Luke Littler loses AGAIN: 17-year-old darts sensation crashes out on the European Championship following shock defeat to former butcher

Luke Littler suffered a shock first round defeat to an opponent 36 years his senior and crashed out of the European Championship on Friday. 

The 17-year-old has been knocked out at the opening round in each of his last three major tournaments, with the most recent loss coming at the hands of former butcher Andrew Gilding in Dortmund, Germany. 

The Suffolk-based Gilding, nicknamed Goldfinger, never trailed the teenager sensation on route to a 6-4 win. The 53-year-old had raced to a 3-0 advantage before Littler was able to level things up. 

However, Gilding was able to claim a surprise win after Littler had again tie things up at 4-4. Defeat for Littler follows first round exits of the World Matchplay in Blackpool and the World Grand Prix in Leicester.

‘I didn’t expect this, watching how Luke had played lately.’ Gilding said post-match. ‘I am always short of self-belief. I never expect to win a game.

Luke Littler suffered a shock first-round defeat in the European Championship in Germany

Andrew Gilding claimed his first win over the teenage sensation in a confident display

Little tied things up at 3-3 and 4-4 but Gilding kept his composure to dump the teenager out of the competition

‘Especially against Luke and especially as I had an awful cold as well. I am on the tail end of that. I felt awful coming up to this. I did say beforehand I wanted to cross him off the list. It was the third time I’d played him. So it’s third time lucky.

‘It’s a huge win. The last thing I had expected. Nobody expected this. I was thinking about the flights home on Saturday. The way he had played lately was exceptional. I was resigned to losing. In practice, I was awful until the last hour but it came together.’

Gilding made his television debut way back in 2011 before making his first career PDC final at the second UK Open Qualifier, where he beat the likes of Raymond van Barneveld, James Wade and Phil Taylor. 

The right-hander was made to wait until 2023 to claim his maiden televised title when he survived a match dart to defeat Michael van Gerwen 11-10 and claim the £100,000 prize. 

Gilding has enjoyed some the best form of his career in recent years, with runs into the latter stages of various PDC events, including the World Matchplay and Masters. 

He will play home favourite Ricardo Pietreczko in the next round. 

Ahead of their clash, Peter Wright was dethroned as European champion after he suffered an embarrassing 6-0 defeat by Dutch player Jermaine Wattimena. The Scotsman averaged just 74.81 during the match. 

It was the sixth consecutive year that the reigning champion has been eliminated in the opening round of the competition.