Luke Littler missed out on a unique darting double after losing in the semi-finals of the World Youth Championship.
The two-time world champion, making a surprise appearance at the junior tournament, won seven matches to make the last four but was edged out 6-5 by fellow Englishman Cam Crabtree.
At 19, Littler is still comfortably young enough to play the event, held in the modest surroundings of the Robin Park Leisure Centre, Wigan.
Had he gone on to win it, Littler would have become the first player to hold both the World Championship title and the World Youth crown.
Instead Crabtree, 22, will face German Jan Schmidt in November’s final with the winner taking home a cheque for £15,000 – a fraction of the £1million Littler earned for his Alexandra Palace win in January.
‘The Nuke’ probably entered because he wanted the match practice following a shock first-round exit at the World Grand Prix last week.
Unsurprisingly the top seed, Littler cruised through the round-robin stage with a trio of 5-1 victories against Luuk de Waal, Damien Moore and Matthias Moors, and with averages of 95, 96 and 97.
But Littler, who stunned the sporting world when he reached the Ally Pally final aged 16, almost got a taste of his own medicine in the last 64.
Essex schoolkid Lewis Cook, 16, raced into a 3-0 lead before the multi-major winner squeezed through 6-4.
Normal service was resumed when Littler, who won this event as an amateur in 2023 – a month before his World Championship debut – beat David Fidler 6-1 to reach the last 16.
Another 16-year-old, Thatcham’s Archie Self, led Littler 3-2 but was dispatched 6-4, before Littler beat Harrison Leigh 6-2, only to be edged out by Londoner Crabtree.
The final will be held on Sunday, November 29, in Minehead during the Players Championship Finals, which Littler won last year but has yet to qualify for this time around.
PA
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