Luke Littler sends message to Wayne Mardle as darts icon returns to TV after wife's death
Luke Littler had a poignant message for Wayne Mardle who made his return to TV following the tragic death of his wife Donna.
Luke Littler told Wayne Mardle his return to darts commentary was a welcome one after taking a hiatus due to the tragic passing of his wife Donna. The 51-year-old returned to punditry duty for Sky Sports for Thursday's commencement of the Premier League season.
Mardle sat out the World Championship due to his wife's passing which occurred prior to the tournament. After over a month away from the screens, the former darts star returned to action as he took to the microphone alongside Rod Studd to commentate on reigning world champion Luke Littler's opening match of the new campaign against Michael van Gerwen.
His presence was greatly felt by not only his colleagues and the fans watching but the players also with the 18-year-old taking to social media after his 6-5 defeat to the Dutchman to pay tribute to Mardle. After the pundit expressed his gratitiude for being able to return to work by writing on X: "I needed that" Littler then paid tribute by telling him: "Great to have you back".
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Despite his lengthy absence, Mardle didn't reference the reason behind his time away from punditry during the thrilling clash. His omission at the time was announced by colleague Emma Paton who said: "If you are a regular viewer of Sky Sports Darts, you will notice that Wayne is not here with us this evening.
"Wayne is the heart and soul of everything we do here at Sky Sports Darts. But the heart of his world, his wonderful wife Donna, sadly passed away earlier this week after a short illness. We will be remembering Donna throughout this tournament. Wayne, you are in our thoughts, you are in our hearts, we love you very much. And we will see you very soon."
He certainly had a lively return to darts as he witnessed a classic win by Van Gerwen despite Littler's averaging a higher score of 113.91. That ranks as the highest ever in Belfast and the second highest average in a defeat in Premier League history, second only to Phil Taylor's whopping 115.80 average in his loss to Raymond van Barneveld in 2015.
Littler's defeat to the 35-year-old came just days after he was scolded by him for arriving 45 minutes late to a photoshoot on Wednesday. The teenager overslept for the pre-event photosession as Van Gerwen warned PDC bosses to "stop treating him like a baby".
"He's not a baby anymore, he's 18-years-old now, the Dutchman said. "It happens. He has to learn. You have to learn the hard way. It's a professional sport so you have to be responsible for your actions. Simple as that. If he turns up late for an interview, I don't mind! But seven other people are waiting for him. That's not very nice, is it?"
