GERWYN PRICE hit a nine-darter against Luke Littler in the Premier League - but still lost.

Littler dominated proceedings in their quarter-final meeting on Night 10 in Manchester.

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But Price had a moment to savour after hitting a spectacular nine-darter in the seventh leg.

The Welshman badly needed it too as he trailed 5-1 heading into the leg.

Price left himself with a 141 checkout after throwing six darts, and he finished off by hitting T19, T20, D12.

He followed that up by winning the next leg after Littler missed bullseye when attempting a Big Fish check-out.

But the world champion recovered by winning the next leg to win the match 6-3.

It is the first time that Littler, 18, has beaten the Iceman since a clash in Liverpool in April 2024 - ending a run of six defeats on the bounce.

The pair embraced after the nine-darter and Littler was delighted with his opponent's effort.

The 2021 world champion is the fourth person in the competition to hit a nine-darter – a record in the Prem – emulating Littler, Luke Humphries and Rob Cross.

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Price will now receive a set of £30,000 18ct gold darts from sponsors BetMGM for his efforts.

Incredibly he became the third player to fall foul of the nine-darter curse in this year's competition - with Littler the only one to have won the match after throwing a perfect leg.

Despite Littler finally getting one over Price, it was Nathan Aspinall who would go on to win the night in Manchester.

He beat Luke Humphries in the final after Cool Hands had dispatched The Nuke in the semis.

Earlier in the evening, Michael van Gerwen confirmed that the reason he pulled out of last week’s event in Berlin – and subsequent ProTours – was due to a “stupid” shoulder injury.

His pal Vincent van der Voort said that Van Gerwen “was trying on some shirts for his sponsor and as soon as he put one on, he said something didn’t feel right – he could barely move his neck”.

And MVG, 35, said: “That’s right. It sounds a bit stupid, but it’s true. It is what it is.

“I thought it would go in the evening after a few hours. But it didn’t. I wasn’t able to play, simple as that. I’m not 100%. But at least I am playing pain-free.”

It did not appear to impact him as he took out 111 in the opening leg and then eliminated Chris Dobey 6-4 from the opening game.