What happened to Wayne Mardle as commentator missing from ...

Darts commentator Wayne Mardle, a favourite among fans for his high-spirited Sky Sports commentary and viral moments such as his "I CAN'T SPAKE" reaction to Michael Smith's nine-darter in the 2023 final, will be noticeably absent from the Luke Littler versus Michael van Gerwen World Championship face-off on Friday night. In December, Mardle was granted compassionate leave following the heart-rending news that his wife, Donna, succumbed to cancer.

Upon revealing this, PDC offered its heartfelt thoughts in their statement: "All our thoughts and condolences are with Wayne Mardle and his family, after the passing of his wife Donna earlier this week."

During the opening night at Ally Pally, broadcast journalist Emma Paton dedicated a touching tribute to her colleague: "If you're a regular viewer of Sky Sports Darts, you will notice that Wayne isn't with us this evening," said Paton. She went on to emphasize Mardle's importance to the team, sating: "Wayne is the heart and soul of everything we do at Sky Sports Darts. But the heart of his world, his wonderful wife Donna, sadly passed away earlier this week after a short illness."

Paton affirmed the team's support, expressing: "We will be remembering Donna throughout the tournament. Wayne you are in our thoughts, you are in our hearts and we love you very much. We will see you soon."

Darts icon Mardle, who reached the semi-finals of the World Championship four times, is set to be in Luke Littler's corner as the young talent prepares for his clash with Van Gerwen on Friday night. Mardle, who witnessed the 17 year old's narrow defeat to world No 1 Luke Humphries last year, has expressed his belief in Littler's significant growth throughout the 2024 season. Speaking to Sky Sports in November, Mardle reflected: "The best thing that happened was that he got an invite into the Premier League and accepted it."

He continued to express his admiration for Littler's performance: "That was the change for me. The way that we saw him acquit himself every single week in the Premier League was mind-blowing, it was mesmerising."

Mardle could barely contain his amazement at Littler's potential and youth: "Sometimes you had to look at him and remember how young he is. The Premier League is a real tough ask. It's so difficult week in, week out. But when you are good enough, none of that matters, and Luke Littler's good enough."

He also compared Littler to some of the legends of the sport: "He's right up there with some of the best that we've ever seen, but he's got to do it again and again and again. He's right up there with [Phil] Taylor, Van Gerwen, 'Barney' (Raymond van Barneveld) and Eric Bristow, for me."

Coming off a decisive 6-1 victory against Stephen Bunting on Thursday, Littler earned his place in a second consecutive Ally Pally final, while Van Gerwen secured his spot by defeating Chris Dobey with an identical scoreline.