Luke Littler, 17, forced to miss Nordic Darts Masters as replacement is confirmed

LUKE LITTLER has been forced out of the Nordic Darts Masters in June due to family commitments.

The 17-year-old sensation has had a packed schedule since his run to the World Championship final at Ally Pally, where he lost to Luke Humphries.

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Littler was given a Premier League place as a result of his heroics at the start of the year and has banked close to £400,000 on the board.

He has won titles at the Bahrain Masters, Players Championship and Belgian Open.

But Littler - who will make his US Darts Masters debut at Madison Square Garden in May - will not be part of the line-up in Copenhagen on June 7-8.

Newly-crowned UK Open champion Dimitri Van den Bergh will instead take his place in the Danish capital.

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Littler has become a huge demand by showbiz A-listers - but he is being protected from suffering BURNOUT.

The boy wonder was a guest on the Jonathan Ross Show before winning the Belgian Darts Open with a sensational nine-darter.

Just days later he smashed Michael van Gerwen with a record Premier League average this year of 114 before appearing on Comic Relief and Fantasy Football League.

Littler pulled out of the Players Championships in Germany this month prior to his next appearance in the Premier League in Dublin.

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Professional Darts Corporation chief executive Matt Porter has revealed that the 17-year-old’s schedule is being monitored day-by-day.

He told the Love The Darts podcast: “The media demands are high, still getting a lot of requests for high-end content.

"We saw him on The Jonathan Ross Show, he's doing Comic Relief, there are a lot of A-list people that want to speak to Luke which is great for him and great for darts and it's important that is managed properly.

“His manager Martin (Foulds) is excellent, his family are very supportive, we're involved and it's a team effort really just to make sure everything is geared around giving him the optimal opportunity to be the best he can on the oche and just get enough rest and time to himself to be a normal 17-year-old as best he can away from that.

“It's early days, it's hard to think we're only three months into the Luke Littler story but who knows how long it might last?”

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