DOUBLE trouble hit Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler on Premier League Darts Night 6 in Brighton.

The Warrington 17-year-old bowed out in the semi-finals to St Helens thrower Michael Smith 6-3 and never really gave himself a chance with his finishing being below par by his usual high standards.

‘The Nuke’ missed nine shots at double as he fell 3-0 and 4-2 behind, leaving himself with too much to do.

It was almost as if neither of them wanted to win the third leg, Smith missing seven doubles and Littler five before the Bully Boy got over the line with double one.

In the seventh leg Littler was on a 170 finish but was wayward on the bull and Smith managed to hold his throw by checking out on 61 for 5-2.

Littler made the most of having the arrows to pull a leg back but Smith was in charge of the final leg to nail a showdown with world number one Luke Humphries, who proved too strong in the night’s decider to achieve his first Premier League nightly victory 6-3.

Earlier in the evening, Littler looked comfortable in ousting his stablemate Nathan Aspinall 6-3 even though his evening’s double trouble became evident with 12 misses, along with two shots at bull finishes going awry.

But Aspinall was not playing well enough himself to cash in.

Former Padgate Academy student Littler led 3-0 and 5-1 and shook off an attempted comeback by The Asp to march on in nine legs.

Littler’s best checkout of the event was 72, coming in the very first leg on stage at The Brighton Centre.

Nevertheless, Littler remains third in the 2024 Premier League Order of Merit, behind Michael van Gerwen and Humphries.

So the Warrington superstar will head to the airport for an early morning flight to compete in the first round of the Belgian Darts Open on Friday night and will hope to do better in next week’s Premier League Darts Night 7 in Nottingham when he faces Van Gerwen in his opening game.

Results of 2024 BetMGM Premier League Night 6, The Brighton Centre, Thursday March 7:

Quarter-finals:

Luke Humphries 6-2 Gerwyn Price

Rob Cross 6-2 Michael van Gerwen

Luke Littler 6-3 Nathan Aspinall

Michael Smith 6-5 Peter Wright

Semi-finals:

Luke Humphries 6-3 Rob Cross

Michael Smith 6-3 Luke Littler

Final:

Luke Humphries 6-3 Michael Smith