Luke Littler was booed in Brighton as he surrendered top spot in the Premier League following a shock 6-4 quarter-final defeat to birthday boy Stephen Bunting.
A week on from his much-publicised spat with Gian van Veen in Manchester, the world champion suffered another last-eight loss after appearing rattled by a hostile crowd on night 10 of the competition.
Jonny Clayton ultimately moved three points ahead of Littler in the table by producing a stunning comeback from 5-2 down to beat seven-time champion Michael Van Gerwen 6-5 in a gripping final.
Littler was subjected to jeers as he entered the Brighton Centre for the third match of the evening and then endured ironic cheers during a poor start from which he could not recover.
Bunting, who turned 41 on Thursday, could easily have enjoyed a far more comfortable success as he was gifted multiple opportunities on his opponent’s throw and hit just six of his 21 darts at a double.
Littler showed little reaction to the loss, shaking Bunting’s hand and exiting the stage meekly after averaging only 83.94 and failing to hit a single maximum.
It was the 19-year-old’s lowest average in a televised PDC match.
Asked how it felt on stage, Bunting told Sky Sports: “It was tough, to be honest, because obviously the crowd was giving him some stick.
“I like Luke, he’s a fantastic lad and I don’t like to see that.
“It probably made me more nervous, to be honest. It put me on edge. The way he was playing, I was expecting him to burst into this barrage and it just didn’t happen for him.”
After walking out into an intimidating atmosphere, Littler attempted to show he was unbothered, touching his ear and shrugging as he turned to face spectators.
However, his confidence proved to be misplaced.
He managed just 59 from his opening three darts and 41 from the next three en route to losing his throw in the opening leg as many in attendance delighted in his struggles.
Bunting, whose own performance was not entirely convincing, missed three darts to go 3-0 up and then squandered a further two to go 4-1 in front, giving Littler hope of a comeback.
But the pre-match favourite was nowhere near his usual standard and suffered another early exit after Bunting began the final leg with a 180 and held his nerve to progress.
Clayton finished with a bullseye to edge a last-leg decider against defending champion Luke Humphries 6-5 in the opening match of the evening and then defeated Josh Rock 6-4 in the semi-finals.
The Welshman looked down and out against Van Gerwen, who had previously beaten Van Veen 6-4 and Bunting 6-5, before battling back to win his third night this year.
“I thought the game was over at 5-2 up for Michael,” said Clayton. “He missed, he gave me a chance. You’ve got to take chances. That last leg was probably my best of the game.
“I’m back on top of the table, Luke Littler can start chasing me again.”
Last week’s winner Gerwyn Price lost 6-3 to bottom-of-the-table Rock in the second quarter-final.
