Luke Littler will not defend title at PDC World Youth Championship

Luke Littler has decided not to compete in this year's PDC World Youth Championship. The PDC reports that in addition to Littler, Josh Rock, Pascal Rupprecht and Leighton Bennett will not compete in the event.

The PDC World Youth Championship is open to the best darters in the under-23 category. Players who turn 24 during the season are allowed to finish the year. When a player enters the top-32 of the PDC Order of Merit, they may no longer compete on the Development Tour, but will still receive an invitation to the PDC World Youth Championship.

Littler won the World Youth last year at the age of 16 by defeating Gian van Veen 6-4 in the final. Because of his young age, Littler is theoretically allowed to compete in the PDC World Youth Championship until 2031, but because of his busy schedule, "The Nuke" has decided to skip at least this year.

Due to the withdrawals of Littler and Rock, Van Veen will lead the field of competitors at the youth event. The Dutchman will face competition from Wessel Nijman, Niko Springer, Keane Barry, Nathan Rafferty, Sebastian Bialecki, Danny Jansen, Jurjen van der Velde, Thomas Banks and Dylan Slevin, among others.

In addition to the 10 Tour Card holders who are guaranteed to participate, there are also 21 international qualifiers. Rounding out the 128-player field are 107 players who qualified through the PDC Development Tour Order of Merit. The final four Development Tour tournaments of the season will be played on Saturday, Oct. 12 and Sunday, Oct. 13.

The 2024 PDC World Youth Championship will then take place on Monday, Oct. 14. Games will be played until the two finalists are known. The final will traditionally be played on the final night of the Players Championship Finals (Nov. 24).

Keane Barry, Owen Bates, Adam Gawlas, Paul Krohne, Wessel Nijman, Nathan Rafferty, Owen Roelofs, Dylan Slevin, Jurjen van der Velde, Gian van Veen

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