Littler suffers first-round exit as Menzies triumphs
Teenager Luke Littler won the World Championship earlier this year
- Published
Luke Littler suffered a surprise early exit in the 11th Players Championship of the year, which was won by Cameron Menzies.
Littler was on the end of a 6-3 defeat to Ireland's Dylan Slevin, who is currently ranked 61st in the PDC order of merit.
World champion Littler averaged 90.11 compared to his opponent's 92.74 as he fell in the first round of the tournament in Leicester.
Slevin had raced into a 4-1 lead against the Warrington teenager at the Mattioli Arena.
Littler rallied to win the next two legs to reduce the deficit, but 22-year-old Irishman Slevin twice nailed double top on pressure throws to seal victory.
Menzies beat fellow Scot Peter Wright 8-3 in the final with a confident display as he averaged an impressive 107.
The 35-year-old combines his darts career with a job in plumbing, but is now ready to hang up his tools to spend more time on the oche.
"I'm quitting my job soon and I'm going to take darts full-time because I'm in a situation which is a good situation," Menzies told the PDC.
"To win my second [Players Championship] title shows it's not luck. I feel I'm going in the right direction."
Earlier, former world champions Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price were also knocked out in the first round.
Van Gerwen lost a thriller 6-5 to fellow Dutchman Maik Kuivenhoven while Welshman Price was beaten 6-4 by compatriot Rob Owen.
World number one Luke Humphries exited the tournament in the second round after a 6-5 defeat by fellow Englishman Brett Claydon.
There are 34 Players Championship events across the year, with the competition's finals held in Minehead in November.
The second of the Leicester double header will take place on Wednesday, 9 April.