Luke Littler ditches darts he won World Championship with - but for very special reason

World champion Luke Littler had a shaky start to his Bahrain Darts Masters title defence, securing a 6-3 victory over Lourence Ilagan, and then revealed he is using a new set of darts.

Despite his recent triumph at Ally Pally, Littler's performance was less than smooth but he managed to avoid an early exit in his first match since downing Michael van Gerwen in the biggest match in darts a fortnight ago.

With a solid 94.36 average and four 180s, he set up a quarter-final clash with Gerwyn Price on Friday night.

Returning to the Bahrain International Circuit, where he made headlines with a nine-darter last year, the 17 year-old has been the centre of attention, even receiving a 24-carat gold phone in honour of his PDC World Championship win.

Littler revealed he was playing with a new set of darts as his winning set from Alexandra Palace is being framed. He had previously suggested he might not practice before Bahrain, and it appeared he might have followed through with that vow.

Littler confessed: "I wouldn’t say there were any nerves, but I was playing with a fresh set of darts because the ones I used at the World Championship are being put away in a frame and I had to break in a new set.

"I played all right in patches, and it would mean the world to me if I could come back here as world champion and defend my title."

"I want to win as much as I can, win more titles than I did last year and break the nine-dart record (he equalled the record of four in a calendar year held by Gerwyn Price and Michael van Gerwen in 2024).

"And I am looking forward not only to being world champion for the whole year but hearing (master of ceremonies) John McDonald introduce me as the newly-crowned champion of the world."

Luke Humphries, meanwhile, proved to be in top form as he defeated Abdulla Saeed 6-0, hitting all six of his double attempts.