Luke Littler’s frustration boiled over as he suffered a fifth consecutive defeat to Gerwyn Price in the Premier League Darts Night 3 quarter-final in Dublin.
The 18-year-old from Warrington was seen throwing his darts case to the floor as he left the stage following the 6-4 loss at the 3Arena.
The teenage sensation, who claimed victory in Glasgow last week, struggled to maintain consistency throughout the match despite showing flashes of brilliance.
It proved to be another disappointing encounter with Price for Littler, who has yet to find a way past the Welsh former world champion in five attempts now.
Luke Littler suffered defeat against Gerwyn Price on the third night of Premier League darts
PA
Before the match, Price dismissed suggestions he had become a bogeyman for the teenage star.
“I wouldn’t say that. Once you get a win over certain players, you can just feel comfortable,” the Welshman said.
Price expressed confidence in his abilities while acknowledging the challenge ahead.
“It doesn’t matter who I play against, I know if I play my A-game I can win, but it is going to be tough today,” he stated.
“Hopefully I’ll play out of skin and he’ll play rubbish. I know it will be tough, it is very rare that he plays badly.”
Littler started brightly, hitting two maximums in the opening leg to hold throw in 12 darts.
However, Price quickly levelled after Littler’s scoring dipped, with the Welshman taking his time to find doubles.
Price then broke throw to lead 2-1 and swiftly extended his advantage to 4-1.
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Gerwyn Price has been in fine form against Luke Littler
PA
The teenager showed signs of recovery with a 109 checkout on double 14 to make it 4-2.
A strong seventh leg saw Littler throw 180 and 140 visits for an 11-dart hold to close to 4-3.
The crucial moment came when Littler narrowly missed a 137 finish on tops-tops, which would have levelled the match.
Despite holding throw to make it 5-4, Littler couldn’t prevent Price from sealing victory in the tenth leg.
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Luke Littler was furious after his defeat to Gerwyn Price
PQA
The Welshman started the decisive leg with six perfect arrows, setting the tone for a clinical finish.
Throughout the contest, Littler’s performance was marked by inconsistency, with an unusual number of treble-less visits hampering his scoring.
Yet the teenage star still managed to produce enough maximums to have troubled any opponent on another day.
The defeat marks another setback for Littler in his growing rivalry with Price, who continues to hold the upper hand in their head-to-head encounters.