Luke Littler's hopes of winning back-to-back Players Championship titles in consecutive days are over as he lost to Radek Szaganski.
The 17-year-old made a sensational PDC ProTour debut on Monday as he clinched the title at the first Players Championship event of the year.
He landed a nine-darter and ended up taking home £15,000 in prize money.
Littler was back in action on Tuesday for the second Players Championship event and recorded an impressive win over world No 7 Danny Noppert.
Luke Littler was knocked out of Players Championship 2
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An easier test on paper was up next against Polish-born darts star Szaganski, who is ranked 68th in the Order of Merit.
The 44-year-old, who works as a bus driver in Ireland outside of his darts career, made his PDC World Championship debut this same winter as Littler and was knocked out in the second round.
But he's picked up arguably the biggest victory of his career by defeating teen sensation Littler in a final-leg thriller.
The two couldn't be separated after 10 legs and Littler had the advantage with the throw in the final decider.
However, Szaganski broke his opponent's throw to win 6-5 and end Littler's Players Championship run.
Littler isn't the only big name to have fallen in the early rounds with Luke Humphries, Michael Smith, Rob Cross and Dave Chisnall also being knocked out.
The likes of Raymond van Barneveld, Peter Wright and Gary Anderson are still in the competition.
Incredibly, it's only the fourth match Littler has lost since his run to the final of the World Championship.
𝗦𝗭𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗞𝗜 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗣𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗨𝗞𝗘 🇵🇱
— Live Darts (@livedarts) February 13, 2024
Radek Szaganski pulls off a 6-5 victory over Monday's champion Luke Littler in the Second Round!#PC2 pic.twitter.com/aLJQqXQezU
The darts teen sensation has shaken up the world of darts since bursting onto the scene and has faced a hectic schedule in his first year as a professional.
He's played a total of 22 matches already and his win on Monday night in the opening Players Championship event of the season was his second title of the year having clinched the Bahrain Masters last month.
Littler is back in action on Thursday for the third Premier League night of the season and he will face Gerwyn Price in the opening round.
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Luke Littler is back in action in the Premier League on Thursday
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Price is yet to beat Littler in their two previous meetings and he's already warned the teenager that revenge is on his mind.
He said recently: "Listen, I think he is brilliant, you can see with the other players that they don't like him about!
"But I love him, I think he's great for darts. I mean how many people are watching now, so many are now interested in the sport and fair play to him.
"But yeah, I will beat him soon!"
