Luke Litter has not been selected by England for the World Cup of Darts due to tournament rules.
The 17-year-old prodigy became a household name following his extraordinary run to the World Championship final at the start of the year, where he was eventually defeated by Luke Humphries. Runcorn-born Littler's performance earned him a PDC tour card and a spot in the Premier League, where he quickly made an impact.
Nicknamed 'The Nuke', Littler won four out of 16 Premier League events and managed to get his revenge on Humphries on finals night. Despite his remarkable success, Manchester United fan Littler will not be among the two players representing England at the World Cup this month, with Humphries and Michael Smith being given that privilege.
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This is because selection for seeded nations is determined based on the PDC Order of Merit, which records players' earnings over two years. World No.1 Humphries leads the list with £1,492,250, while Smith is in third place with £1,031,500.
Littler is currently far from surpassing the top two English players, with the teenager ranking 25th in the Order of Merit. The teenager only became a full-time touring player six months ago, with his journey to the World Championship final and victories in various other events earning him a total of £303,500.
Notably, the prize money he won for clinching the Premier League title does not contribute towards his ranking as it is an invitational event.
The absence of Littler means that the World Cup of Darts will not feature the player who many casual darts fans would class as the sport's star attraction right now. It also could result in Littler missing out on a potential £40,000 payday, with the winners collecting a combined £80,000 and the runners-up sharing £50k.
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England are top seeds for the tournament at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, which runs this weekend from Thursday 27 to Sunday 30. It will be the 14th annual World Cup of Darts – but there has been a pivotal format change, with every round now being a doubles match.
Humphries and Smith have secured one of four automatic byes to the second round, allowing them to skip the group stage. They are joined by reigning champions Wales (Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton), Netherlands (Michael van Gerwen and Danny Noppert) and Scotland (Peter Wright and Gary Anderson) in the round of 16.
Group stage matches between the other 36 nations will be decided by best of seven legs. The knockout rounds will be best of 15 legs up until the final, which will increase to 19 legs to crown the World Cup winner.
