Bahrain Masters: Luke Littler knocked out by Gerwyn Price and Luke Humphreys beaten by Nathan Aspinall

World champion Luke Littler was knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Bahrain Masters by Gerwyn Price for the second year in a row, ending his 21-match winning streak.

This is Littler’s first defeat since his loss in the round of 32 of the 34th Players Championship on October 30.

His subsequent unbeaten run led to him becoming world number one and capturing the Grand Slam of Darts championship, his first Players Championship title and his second PDC World Championship.

Littler was in eye-popping form on Thursday when he crushed veteran Paul Lim in his first trip to Auchi since retaining his world title earlier this month.

But the 19-year-old Englishman missed darts in the key moments of Friday’s quarter-final, finishing with an average of 94.04 to Price’s 97.43 in the 6-2 loss.

Price (40 years old) defeated the world number one for the second time with a fine finish to take a 4-1 lead.

Wales Price narrowly missed out on a third 100-plus point exit to wrap up a win in the second leg before scoring 10 points to take the lead.

Former world champion Luke Humphries also exited the exhibition tournament in the quarter-finals after being defeated 6-3 by Nathan Aspinall.

However, neither Aspinall nor Price were able to reach the final, an all-Dutch match in which Michael van Gerwen won 8-6 over Gian van Veen.