Price beats Littler to end 21-match winning streak

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

It is Littler's first defeat since losing in the last 32 of the Players Championship 34 on 30 October.

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

Littler was in eye-catching form on Thursday when he thrashed veteran Paul Lim on his first trip to the oche since retaining his world title earlier this month.

But the 19-year-old Englishman missed darts at key moments in the last eight on Friday, finishing with an average of 94.04 to Price's 97.43 in a 6-2 loss.

Price, 40, broke the world number one for a second time with a bullseye finish to establish a 4-1 advantage.

Wales' Price narrowly missed a third 100-plus checkout to wrap up victory in the eighth leg before hitting double 10 to progress.

Former world champion Luke Humphries also exited the exhibition tournament at the quarter-final stage as he was beaten 6-3 by Nathan Aspinall.

Neither Aspinall nor Price would make the final, though, an all-Dutch affair in which Michael van Gerwen claimed an 8-6 win over Gian van Veen.

Quarter-Finals

Gerwyn Price 6-2 Luke Littler

Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Stephen Bunting

Nathan Aspinall 6-3 Luke Humphries

Gian van Veen 6-1 Danny Noppert

Semi-Finals

Gerwyn Price 2-7 Michael van Gerwen

Nathan Aspinall 4-7 Gian van Veen

Final

Michael van Gerwen 8-6 Gian van Veen