Luke Littler crashes out to bogeyman Michael Smith of Premier League Darts Night 12 in Rotterdam

Luke Littler's has been knocked out of Night 12 of the Premier League Darts after suffering another defeat to bogeyman Michael Smith.

“The Nuke” had gone into the quarter final clash in Rotterdam sitting atop of the league table with five nights remaining, but was beaten 6-3 by fellow Englishman Smith, his fourth straight Premier League loss against the "Bully Boy". The teenage sensation was handed a lifeline late in the game when Smith missed a match dart to take the game, but the 2023 World Championship winner Smith managed to recover, hitting a double six after Littler, 17 had failed to take out 80.

The quality of the game was extremely high. with both players hitting four 180s and averaging scores of over 100. Littler had got off to a lightning fast start, hitting a 180 with his first three darts of the night. However, some ruthless checkout work from Smith, 33 was enough to see him continue his hot streak of form against Littler and book his place in the night's semi-finals.

Smith raced into a a 5-2 lead thanks to an 11-darter, 13-darter and a 14-darter. Littler was able to pull it back to 5-3 before Smith finished the job, securing at least two important points.

SMITH SINKS LITTLER!

Michael Smith records a fourth PL win over Luke Littler to reach the semi-finals!

https://t.co/gbUt9q25Jh #PLDarts pic.twitter.com/svNETnrTkp

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) April 18, 2024

Warrington teenager Littler's rise to elite level darts has been nothing short of a revelation, with the youngster now sitting 26th in the current world rankings. Littler enjoyed a memorable run on his debut in the World Championships back in January, becoming the youngest ever player to appear in the final aged 16 years and 347 days before losing