LUKE LITTLER’s absence from the European Tour continues this weekend – as he targets a World Matchplay title defence.
The Nuke has such a busy diary these days that something has to give and he has decided to skip several tournaments on the continent.
On Friday, the three-day European Darts Open in Leverkusen will take place without the participation of the world No.1.
It is a huge blow to PDC Europe not to have the golden boy in the line-up.
This is the tenth of 15 Euro Tours this calendar year and Littler has only appeared in TWO so far.
He won the first, lifting the Poland Darts Open in February by beating Gian van Veen in the final, and then lost to Dutchman Niels Zonneveld in round three of the Belgian Darts Open in March.
Yet he snubbed the European Darts Trophy, German Darts Grand Prix, European Darts Grand Prix, Austrian Darts Open, International Darts Open, Baltic Sea Darts Open and Slovak Darts Open.
Given his comfortable position on the Euros rankings list, there is little danger of him not qualifying for the European Championship in Dortmund in October, the one TV title he has yet to claim.
Though he was successful with world No.2 Luke Humphries at the PDC World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt, Littler has had a habit of not travelling to Germany unless it is essential.
This is a throwback to the boos he experienced last year when he competed in Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt.
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And he is keen to cut down on long-distance travel where possible, given he is on the World Series of Darts circuit.
Littler, who was in New Jersey to watch England’s 2-0 World Cup win over Panama, claimed last month that he takes about “30-40 flights” a year.
Next week, Littler will head to Blackpool for the World Matchplay – he lifted the Phil Taylor Trophy in Blackpool a year ago.
So far the 19-year-old has had a clean sweep of TV majors.
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