Luke Littler skips another darts tournament despite winning it last year and taking home £35k jackpot

LUKE LITTLER will not defend his Flanders Darts Trophy title after pulling out of this weekend’s European Tour event in Antwerp.

The world No.1 is coming off a huge victory at the Czech Darts Open, where he defeated Luke Humphries 8-6 in Sunday’s final in Prague.

The 19-year-old has also secured his place at the European Championship in Dortmund, making his decision to withdraw from Antwerp less surprising.

Littler’s absence has opened the door for Belgian star Kim Huybrechts to take his place and compete in front of his home fans.

Huybrechts narrowly missed out on qualification in July but was listed as the third reserve. He has now been promoted into the 48-player field following Littler’s withdrawal.

Littler claimed the Flanders Darts Trophy last year after edging Josh Rock 8-7 in a thrilling final. That victory marked his fourth European Tour title.

With the defending champion missing this time around, a new winner will be crowned at the Expo in Antwerp.

Former world champion Luke Humphries will be one of the leading names in the field, alongside Gian van Veen, Jonny Clayton, James Wade, Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price and Stephen Bunting.

Josh Rock, Danny Noppert, Gary Anderson, Chris Dobey, Wessel Nijman, Nathan Aspinall and Ross Smith are also among the seeded players.

Beau Greaves and Raymond van Barneveld are two of the players who earned their places through the Tour Card Holder Qualifier. Rob Cross, Joe Cullen, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Cameron Menzies will also feature.

There will be even more home interest, with four Belgian players set to come through the Host Nation Qualifier.

The Flanders Darts Trophy is the 13th of 15 European Tour events on this season’s calendar. The Swiss Darts Trophy and Dutch Darts Championship will follow as the final two events.

The tournament gets underway on Friday with the opening round, with afternoon and evening sessions scheduled for 12pm and 6pm UK time.

The second round will be played across both sessions on Saturday, while Sunday will feature the last 16 in the afternoon before the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final take place in the evening.

The first four rounds will be played over the best of 11 legs, with the semi-finals best of 13 and the final best of 15.

Fans can watch the entire tournament live on PDC TV with a subscription.

The winner will also take home a huge £35,000 top prize.