Luke Littler aims to claim world number one spot at European Championship

Littler closed the gap on Humphries by winning the World Grand Prix earlier this month and said afterwards: “Obviously, I’ll never call myself the best in the world until I’m number one in the world.

“I don’t want to think too much about it, but I could be world number one before the World Championships.

“I have to continue to stand aside and put as much pressure on Luke as I can.”

Littler will begin his European Championship campaign on Friday against five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld, 58.

Humphries, 30, will face Pole Krzysztof Ratajski in the first round and could potentially face Littler in the quarter-finals.

A day after his Grand Prix victory, Littler lost to Beau Greaves in the World Junior Championship semi-final and then won the Players Championship 32 event.

He also announced a new management deal with Target Darts after leaving ZXF Sports Management’s Martin Foulds, who managed him for five years.

Littler hopes to improve on his recent record in Germany, where he missed some tournaments after receiving negative reactions from spectators. He was booed along with Humphries when the pair lost to Germany at the Darts World Cup in Frankfurt in June.

Following the European Championship, there are two major tournaments before the World Championship starts on 11 December: the Grand Slam of Darts (8-16 November) and the Players Championship Finals (21-23 November).