Luke Littler suffered his second surprising defeat in two days at The Players Championship 14 on Wednesday.
Littler, struggling with an average of 89.4, was not selected for England’s World Cup of Darts squad before losing 6-3 to world number 92 James Hurrell in his second match.
The 17-year-old also lost to world No. 116 Robert Grundy in the first round of The Players Championship 13 on Tuesday.
The 47-year-old British player, who only gained his Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) Tour Card in January after a 15-year break from darts, beat Littler 6-5.
Before his second shock defeat, Littler was back on the winning side with a hard-fought 6-5 victory over Ricky Evans in the first round of The Players Championship 14 on Wednesday.
With just two spots available in the England squad, Luke Humphreys, who beat Littler in January’s World Championship final, and 2023 world champion Michael Smith were selected for the World Cup ahead of the teenager.
In June, Littler defeated Great Britain’s Rob Cross in the final of the Polish Darts Masters to win his second World Series of Darts title this year.
It came after the Warrington teenager beat Humphries in May, avenging his loss in the World Championship final and clinching the 2024 Premier League Darts title.
However, Littler is still not among the top 10 British players in the world rankings and is 25th in the PDC prize money rankings, based on total prize money.