Luke Littler has finally arrived local This new year, when he dominated the front and back pages with his surprise world tour Arrows Championship final.
The Warrington prodigy was barely 16 at the time, and appeared unfazed as he trudged towards the countryside. LondonAlexandra Palace.
But instead of leaving Luke Humphries aside for an impressive encounter, The Nuke was disarmed as the world No. 1 cruised to victory.
Littler has a success date of 2024, due to or First League e World Series, but remained in Humphries' shadow, as Cool Hand Luke won six TV ratings titles and also won a World Cup with Michael Smith.
His promotion began when he won his first significant title, the World Grand Prix, 12 months ago, and he returned to Leicester intending to join Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen as the only players to celebrate victory in the championship for consecutive years.
Humphreys, who also won the World Matchplay Championship at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool in July, is a PDC finalist, so it's also a surprise to see Littler considered the 7/2 favorite with Paddy Power, Betfair and Betway among others. Or the cup on Sunday.
Humphreys fears he will be the only one to beat and is 9/2 with StarSports, SpreadEx and Sporting Index to start the regressive contagion of his World Series defense on a triumphant note.
Humphreys can also bet 6/5 with William Hill to win the first quarter of a draw that included Ross Smith, Stephen Ponting, Johnny Clayton and Raymond van Barneveld.
Littler in turn leads 6/4 with Betfred to win the second quarter, while Nathan Aspinall is 8/1 with Betway leading strongly, while Chris Dobbie leads 11/2 with Sky Sports to win the fourth period with Van Gerwen leading the way. .
The start of Q3 should be carried by Gerwen Price at 7/2 with Unibet, BetUK and BetMGM. The Welshman is worth going either way at 14/1 with StarSports and SpreadEx to win the title he won in 2020, given his presence in the opposition's goal with both locks tied.
• Cool Dave Chisnall, Ross Smith, Johnny Clayton, James Wade and Nathan Aspinall on the opening day with World Grand Prix sponsors, BoyleSports.
• Kansas City can extend its perfect 5-0 start to the NFL season when the scrappy New Orleans Saints visit Arrowhead Park for a Monday Night Football battle. The Chiefs are going for an unprecedented three straight World Series wins and look stronger than ever before finishing the fourth period strong to beat the W. The Saints are also struggling to close out games in which Kansas is 11/10 with and most are beaten by over 5.5 points . Saints wide receiver, Chris Olave, is 12/5 with SpreadEx to score a touchdown at any given time and JuJu Smith-Schuster can score six points for the Chiefs at 9/2 with William Hill opening the gap for their key injured player, Rashie Rice.
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