LUKE ‘The Nuke’ Littler is out of the European Championship in Dortmund, Germany.

The Warrington 17-year-old, one of the favourites on his debut in the tournament, crashed out to Andrew Gilding 6-4 in the first round.

For the Premier League champion, it was another first-round TV tournament defeat as he also went out of the World Matchplay and the World Grand Prix events at the first stage in recent months.

Littler failed to replicate the form he showed in the previous week’s Czech Open, where he twice broke the event’s average record.

But this time he never looked comfortable on stage, even though he squared the contest after initially falling 3-0 behind to the 53-year-old.

‘The Nuke’, gesticulating frustration with head shakes and hand waves, had chance to go 5-4 in front but missed the double 18 he needed for a 156 checkout and Suffolk-based Gilding managed to finish on his next visit to hold throw.

Littler’s throw was broken for a second time in the 10th as former UK Open champion Gilding booked what seemed an unlikely second-round place before the night started.

Scoring and doubles tripped up Littler on this occasion, ending the match with a 95.39 average and only 31 per cent checkout success.

 

Three missed doubles in the third leg when he had the chance to break Gilding’s throw perhaps summed up his night.

He was fortunate in the fifth leg when Gilding, nicknamed Goldfinger, twice missed the double for 4-1, allowing Littler to sneak in with his best finish of 72 to keep himself in the fight.

Both players missed doubles in the next leg before ‘The Nuke’ got home to level the match and he breathed a sigh of relief on camera.

But if he thought Gilding would then crumble, he was wrong.

An 11-darter showed there was plenty of fight left in 'Goldfinger' as he ended the run of three straight leg losses.

When Gilding missed the bull finish in the eighth, Littler was able to crack in 64 to square the match again.

Then there was the missed doubles drama of the ninth and Gilding’s scoring was much higher in the leg which decided Littler’s fate.

Gilding will go on to face Germany’s remaining hope in the competition, Ricardo Pietreczko, in the last 16 on Saturday night.