- Luke Littler hit a nine-darter on his PDC ProTour debut on Monday
- He could not repeat his heroics when he lost to a Cork bus driver on Tuesday
- Littler is back in action on Thursday for the third night of the Premier League
Luke Littler’s hopes of winning another PDC title are over after he was defeated by Cork bus driver Radek Szaganski on the second day of the Players Championship.
Littler hit a nine-darter and narrowly missed another on his PDC ProTour debut at the Players Championship in Wigan on Monday, as he claimed the title and picked up £15,000 in prize money.
He returned to the same venue on Tuesday to lift another trophy, but lost a thriller in the final leg to Szaganski, who triumphed 6–5 to reach the next round.
Szaganski, 44, was born in Poland but now lives in Ireland and works as a bus driver in Cork.
He competed in the 2024 World Championship but lost to Dutch legend Raymond van Barneveld in the second round.
Luke Littler was eliminated in the second round of the Players Championship on Tuesday
He was punched by Polish-Irish bus driver Radek Szaganski during the event in Wigan (pictured)
Littler rose to fame at the same tournament by reaching the final at the age of 16, before losing to world champion Luke Humphries.
Since then he has won the Bahrain Masters and reached the final of the Dutch Masters and the second night of the Premier League, before falling short against Michael van Gerwen on both occasions.
Given his exceptional form, Littler was expected to be too much for Szaganski, especially after beating former major winner Danny Noppert 6-4 in his opening match on Tuesday.
But Szaganski stayed with him through the early stages but then broke to take the lead 5-3.
Littler refused to give in and took the clash to a deciding leg, but Szaganski kept his cool and took the win.
Littler are back in action on Thursday when the Premier League returns, with the event taking place in Glasgow this week.
After two nights of action, the 17-year-old is third in the rankings behind Michael Smith and Van Gerwen.