Luke Littler reveals he had 4 HOURS sleep before first round loss & calls darts schedule ‘gruelling’ amid burnout fears
LUKE LITTLER has revealed he only had four hours sleep before being dumped out of the Baltic Sea Darts Open.
The darts sensation suffered a shock 6-3 to Wessel Nijman in the first round of the tournament on Friday.
That came 24 hours after he was knocked out of Premier League Darts Night 15 by Michael van Gerwen in Leeds.
He then travelled to Kiel Germany, on just four hours sleep where he produced an average of just 83.98 in his defeat to Nijman.
Littler, 17, complained on social media after the tie saying: “Can’t expect to play my best darts on four hours sleep.
“Premier League to Euro Tour is gruelling.”
Littler has managed his schedule carefully in recent weeks and he skipped the Players Championships in Germany in March.
That time off has paid dividends in the long run as Littler won five out of six Premier League nights between March 28 and May 2.
Littler shared his concerns about the packed schedule but is adamant he will make sure he does not suffer burnout.
He said: “It’s very tough. We are coming home after whatever Premier League, waking up at stupid o’clock to go to a Euro Tour. If I win on the Friday and Saturday I can focus then on the Sunday.
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“I didn’t realise how big darts was in multiple countries. I only found that out after the Worlds.
“It’s breathtaking travelling to all these places. I’ve learnt a lot over the first four or five months of the season. I now know what else is coming.
“I’ll just relax myself and then the Euro Tour. But I won’t burn myself out.”