Luke Littler dumped out of Bahrain Masters after record-breaking display from Gerwyn Price
Luke Littler has been sent packing from the 2025 Bahrain Masters thanks to a record-breaking performance from Gerwyn Price in the quarter finals.
The Welshman recorded a 6-2 win over Littler, who was the defending champion in Bahrain.
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The Ice Man was dominant throughout and thoroughly deserved his place in the final four.
Price recorded a staggering three-dart average of 115.31, the highest in Bahrain Darts Masters history, to dump out the teen sensation.
Seven maximums to Littler's five played a pivotal role in ballooning Price's historic average.
However, the difference proved to be in the checkout department as Price nailed six of his ten finishes.
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Littler could only pin two finishes out of nine for a meagre 22.22 per cent checkout rate.
The teen also failed to muster a checkout higher than 100.
Littler's exit comes barely two weeks after he was crowned the new World Darts Champion with a 7-3 win over Michael van Gerwen in the final.
Not only that, but Littler took home a cool £500,000 to take his overall winnings past the million-pound mark.
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The 17-year-old, who turns 18 next week, is hoping for a big 2025 as he looks to leapfrog Luke Humphries to become world number one.
However a last-eight exit to Price in a tournament that he'll have been hoping to win will not have been on his bingo card for the year.
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Littler's exit comes a day after he picked up his first win following his triumph at the Alexandra Palace.
The teen was too good for Lourence Ilagan and produced a 6-3 win, but it was the post-match scenes inside the Bahrain International Circuit that grabbed headlines.
The venue was rammed with darts fans watching Littler beat Ilagan but once the match had wrapped up, television cameras showed a large number of empty seats for the match that followed between Peter Wright and Alexis Toylo.
Despite his booming popularity, Littler was also not safe from sections of the crowd who decided to whistle him during the game against Ilagan as referee Russ Bray was forced to step in on several occasions.
As for Price, the win continues his impressive return to form following a run to the last eight of the World Championships.
Price had been open about his struggles on the oche throughout 2024 having taken a break from darts after he fell out of love with the sport as well as dealing with injuries.
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The Welshman even had an injury during the World Championships, revealing he had been taking antibiotics for an issue with his ears.
"It’s a nightmare, it's doing my head in," Price said following his quarter-final loss to Chris Dobey.
"I’ve been taking antibiotics for a week and they are not working.
"It feels like I have been in a swimming pool of water. It’s frustrating. I pop my ears and it feels fine.
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"Two minutes later, I have to do it again. It’s hard work. I have had this problem for the last six, seven, eight years, I am used to it now."
Price went on to face Peter Wright in the semi-finals and came out victorious, but fell short in the final where he lost 8-4 to Stephen Bunting.
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