First darts player to beat Luke Littler in the PDC is now no longer tour card holder amid major lifestyle change

The first player to beat Luke Littler in a senior PDC event is now no longer a tour card holder - two years on from admitting he needed to make a major lifestyle change.

Littler had an incredible run to the 2024 World Darts Championship final, where he lost to Luke Humphries.

One year later, of course, the 18-year-old would go one better, beating Michael van Gerwen 7-3 at Alexandra Palace earlier this month to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy for the first time.

'The Nuke' brought himself to the attention of the world's media during his first Ally Pally appearance, but he had in fact played on the senior PDC tour before - despite not holding a tour card.

Littler qualified for the 2023 UK Open, a unique PDC tournament in that it is open to all competitors, including amateurs.

Although the format has now changed slightly for this year, the 2023 event allowed for 16 additional qualifiers through regional events held at Rileys Sports Bars across the country.

Littler - on his 16th birthday - was one of two qualifiers through his regional event in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, which is around three miles away from Manchester.

He defeated Nick Fullwell 6-0 in round one of the UK Open proper, before a win over Rusty-Jake Rodriguez and a last-leg decider success against Richie Edhouse booked him a place in round four.

His opponent was the upcoming Czech star Adam Gawlas, who had won his PDC tour at Q-School in 2021 and was looking to put down an early marker for the 2023 season.

Littler averaged 100 in the clash, showcasing his huge talents, but ultimately lost 10-8 to Gawlas, who himself averaged 96 in what was a high-quality matchup.

The Czech dartist would enjoy a stunning run to the semi-finals, which included a 10-3 victory over William O'Connor in the last 16 before he then dumped out current world number four Rob Cross via a 10-8 scoreline.

His run to the last four earned him £30,000 in prize money and played a significant role in securing his PDC tour card for an extra year by ranking inside the top 64.

Adam Gawlas reached the semi-final of the 2023 UK Open (Image: Getty)

Months earlier, at the 2023 World Darts Championship, Gawlas admitted that he wanted to make a major lifestyle change ahead of the 2023/24 season getting underway.

After beating Richie Burnett in round one at Ally Pally - and becoming the first Czech player to reach round two - he said: "I'm really happy [to win] but now I can just focus on myself, and maybe focus to lose some weight because I'm too fat. Darts has made me too fat!"

Sadly, despite his UK Open run, the 22-year-old would have little success throughout the rest of 2023, and 2024 continued in a similar vein.

He accumulated only £14,000 in prize money to place him 111th in the Order of Merit for the year, and failure to qualify for the World Darts Championship meant his tour card was rescinded.

Gawlas attempted to win his card back by entering the EU version of Q-School earlier this month, but failed to pick up a single point and will be playing on the Challenge Tour for 2025.

The Challenge Tour rankings are used as a 'top-up list' for the Players Championship floor events, with the top-ranked players chosen to play when PDC tour card holders are unavailable or absent.

After the first weekend of CT events, during which five tournaments were played, Gawlas accumulated 700 points but is positioned in 31st in the Order of Merit.

He will likely to have win a Challenge Tour event during the next set of tournaments to give himself an opportunity at featuring in a Players Championship event again. For a player still dubbed as one of the sport's top prospects, Gawlas will be desperate to get back to the top stage.