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

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

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.

Price will play Michael van Gerwen in the semi-finals while Aspinall faces World Championship runner-up Gian van Veen.