Luke Littler and Luke Humphries still battling who will break world records

Luke Littler and Luke Humphries to skip upcoming darts event despite star-studded field

The reigning World Darts Championship finalists have opted to conserve their energy.

Neither Luke Humphries nor Luke Littler will compete at Players Championship 5 and 6 (Image: Getty)

Luke Littler and Luke Humphries have decided to skip the two upcoming Players Championship tournaments in Germany after a jam-packed few weeks of darts action. The duo’s absence will leave it to the likes of Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross and Michael van Gerwen to bring the star power in Hildesheim.

Littler’s schedule has been non-stop since reaching the World Darts Championship final back in January. Humphries has also been busy since beating the 17-year-old at the Alexandra Palace, with a night of Premier League Darts action every Thursday supplemented by several other tournaments, both in the UK and overseas.

Players Championship 5 and 6 are scheduled to take place on March 18-19, and the two Lukes are absent from the entry list. Fellow Premier League star Nathan Aspinall has also opted out of the trip to Germany.

Humphries and Aspinall are respectively sat at first and fourth in the PDC world rankings, leaving them under no urgent pressure to go in search of more prize money ahead of the World Matchplay in July.

Littler is also well-positioned to qualify for the Matchplay, having shot up to 28th in the world following his victory at the Belgian Darts Masters over the weekend.

‘The Nuke’ put £30,000 into his prize money pot by hitting a nine-darter in a win over Cross in the final, securing victory on his European Tour debut. Littler’s rise has been a rapid one, having debuted at the Ally Pally in December as a relative unknown.

Price, Cross and Van Gerwen will be joined by the likes of Michael Smith and Peter Wright at the upcoming Players Championship events. First, however, they will be in Premier League action in Nottingham on Thursday.