Luke Littler says he won't throw World Darts Championship winning arrows ever again: "They are going to be in a frame"

The 2025 Bahrain Darts Masters gets underway tonight in Sakhir. This is the first tournament of the 2025 World Series of Darts and for newly crowned world champion Luke Littler, it's also the first time he has to defend a PDC title.

Littler, who became world champion for the first time in his career on the 3rd of January by defeating Michael van Gerwen 7-3 in the PDC World Darts Championship final at the Alexandra Palace, has just finished a short vacation in Benidorm and will enter Bahrain with new equipment.

"I feel fine. Got a brand new set of darts," Littler explains in quotes to the PDC. "Not going to throw with the ones that I won the World Championship with. They are going to be in a frame. It’s all about breaking in a new set."

The 17-year-old Englishman (he turns 18 next week) is eagerly looking forward to being announced as reigning world champion by master of ceremonies John McDonald. "It’s going to be good," he previews. "It’s going to be heard all year round. I can wait for John to say it for the first time in front of a sold-out arena in Bahrain."

"It’s sold-out for both nights, Thursday and Friday. Hopefully us Premier League players can get through that first game," Littler adds. "We all want to kick-off this year by winning Bahrain. I know everyone is going to be up for it."

Due to his recent equipment change, Littler starts the Behrain Darts Masters with modest expectations. In his first match, he will take on the experienced Lourence Ilagan. "As long as I can get past that first game, I’d be happy," he concludes. "I faced Lourence in the Grand Slam and it was tough. But I was just that notch better than him. It’s the first proper game back this year. I cannot wait to play now. It was a present last year going into my 17th birthday. So hopefully it can be another present for my 18th."