Newly crowned world champion Luke Littler starts his Bahrain Masters title defence with a 6-3 victory against Lourence Ilagan in Sakhir.

The crowd on the opening night of the Bahrain Darts Masters was branded 'embarrassing' after hordes of fans left the arena following Luke Littler's victory over Lourence Ilagan. The newly-crowned world champion was made to work hard but eventually secured a 6-3 victory over his Filipino opponent to book his place in the next round.

Luke Littler claimed victory in his first match since winning the PDC World Darts Championship on Thursday, beating Lourence Ilagan in the opening round of the Bahrain Masters.

Luke Littler, who became the World Darts Champion earlier this month - began his defence of the Bahrain Darts Masters on Thursday night as he took Lourence Ilagan

Luke Littler got his Bahrain Darts Masters defence off to a winning start against Lourence Ilagan to make it into the quarter-finals; Rob Cross suffered a shock defeat to Paolo Nebrida; watch Premier

Luke Littler Returns For First Time After World Championship Victory 👑 | Bahrain Darts Masters Like, follow and subscribe to ITV Sport: YouTube: Twitter: Instagram: TikTok: ------------------------------------------------------ LiveTube | Latest Breaking News and Live

Luke Littler marked his first appearance since becoming world champion with a 6-3 victory over Lourence Ilagan at the Bahrain Masters on Thursday night. The 17-year-old sensation, who claimed the World Championship title earlier this month,