Bahrain Masters: Luke Littler knocked out by Gerwyn Price & Luke Humphries beaten by Nathan Aspinall

World champion Luke Littler was knocked out by Gerwyn Price in the Bahrain Masters quarter-finals for the second time in a row.

Littler was in scintillating form on Thursday when he beat veteran Paul Lim in his first trip to the Oche since defending his world title earlier this month.

But the 19-year-old Englishman missed darts at crucial moments in the last eight games on Friday and finished the match in a 6-2 defeat with an average of 94.04 to Price’s 97.43.

Price, 40, rose to world number one for the second time by putting himself on target to take a 4-1 lead.

Wales’ Price narrowly missed out on a third 100-over mark to complete the win in the eighth leg before reaching double 10 to progress.

Former world champion Luke Humphries also exited the exhibition tournament, losing 6-3 to Nathan Aspinall at the quarter-final stage.