Luke Littler‘s bid for glory in the Swiss Darts Trophy ended in the third round on Sunday when he lost 6-3 to world champion Luke Humphries.
After receiving a bye to the second round, Littler kicked off his challenge by beating local player Bruno Stockli 6-3, but a 93.32 average against Humphries was not enough to see him through to the quarter-finals.
Littler’s last visit of the tournament yielded a disappointing score of 50 – as he hit 5, 20 and then 25 to leave a bogey number of 159.
Humphries then tidied up 40 by hitting tops with his second dart to win the latest battle of the Lukes with an average of 95.20.
During PDCTV’s live coverage of the match, a commentator said while watching the 17-year-old throw his final three darts: ‘Luke Littler can’t land a blow. He throws away his last dart in frustration.’
Luke Humphries (left) beat Luke Littler (right) in the Swiss Darts Trophy third round on Sunday
Fans on social media were quick to react to Littler’s defeat. One wrote: ‘Strange last leg there from Littler, he just gave up’.
Another wrote: ‘Littler needs to sort out those petulant visits when trailing. He’s more than capable of reeling off 4 or 5 legs on the spin against the world’s best players, never over until it’s over – unless you do that of course.’
A third viewer added: ‘Littler just threw that one away at 3-3….’
Multiple comments also seemed to suggest that Littler’s poor performance was down to him playing with a new set of darts.
Littler had mentioned his new darts after beating Stockli on Saturday. He said: ‘Everyone knows my new darts only came out a few days ago.
‘I tried them out and at one point I was debating whether to switch and go back to my old ones because of the crowd, they were obviously on his [Stockli’s] side.
‘I just had to find my shots and the 145 [checkout] really done it for me.
‘The darts are all the same, it’s just the gold grooves on the barrel. I think it went well tonight.’
Littler was visibly disappointed as he walked off the stage following his 6-3 defeat on Sunday
As the victorious Humphries waved to the crowd in Basle, Littler, 17, made a swift departure
But one fan tweeted following the match with Humphries on Sunday: ‘The new darts seems to be bad for Littler’.
Another wrote: ‘Bad advertisement for Littler’s new darts’.
Littler will take home £4,000 in prize money following his exit in the third round. The winner of the event will walk away with £30,000, while the runner-up will get £12,000.
