LUKE LITTLER will not be eligible to represent England at the World Cup of Darts despite his rapid rise to stardom.
The 17-year-old broke onto the scene at the World Championships in December and has since become a household name.
He cemented his name as one of the best in the sport at the moment after winning the Premier League in his debut season, beating Luke Humphries 11-4 in the grand final.
But he won’t be in action at the World Cup of Darts – and that’s because the two highest-ranked English players in the PDC Order of Merit are selected to represent their country.
Littler is currently 25th in the Order of Merit, whereas Luke Humphries and Michael Smith are ranked first and third respectively.
That means Humphries and Smith are set to represent England in Frankfurt.
Seeds 1-4 – Through to Round Two
(1) England – Luke Humphries, Michael Smith
(2) Wales – Gerwyn Price, Jonny Clayton
(3) Netherlands – Michael van Gerwen, Danny Noppert
(4) Scotland – Peter Wright, Gary Anderson
Seeds 5-16 – Seeded for Group Stage
(5) Belgium – Dimitri Van den Bergh, Kim Huybrechts
(6) Northern Ireland – Josh Rock, Brendan Dolan
(7) Germany – Martin Schindler, Gabriel Clemens
(8) Australia – Damon Heta, Simon Whitlock
(9) Republic of Ireland – William O’Connor, Keane Barry
(10) Austria – Rowby-John Rodriguez, Mensur Suljovic
(11) Poland – Krzysztof Ratajski, Radek Szaganski
(12) Czechia – Adam Gawlas, Karel Sedlacek
(13) Croatia – Boris Krcmar, Romeo Grvabac
(14) France – Jacques Labre, Thibault Tricole
(15) Sweden – Jeffrey de Graaf, Oskar Lukasiak
(16) USA – Danny Lauby, Jules van Dongen
Non-Seeded Nations
Bahrain – Basem Mahmood, Duda Durra
Canada – Matt Campbell, David Cameron
China – Xiaochen Zong, Chengan Liu
Chinese Taipei – Teng-Lieh Pupo, An-Sheng Lu
Denmark – Benjamin Reus, Claus Bendix Nielsen
Finland – Marko Kantele, Teemu Harju
Gibraltar – Justin Hewitt, Craig Galliano
Guyana – Norman Madhoo, Sudesh Fitzgerald
Hong Kong – Lok Yin Lee, Man Lok Leung
Hungary – Gabor Jagica, Nandor Major
Iceland – Arngrimur Olafsson, Petur Gudmundsson
Italy – Michele Turetta, Massimo Dalla Rosa
Japan – Tomoya Goto, Ryusei Azemoto
Latvia – Madars Razma, Valters Melderis
Lithuania – Darius Labanauskas, Mindaugas Barauskas
Malaysia – Siik Hwang Wong, Mohamad Nasir
New Zealand – Haupai Puha, Ben Robb
Norway – Cor Dekker, Hakon Bjorge Helling
Philippines – Christian Perez, Alexis Toylo
Portugal – Jose de Sousa, David Gomes
Singapore – Paul Lim, Harith Lim
South Africa – Johan Geldenhuys, Cameron Carolissen
Spain – Jose Justicia, Jesus Noguera
Switzerland – Stefan Bellmont, Bruno Stockli
