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.

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 out 7-4 to Luke Humphries.

Those displays were enough to earn him a wildcard slot in the Premier League of Darts, and the 17-year-old marked his debut by avenging his defeat to Humphries with a 6-3 victory. The Manchester United fan has already picked up major honours and is the current PDC World Youth Champion, the current Bahrain Masters Champion, and the current Belgian Darts Open champion

Littler will next be in action when he faces German opponent Arno Merk in the last 32 of the PDC European Tour on Friday night. His next Premier League fixture coming against world number five Gerwyn Price when the tournament moves to Liverpool on Night 13 on Thursday, April 25.