Brendan Dolan exits at quarter-final stage against teenage sensation Luke Littler

Brendan Dolan's world championship tilt came to an end at the quarter-final stage after he was dispatched 5-1 by 16-year old prodigy Luke Littler at Alexandra Palace.

The Fermanagh man had earlier eliminated former champions Gerwyn Price and Gary Anderson en route to his second quarter-final appearance but found the rampant Littler a step too far.

The teenager has taken the World Championship by storm and has now become the youngest semi-finalist ever. It was a new year but the same old brilliance from the precocious Littler, who is on the cusp of producing one of the greatest sporting stories of all time.

It started brightly for Dolan who took the opening two legs but Littler sound settled into his familiar groove, rattling off the next six legs to win the opening two sets, racking up 122 average in the second.

Dolan, whose finishing had been a notable strength in the earlier rounds, was heavily outscored by unseeded Littler and barely got a shot at double.

He surrendered a 2-1 leg lead in the third as Littler went 3-0 ahead before romping to the fourth set.

Facing a whitewash, Dolan rallied well to win the fifth set 3-1, sealing it with a 118 checkout.

However, Littler composed himself and began the sixth set with a 140 checkout on Dolan's throw. There was no looking back from there as he polished off the last two legs to seal a 5-1 win.

LITTLER IS INTO THE LAST FOUR!!