Big moments on their way for Luke 'The Nuke' Littler

MOMENTUM is gathering for Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler’s full-circle moment – the World Championship at Alexandra Palace.

Next month will mark a year since the Warrington darts superstar became a household name on the back of his extraordinary run to the final as a 16-year-old debutant, sending him into stratosphere on the social-media stage.

The big two televised events this month, starting this Saturday, almost act as a timely dress rehearsal and opportunities to top up his £600,000-plus prize monies from his stunning first year as a professional.

Former Padgate Academy student Littler, who has recently relocated to plush rented accommodation in Appleton, will be wanting to boost his form again in time for ‘Ally Pally’ after suffering early exits from the past three big TV tournaments.

‘The Nuke’, crowned Premier League champion while also winning a stack of World Series of Darts, European Tour and Players Championship titles in 2024, is now set to make his Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts debut.

Running for nine days from Saturday, Littler has been drawn in Group F and will square up with Ireland’s Keane Barry on Saturday night at WV Active Aldersley in Wolverhampton, where the action will be broadcast live by Sky Sports.

Littler and Barry are scheduled to lock horns at 9.45pm.

‘The Nuke’ is also set to face UK Open champion Dimitri Van den Bergh – the seventh seed - and PDC Asian champion Lourence Ilagan in Group F, with those matches to follow on Sunday and Tuesday nights.

Players finishing in the top two in the eight groups go into the knockout stage, which would hand Littler a second-round tie on Wednesday or Thursday night next week, a potential quarter-final on the Friday or Saturday night, and semi-final and final on Sunday, November 16, depending on his progress.

And then from November 22-24, Littler has his debut opportunity in the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals at Butlin’s Minehead Resort.

There, he will go toe-to-toe with ‘Voltage’ Rob Cross in the first round, with all the action from this event being broadcast live on ITV4.

Littler’s battle-royal with 2018 world champion Cross will be among the highlights of the opening games – and a repeat of their recent first-round tie at the World Grand Prix – won by the Hastings thrower – and the semi-final won by Littler in the World Darts Championship at the start of the year.

This tournament will be contested by the top 64 players from the year’s Players Championship series.