Luke Littler whitewashes Rob Cross with ridiculous average in Players Championship Finals days after topping £1million

LUKE LITTLER turned connected the benignant connected a shocking nighttime erstwhile respective satellite darts champions bombed retired of Butlin’s.

Michael van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price, Peter Wright and Stephen Bunting each crashed retired of the archetypal circular of the Players Championship Finals connected time one.

He passed £1m successful prize money aft beating Martin Lukeman 16-3 successful the Grand Slam of Darts connected Sunday.

But The Nuke – the overwhelming favourite for next month’s World Championship – showed his people with a 6-0 obliteration of Rob Cross successful Minehead.

Littler, 17, sensationally averaged 112.73 – the second-highest mean successful the tournament’s history – and nailed six of his 10 checkouts, 5 days aft his Grand Slam of Darts success.

The Warrington teen said: “It’s ever bully to commencement immoderate large oregon contention well.

“In my archetypal crippled of the Grand Slam, I sent retired a existent statement, that I americium present to win. I’m precise blessed to get disconnected the people again here.

“My show is bully and my assurance is high. My hopes are precise precocious for the Worlds. But I person to absorption connected Minehead first.

“Recent performances person shown wherefore I should beryllium favourite. On caller form, radical mightiness accidental that I’m the champion successful the world.”

What Littler is doing this play is making galore longstanding players look aged and staid – and his consistency is frightening.

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Where everything helium touches finds the close bed, successful examination Wright’s woeful signifier connected TV continues – arsenic helium was smashed 6-1 by Daryl Gurney successful circular one.

The Scotsman, 54, mightiness beryllium a two-time satellite champion but helium heads to Ally Pally with small assurance that helium tin person a agelong tally successful that competition.

Former champion of the satellite Price was shocked 6-4 by French ace Thibault Tricole.

It is different setback for The Iceman, 39, who failed to suffice for the Grand Slam of Darts and finished seventh successful the Premier League.

Van Gerwen, 35, was highly mediocre arsenic helium was humbled 6-1 by Ian White successful his archetypal match.

Bunting’s presumption arsenic the No.2 effect mattered small arsenic helium mislaid 6-2 to Belgian outsider Mario Vandenbogaerde.

At slightest Luke Humphries, the defending champion, did not articulation the casualty database arsenic helium knocked retired Giant German Gabriel Clemens 6-2.

Meanwhile, darts rookie Dom Taylor was booted retired of the tourney aft he failed a drugs test.

The 26-year-old satellite No. 80 was acceptable to marque his debut quality with a glamour first-round necktie against erstwhile satellite champion Michael Smith, 34, past night.

But hours earlier his contest, the Darts Regulation Authority announced it had suspended Taylor for a suspected doping offence.

Known arsenic The Tower, helium was tested astatine a caller PDC Pro Tour lawsuit and returned a affirmative illustration for a banned substance.

The DRA person refused to accidental if the Bristol thrower had taken a performance-enhancing cause oregon if it was a effect of recreational use.