Wayne Mardle backs Luke Littler Premier League inclusion: "He'll take to it like a duck to water"

Like many, Wayne Mardle thoroughly enjoyed last Wednesday night's World Darts Championship final. Luke Humphries won the world title by defeating 16-year-old Luke Littler 7-4.

"We're seeing the absolute start and very beginning of the journey for Luke Littler here. It's great for us to see the pair of them on top of the world," Mardle said in his comments on the Sky Sports website. "It was the youngest final in the world and the speed of play and the way the game is played has changed. The level the two of them were playing was at minute margins, that's how good the level of the game was."

Littler will have many more chances to compete with the absolute world's best in the coming months. 'The Nuke' received an invitation from the PDC to join the Premier League Darts. Mardle supports this decision.

"We knew the story of Luke Littler from 12-13-year-old and know they played each other in 2019, so we knew what this kid was all about even if getting through to the final was a push. The world of darts has known about Luke Littler for a very long time and now the world knows about him. The secret is out!" Mardle says "I've been in the Premier League a couple of times and you get a gauge and a guide of who should be in and who shouldn't. First off, are you good enough? The answer with Luke Littler is yes."

"What does he bring to the table? Does he bring viewers? Does he put bums on seats? Will there be any kind of media around him that can grow the game? Yeah, it's an absolute no-brainer. For me? Yeah, he'll take to it like a duck to water," he explains. "The standard of play throughout this World Championship has been immense. I've never seen the like and I believe the 4.8m are watching to also see something they can't do. We were forgetting to commentate because we were so mesmerised by what was happening."

According to Mardle, along with Humphries, Littler is the favourite for the final victory in Premier League Darts. ''There's a few in there that need to produce like Peter Wright. There's a few in there that will want to prove a point like Michael Smith and Gerwyn Price," he analyses. "Michael van Gerwen loves this format. He has won it plenty of times and will be tough to beat but Luke Humphries and Luke Littler are the favourites."