Luke Littler may well be the best darts player in the world right now.
The teenage sensation has blown away all of his competition in recent times, winning the Premier League on debut just months after making a World Championship final.
However, even the best players in their world have their off days, and on Tuesday, Littler put in arguably his worst performance since earning a tour card.
Indeed, Littler was on the wrong side of a serious upset on Tuesday in Milton Keynes in the Players Championship.
Luke Littler beaten by Robert Grundy
Littler must’ve been licking his lips on Tuesday when he was drawn against world number 116, Robert Grundy.
Grundy has never won a PDC event, and his highest-ever televised average is just a shade over 87, it’s fair to say he’s not in the same league as Littler.
However, Grundy managed to beat The Nuke 6-5 on Tuesday, with Littler averaging just 79 in the process.
By comparison, Littler averaged over 105 in the Premier League final back in May.
Understandably, darts fans were stunned by Littler’s poor performance here.
Darts fans shocked by Luke Littler’s 79 average
Darts fans across social media were stunned to learn Littler had been beaten while playing so poorly.
One fan commented how this was uncharacteristic of the teenager stating – ‘Littler averaging 79…human after all’.
Meanwhile, other fans joked that Littler is now past his best, despite being just 17 years old.
Another noted just how bad the teenager was in this clash, stating ‘Littler was atrocious in this game.’
One other fan noted just how poor the standard was among both players, claiming this was the worst game he’d ever seen stating ‘Possibly the worst game of darts I’ve ever watched.’
Littler has had a few weeks off after playing at the US Darts Masters, and perhaps he is a bit rusty at this point, but with the World Matchplay just around the corner, the Premier League champion needs to buck up his ideas and improve on this showing.