Luke Littler suffers another early exit as Premier League struggles continue

World champion Luke Littler’s Premier League struggles continued as he was beaten 6-3 by Jonny Clayton in the opening quarter-final of night four in Belfast.

Littler had won just one match in the first three weeks of the showpiece tournament and was hammered 6-1 by Clayton in the semi-finals last week in Glasgow, where he was handed a bye.

Clayton went on to clinch the nightly title, cementing his place at the top of the early Premier League table, and continued his fine form on Thursday with a composed display to see off Littler again at the SSE Arena.

Welshman Clayton, who won the 2021 Premier League campaign, landed a monster 156 checkout as he soon opened up a 3-0 lead against the world champion and then kept his composure to move 4-2 ahead with another break when Littler missed three darts at his favoured double 10.

Littler, who won the season’s first European Tour silverware in Krakow on Sunday, turned to gesture to the Belfast crowd to calm down as he took the eighth leg with a 112 finish.

Clayton, though, went on to close out another impressive victory when he landed a 168 checkout and then pinned double four after Littler could not clear up from 124.

It was also a disappointing night for defending Premier League champion Luke Humphries as he slipped to a 6-4 defeat in his quarter-final against Stephen Bunting, who kick-started his campaign with a first match win.