LUKE ‘The Nuke’ Littler now knows who he will face first in the Machineseeker European Darts Championship which gets underway in Germany on Thursday.

The field for the £500,000 event was confirmed following the conclusion of the year’s 13th and final European Tour event in Prague yesterday, which saw Luke Humphries end Littler’s hopes in the semi-finals and go on to lift his second Czech Darts Open title.

The top 32 players on the 2024 European Tour Order of Merit will now compete for the coveted European champion title at the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund from Thursday to Sunday.

Warrington 17-year-old superstar Littler - a winner of two titles in his debut year on the European Tour – will take on Andrew Gilding.

Peter Wright will begin his defence of the title against Jermaine Wattimena, while world number one Humphries and Nathan Aspinall will go head-to-head in a heavyweight first-round tie.

Dave Chisnall - also a two-time winner on the European Tour in 2024 - faces world number two and fellow St Helens thrower Michael Smith, with four-time European Champion Michael van Gerwen pitted against German number two Gabriel Clemens.

Top seed Martin Schindler will headline on home soil when he meets Dirk van Duijvenbode.

Sixth seed Josh Rock will play newly crowned World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker, while two-time European Champion Rob Cross opens his challenge against 2018 winner James Wade.

2022 champion Ross Smith will take on Luke Woodhouse for a place in round two, as Ryan Searle goes up against five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld.

Elsewhere, Masters champion Stephen Bunting will play 2015 European Championship runner-up Gary Anderson, who ended his 10-year wait for a European Tour title back in April.

Gerwyn Price and Daryl Gurney will do battle for the right to play Schindler or Van Duijvenbode, as Germany’s Ricardo Pietreczko makes his return to home soil against Australian number one Damon Heta.

Chris Dobey has been handed an opening round tie against a resurgent Jonny Clayton, 2023 semi-finalist Gian van Veen plays Ritchie Edhouse, while Danny Noppert and Joe Cullen also lock horns.

The schedule of play will be confirmed in due course, with the first round taking place across two sessions on Thursday and Friday evenings.

The remaining 16 players will then feature in Saturday’s second round, with the quarter-finals taking place on Sunday afternoon, ahead of the decisive semi-finals and final on Sunday night.

The Machineseeker European Championship will be broadcast live on ITV in the UK, through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding subscribers based in the UK, Germany, Austria & Switzerland).

2024 Machineseeker European Championship fixtures:

Draw Bracket:

(1) Martin Schindler v (32) Dirk van Duijvenbode

(16) Gerwyn Price v (17) Daryl Gurney

(8) Ryan Searle v (25) Raymond van Barneveld

(9) Ross Smith v (24) Luke Woodhouse

(4) Dave Chisnall v (29) Michael Smith

(13) Gian van Veen v (20) Ritchie Edhouse

(5) Michael van Gerwen v (28) Gabriel Clemens

(12) Stephen Bunting v (21) Gary Anderson

(2) Luke Humphries v (31) Nathan Aspinall

(15) Chris Dobey v (18) Jonny Clayton

(7) Rob Cross v (26) James Wade

(10) Peter Wright v (23) Jermaine Wattimena

(3) Luke Littler v (30) Andrew Gilding

(14) Ricardo Pietreczko v (19) Damon Heta

(6) Josh Rock v (27) Mike De Decker

(11) Danny Noppert v (22) Joe Cullen