Luke Littler will look to successfully defend his World Grand Prix title at Leicester's Mattioli Arena, hoping for a more welcoming crowd after being booed and whistled at during the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam. The 19-year-old world No 1 is chasing a historic clean sweep after winning the first six major titles of the season but suffered a crushing 10-4 defeat to Jonny Clayton in the last eight.

Luke Humphries, Gerwyn Price, James Wade and Ross Smith are among those challenging Littler in the unique double-in, double-out format. Stephen Bunting backed Littler, saying he has 'changed' darts since bursting onto the scene, but warned that crowd whistling can be '10 times worse' than abuse and called for punishments to be introduced.

Humphries faces pressure to match last year's final appearance to maintain his world No 2 ranking, while Littler opens against Luke Woodhouse with potential second-round matches against Nathan Aspinall or Kevin Doets. The tournament continues with key matches scheduled throughout the event.