Luke Littler to face darts star who raged 'what's the point' after controversial rule change

Luke Littler will face Ryan Searle inthe first round of the World Matchplay on July 20, a matter of months after 'Heavy Metal' blasted changes to the European Tour. It is another difficult draw for the 18-year-old, who wasknocked out in the first round of the major last year.

Michael van Gerwen overcame 'the Nuke' 10-6 to send the World No. 2 crashing out of the competition in Blackpool. While it is not 'Mighty Mike', Searle is a huge banana skin for the world champion.

The long-haired world No. 19 will also be looking to claim a huge scalp, a matterof months after hitting out at structural changes he felt favoured top players like Littler.

READ MORE: Rory McIlroy handed assurances over wife Erica Stoll and 'give it hell' prediction made

READ MORE: Christian Horner's likeliest next F1 move named and it's not Ferrari for two reasons

In January, the Professional Darts Corporation announced an upheaval of European Tour regulations. These amendments saw the top 16 players on the PDC Order of Merit be granted byes into the second round of the competition.

However, it also meant that players within the top 16 of the Pro Tour Order of Merit, but outside the top 16 of the PDC standings, had to compete in the opening round of the tour events. Searle was left furious by these changes, stating the rule change made the Pro Tour Order of Merit redundant.

He took to X and wrote: "What is the point of the ProTour Order of Merit? The one that shows the true form and consistency of players. Asking for a friend."

At the time, Damon Heta, who was ranked eighth in the PDC rankings, humoured Searle's post with his own reply. The Australian said: "Mate I thought it was a New Year, new you, with no complaining."

Perhaps annoyed his rival and darts colleague did not back his point up with his own post, Searle would go on to reply: "You are already on the face doesn't fit blacklist, so back me up."

At the time, Heta had been excluded from the Premier League Darts list, despite the fact he was ranked higher than the likes of Gerwyn Price and Nathan Aspinall – who both reached the semi-final stages at the O2 Arena – at the time.

After the PDC Winmau World Masters in February, Searle reaffirmed his feelings towards the changes when he said: "Obviously, I'm not happy about that, because I'm not in the top 16 yet. If I beat Johnny (Clayton) tomorrow, I might get in the top 16 so it won't affect me, but that doesn't mean that I still agree with it.

"The top 16 are protected as it is anyway, and that only makes it worse. So yeah, obviously I do a lot of travelling, going to all the Euro Tours, I try and do as many Pro Tours as I can and it just feels like a bit of a kick in the teeth.

"It's just one of those things and I'll deal with it. I try not to moan too much, I've said this year that I'm not going to moan. I'm just going to get my head down, put a lot more effort in than I have in the past and see where that takes me.”

If Searle goes on to beat Littler in round one, it would likely be extra sweet, given his previous grievances. The competition, which will see the winner earn £200,000, begins on Saturday, July 19 and will be opened by world No. 1 and defending champion Luke Humphries taking on Gian van Veen.