Luke Littler blocked from tournament due to golden rule as darts star's match cancelled

Luke Littler has been barred from playing at the Players Championship in Wigan on Wednesday as a result of missing registration. The 18-year-old was scheduled to play at Robin Park Tennis Centre in the ProTour 33 but hit a bump in the road when he got stuck in traffic.

Unfortunately, he missed the strict 11am registration for the event and had to forfeit his place as a result. However, there will be little to no repercussions as a result of the mishap, given he has already qualified for the Players Championship finals, which are set to take place in Minehead in November. Littler achieved qualification for the showdown as a result of winning the last Players event in Wigan earlier this month, securing a £15,000 payday by beating Dennie Olde Kalter 8-2 in the final.

However, that's not to say that Littler may be left slightly red-faced by his gaffe on Wednesday morning. Taking to Instagram to break the news, he wrote: "Back to bed it is, wonder who they are gonna call up," with a laughing emoji. He later uploaded a photo of a meal with the caption: "Chinese it is then."

The 'Nuke', who currently sits second on the PDC Order of Merit, was set to do battle with a number of the world's leading darts stars on Wednesday evening, including World No. 1 Luke Humphries, Nathan Aspinall, Stephen Bunting, Rob Cross and Raymond van Barneveld.

However, because he missed the registration sign-in, he will have to keep close tabs on the action from home. The 19-year-old is one of 12 players who have dropped out for PC33 and Thursday's PC34, with Josh Rock, Gary Anderson, Gian van Veen, Jonny Clayton and James Wade among those not participating.

It comes after Littler was knocked out of the European Championship in the second round last week.

While the World Champion cruised past Van Barneveld in his opener with a 6-1 win, he was ousted from the tournament in the very next round through a 10-7 loss to James Wade. Gian van Veen went on to win the tournament outright to clinch his first-ever PDC Premier event.

The 23-year-old Dutchman breezed past Damon Heta, Ryan Searle, and Ryan Joyce before meeting Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals. While he clinched a close 11-9 win over his fellow countryman, it came at a price.

Van Veen revealed after the match that he had worn down the skin on the thumb of his throwing hand during the clash due to the pressure he put on his darts, showing off the bloody injury. However, it didn't slow him down in the final of the event, where he claimed an 11-10 win over Humphries to reign supreme.

Speaking with ITV Sport after the match, he said: "Crazy. I said it to my girlfriend when I walked on stage, whenever I win my first TV title, I wouldn't cry and here I am crying. I will never forget this moment or even this crowd. It is phenomenal to win my first major in Germany.

"I said to Luke after the game, when he hit the bull to go 10-10, that is why he is world number one. That's how amazing person Luke is. It is definitely a night to never forget."