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World champion Luke Littler was knocked out of the Bahrain Masters quarter-finals by Gerwyn Price for the second year in a row.
Littler was in eye-catching form on Thursday when he thrashed veteran Paul Lim on his first trip to the oche since retaining his world title earlier this month.
But the 19-year-old Englishman missed darts at key moments in the last eight on Friday, finishing with an average of 94.04 to Price’s 97.43 in a 6-2 loss.
Price, 40, broke the world number one for a second time with a bullseye finish to establish a 4-1 advantage.
Wales’ Price narrowly missed a third 100-plus checkout to wrap up victory in the eighth leg before hitting double 10 to progress.
Former world champion Luke Humphries also exited the exhibition tournament at the quarter-final stage as he was beaten 6-3 by Nathan Aspinall.
Bahrain Masters – results
Quarter-Finals
Gerwyn Price 6-2 Luke Littler
Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Stephen Bunting
Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Luke Humphries
Gian van Veen 6-1 Danny Noppert
Semi-Finals
Gerwyn Price v Michael van Gerwen
Nathan Aspinall v Gian van Veen
Final
TBC
