Luke Littler was booed by the crowd in Brighton as he suffered a second successive Premier League quarter-final defeat, losing 6-4 to birthday boy Stephen Bunting. The world champion appeared unsettled by a hostile reception on night ten of the competition.
Littler was jeered as he entered the arena and received ironic cheers following a poor start from which he could not recover. He showed little reaction to the defeat, shaking Bunting's hand and exiting the stage after averaging just 83.94, his lowest in a televised PDC match.
Bunting, who turned 41 on Thursday, could have sealed victory earlier, missing multiple opportunities on Littler's throw and hitting only six of his 21 darts at doubles. The 19-year-old Littler failed to hit a single maximum.
Bunting told Sky Sports: "It was tough... the crowd was giving him some stick. I like Luke, he's a fantastic lad and I don't like to see that. It probably made me more nervous." Littler had attempted to show he was unbothered by touching his ear and shrugging.
Elsewhere, Jonny Clayton came from 5-2 down to beat Michael van Gerwen 6-5 in the final and move top of the table. Earlier, Clayton had defeated Luke Humphries in a last-leg decider, while Josh Rock beat Gerwyn Price 6-3. Van Gerwen had beaten Gian van Veen 6-4 in the semi-finals.
