Darts sensation Luke Littler loses to Cork-Polish bus driver Radek ...

Luke Littler's hopes of winning another PDC title are over after he was beaten on the second day of the Players Championship by Cork bus driver Radek Szaganski.

Littler threw a nine-darter and just missed out on another on his PDC ProTour debut at the Players Championship in Wigan on Monday, as he claimed the title and pocketed £15,000 in prize money.

On Tuesday, he returned to the same venue for another crack at picking up a trophy, but lost a final-leg thriller to Szaganski, who prevailed 6-5 to reach the next round.

Szaganski, 44, was born in Poland, but is now living in Ireland and works as a bus driver in Cork.

He competed in the 2024 World Championship, but lost in the second round to Dutch legend Raymond van Barneveld.

Littler shot to fame at the same tournament by progressing all the way to the final aged just 16, before he lost to world No1 Luke Humphries.

He has since won the Bahrain Masters, and made the final of the Dutch Masters and the second night of the Premier League before falling short against Michael van Gerwen on both occasions.

Given his exceptional form, Littler was expected to have too much for Szaganski, especially after seeing off former major winner Danny Noppert 6-4 in his opening match on Tuesday.

But Szaganski kept with him during the early stages, and then broke to move 5-3 ahead.

Littler refused to give in and took the clash to a deciding leg, but Szaganski kept his cool to pick up the victory.

Littler will be back in action on Thursday when the Premier League returns, with this week's event taking place in Glasgow.

The 17-year-old sits third in the table behind Michael Smith and Van Gerwen after two nights of action.