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LUKE LITTLER suffered a second successive early exit blow at the Players Championship 14.
The teen sensation crashed out 6-3 to World No92 James Hurrell in the second round in Milton Keynes on Wednesday.
Rex
PAIt came just 24 hours after he was dumped out by World No116 Robert Grundy.
Hurrell, nicknamed ‘Hillbilly’, is a WDF World Cup and WDF Europe Cup medalist.
In January 2022, the 39-year-old from Oxfordshire became the World Darts Federation ranking leader and held this position until November 2022.
Hurrell previously beat Littler in the Isle of Man Classic in March.
Meanwhile, ‘the Nuke’ has had a short break from the sport after winning the Poland Darts Masters in mid-June.
The 17-year-old didn’t play in England’s World Cup triumph at the weekend because his world ranking is below Luke Humphries and Michael Smith.
Littler is currently 25th in the Order of Merit, whereas Luke Humphries and Michael Smith are ranked first and third respectively.
It’s not ideal preparation for Littler as he gets ready to make his World Matchplay debut at the Winter Gardens on July 13.
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On the teen sensation’s return in Milton Keynes earlier this week, he crashed out in the opening round to the 47-year-old labourer, nicknamed Grenade.
Grundy, from Hartlepool, pulled off the deciding leg 6-5 victory over the Premier League champion.
It was a shockingly low performance from Littler as he only registered an average of 79.02.
‘The Nuke’ appeared to be in control at 4-2 up, having lost the opening two legs.
But Grundy stormed back to lead 5-4. Littler levelled it up only for Grundy to win the final leg.
Grundy only picked up his tour card at the PDC’s Qualifying School in January – and only went back to darts after watching it on TV after 15 years away from the sport.
Inside Littler's massive rise
LUKE LITTLER has taken the darts world by storm since exploding onto the scene at the PDC World Championship.
The Nuke reached the final on his Ally Pally debut at just 16 years of age – smashing records along the way.
He has since joined Jude Bellingham on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list.
And the teenage titan even had to snub an invite from the WWE.
The Sun exclusively revealed that Littler is plotting to create a fitness empire.
He is also cashing in away from the Oche thanks to an Instagram side hustle.
And he’s even the face of a brand new cereal.
The wonderkid has now cemented his place among the tungsten elite by winning the Premier League Darts final – and the £275k top prize.
Check out all of our latest Luke Littler stories.
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