Dutch showdown on Saturday.

And for the Dutchman, it was revenge for the previous week’s loss to Littler in the Bahrain Darts Masters decider.

But all considered, Littler can take lots of confidence into Cardiff, despite the loss in Den Bosch, The Netherlands, and he will become the youngest ever Premier League competitors.

Competing players in 2024 PDC Premier Darts League:

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

Schedule for PDC Premier League Night 1, Utility Arena, Cardiff:

Quarter-final 1: Peter Wright v Rob Cross, 7.15pm

Quarter-final 2: Gerwyn Price v Nathan Aspinall, 7.45pm

Quarter-final 3: Michael van Gerwen v Michael Smith, 8.15pm

Quarter-final 4: Luke Littler v Luke Humphries, 8.45pm

Semi-final 1: Winner of QF1 v winner of QF2, 9.15pm

Semi-final 2: Winner of QF 3 v winner of QF4, 9.45pm

Final: Winner of SF1 v winner of SF 2, 10.15pm

What Littler's saying about his debut Premier League campaign:

"It's been crazy. The World Championship has changed my life, and now I'm getting opportunities to play in Bahrain, Den Bosch and of course the Premier League.

"I'm really looking forward to it. I cannot wait for the next 16 weeks, and I think this experience will certainly help my game."

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

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 Premier League Darts 2024, quarter final fixtures:

Night 1, Cardiff, February 1: Peter Wright v Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price v Nathan Aspinall, Michael van Gerwen v Michael Smith, Luke Littler v Luke Humphries.

Night 2, Berlin, February 8: Aspinall v Van Gerwen, Smith v Price, Littler v Cross, Humphries v Wright.

Night 3, Glasgow, February 15: Cross v Smith, Van Gerwen v Wright, Aspinall v Humphries, Price v Littler.

Night 4, Newcastle, February 22: Smith v Aspinall, Cross v Humphries, Wright v Littler, Price v Van Gerwen.

Night 5, Exeter, February 29: Humphries v Van Gerwen, Aspinall v Wright, Price v Cross, Littler v Smith.

Night 6, Brighton, March 7: Humphries v Price, Cross v Van Gerwen, Aspinall v Littler, Smith v Wright.

Night 7, Nottingham, March 14: Wright v Price, Humphries v Smith, Van Gerwen v Littler, Cross v Aspinall.

Night 8, Dublin, March 21: Fixtures confirmed following Night Seven.

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.