Teenage darts sensation Luke Littler faced surprising defeats at the Players Championship 13 and 14, losing to world No. 116 Robert Grundy and world No. 92 James Hurrell, respectively. Littler, who had just returned from a break after his Polish Masters victory, struggled with form, averaging only 79.02 in his first-round exit against Grundy. Despite a brief return to winning ways against Ricky Evans in Players Championship 14, Littler was quickly ousted by Hurrell in the second round. These setbacks come on the heels of Littler missing out on the England team for the World Cup of Darts due to his lower ranking on the PDC Order of Merit. The 17-year-old now faces intense competition at the upcoming World Matchplay, where he will compete against top players like Luke Humphries and Michael Smith.