Luke Littler suffered a surprise exit to Andrew Gilding in one of the shocks of the year at the Machineseeker European Championship in Dortmund on Friday.
Littler, 17, was making his European Championship debut, but Gilding dumped out the Premier League champion 6-4 with a 98.92 average, three maximums and 35 per cent checkout success.
Defeat for an out-of-sorts Littler was his third consecutive first-round exit in a ranked TV major.
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Luke Littler won the Premier League in his debut campaign after defeating Luke Humphries 11-7 in the final
Gilding surged into a 3-0 lead, winning the opening leg with a neat 76 checkout before completing a 12-darter and then taking out a quality 79 finish.
Littler got on the board in the fourth leg and after ‘Goldfinger’ missed two darts to extend his lead, the Warrington ace punished his opponent to close the gap with a two-dart combination finish on 72.
‘The Nuke’ looked visibly frustrated after spaying a few loose darts, but he stayed focused to sink double 10 and make it 3-3 in a dramatic encounter.
Suffolk star Gilding edged ahead with a brilliant 11-darter and after missing the bullseye for a 5-3 lead, Littler rescued the leg with a neat 64 checkout on double top.
Gilding moved one away from a massive upset as Littler failed to land double 18 for a big 156 finish.
And the 53-year-old soon completed a remarkable victory by cleaning up 47 to reach the second round where he will play home favourite Ricardo Pietreczko.
As well as the remaining three PDC ProTour events, Littler will return to action at the Grand Slam of Darts live on Sky Sports before he takes part in the Players Championship Finals in Minehead.
He will then look to go one better than he did in January by winning the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace from December 15 until January 3.
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Watch Littler’s nine-darter from all angles as ‘The Nuke’ hit perfection on Premier League Finals night
2024 Machineseeker European Championship
Friday October 25
First Round
Danny Noppert 6-2 Joe Cullen
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Chris Dobey
James Wade 6-3 Rob Cross
Ricardo Pietreczko 6-5 Damon Heta
Jermaine Wattimena 6-0 Peter Wright
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Luke Littler
Luke Humphries 6-2 Nathan Aspinall
Mike De Decker 6-1 Josh Rock
What live darts is next on Sky Sports?
Luke Humphries claimed his maiden Grand Slam of Darts title last year
Live darts returns to Sky Sports with the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton from November 9-17 as Luke Humphries looks to defend his title with Littler and Beau Greaves also in action.
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Humphries nailed this 91 finish to defeat Rob Cross 16-8 and win his first Grand Slam of Darts title
Attention then turns to the turn of the year and the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship, beginning on December 15, as the darts calendar continues to provide excitement throughout the year – and you can enjoy the very best here live on Sky Sports.
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