Luke Littler missed the registration deadline for Players Championship 33 in Wigan this afternoon – and the 18-year-old has since revealed the reason why this was the case
Luke Littler has issued an update after he missed the penultimate Players Championship event of 2025 this afternoon.
Littler, 18, was scheduled to participate in PC33 at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan on Wednesday. However, the reigning world champion revealed at 11:06am on Instagram that he was no longer going to compete after getting stuck in traffic. He said: “Back to bed it is, wonder who they are gonna call up,” alongside a laughing face emoji.
It meant that Littler missed the strict 11am deadline for signing-on registration for the event and therefore had to forfeit his place in the line-up ahead of both PC33 and PC34 on Thursday.
At 1:45pm, ‘The Nuke’ disclosed that he had instead gone to eat some Chinese food at a restaurant while some of his darting rivals, including Luke Humphries, took to the stage.
Three hours later, Littler then released another update and revealed that the reason why he was late to the Players Championship event, which was due to start at 1pm.
Alongside a link to a report from road traffic incident where a man died on the M6 in Wigan, he wrote: “Missed registration today for the pro tour, but someone sadly lost their life thinking of everyone [folded hands emoji].”
Wigan Today report that emergency services including an air ambulance were called to a concern for welfare between junction for the Bryn Interchange and junction 26 for Orrell/M58 at around 10.15am.
A statement from Greater Manchester Police said: “Around 10.15am this morning, we were called to a concern for welfare report on the M6 between junctions 25 and 26. Sadly, a man was pronounced dead at the scene. A scene will remain in place while inquiries are ongoing.”
While not featuring in either PC33 or PC34 is going to be a frustration to Littler – especially as he appeared to be close or even at the venue – he will still be at the £600,000 Players Championship finals in Minehead next month.
There was a concern that Littler might not even qualify for finals weekend after dropping outside the top 64 going into the most recent set of Players Championship events.
But Littler produced a mesmerising day of darts in PC32 to bank the £15,000 prize and book his place in the coveted finals, as he beat Dylan Slevin, Jeffrey de Graaf, Adam Lipscombe, Adam Hunt, Rhys Griffin, Stephen Bunting and then Dennie Olde Kalter to claim a much-needed win.
