Luke Littler beats Simon Whitlock 6-5 after Australian hits nine-darter as he qualifies for April's European Grand Prix; teenager misses out on International Darts Open after defeat to Jitse Van der Wal earlier in day - Littler back in Premier League action on Thursday, live on Sky Sports
Wednesday 21 February 2024 20:22, UK
Luke Littler has reached the European Darts Grand Prix in April after coming through a nine-darter from Simon Whitlock during Wednesday's qualifying stage.
The 17-year-old edged former World Championship runner-up Whitlock 6-5 before similar last-leg wins over Danny van Trijp and Ian White to take one of the 10 spots up for grabs.
Littler will now head to Sindelfingen, Germany for the European Tour event between April 19-21 alongside other qualifiers Martin Lukeman, Callan Rydz, Keane Barry, Christian Perez, Scott Williams, Stephen Burton, Mickey Mansell, Ritchie Edhouse and Jeffrey Sparidaans.
Littler - runner-up to Luke Humphries at the 2024 PDC World Championship in January - missed out on reaching the International Darts Open in Riesa, Germany from April 12-14 after losing in qualifying earlier on Wednesday.
The teenager was beaten 6-3 by Jitse Van der Wal in the last 80, with Van der Wal, Barry, Whitlock, Edhouse, Mervyn King, Mike De Decker, Owen Bates, Cameron Menzies, William O'Connor and Richard Veenstra taking their 10 spots.
The PDC European Tour will see 13 tournaments held during 2024, including a first visit in Switzerland, with each event worth £175,000 in prize money.
Littler will take part in the first event, the Belgian Darts Open, after qualifying last week.
Littler is back in action on night four of Premier League Darts on Thursday as the tournament heads to Newcastle.
The Nuke, who will face winless Peter Wright in the quarter-finals, will be looking to bounce back from losing in the last eight to Gerwyn Price in Glasgow last week.
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