The World Series of Darts Finals opened on Thursday and Luke Littler does not throw a competitive dart until Friday, but his opener is already being billed as the pick of round one. He faces Danny Noppert, the world number 10, in a best-of-11 tie with one extra stake attached: this is the last televised major on the calendar the 19-year-old has not already won in 2026.

Littler has taken the World Championship, the Masters, the UK Open, the Premier League and the World Matchplay this year, plus a World Cup title alongside Luke Humphries. A win in Amsterdam would make him the first player to sweep all 10 TV majors in a single calendar year.

“Not winning would be the end of trying to get every major,” he told PA. “Yeah, it’d be gutting, but I’ve got all the attributes to go on and win the title again.”

He leads Noppert 6-1 in their head-to-head, and last year’s 11-7 final defeat by Michael van Gerwen remains the standout blot on his year. Noppert has won his first-round match at the AFAS Live in each of the last four years.

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Klinge, the outsider nobody wanted to draw

Gerwyn Price, the two seed, plays Brody Klinge on Friday night. The Australian qualifier stormed to the Australian Darts Masters final in Wollongong in late August, knocking out Ross Smith, Gian van Veen and Jonny Clayton before losing 8-5 to James Wade in a match in which Klinge himself averaged 104.56. Price is favoured on paper. Klinge has already proved he can beat elite scorers over a short format.

Humphries against Wattimena in a scoring shoot-out

Luke Humphries meets Jermaine Wattimena on Thursday in the biggest scoring test of the round. Humphries, a former world champion, is chasing his first World Series Finals title at the fourth attempt, and he leads their head-to-head 9-5. Wattimena has appeared at this event twice and gone out in round one on both.

Doets and Smith split their eight meetings 4-4

Kevin Doets, ranked 28th, plays Ross Smith on Thursday in what may be the round’s closest match on paper: the pair are 4-4 across eight meetings. Smith, ranked 14th, has won two Players Championship titles and two European Tour events this year. Doets picked up his first Players Championship crown earlier in the season.

Van Veen back on Dutch soil against Dobey

Gian van Veen, the five seed, walks out to Dutch support against Chris Dobey on Thursday. Van Veen leads 2-1 between them, but Dobey has reached the quarter-finals in Amsterdam in each of the last two years, while this is only van Veen’s second appearance at the AFAS Live.

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Prize fund raised to £450,000

The 32-player field plays best-of-11 matches in rounds one and two, best of 19 in the quarter-finals, and best of 21 in both the semi-finals and the final. Round one runs across Thursday and Friday, round two on Saturday, and the quarters, semis and final all fall on Sunday. The prize fund has been increased to £450,000, with £100,000 for the winner, and Michael van Gerwen returns as defending champion after last year’s win over Littler.

Play starts at 6pm local time on both round-one nights.

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