Gerwyn Price hit the fourth nine-darter of the 2025 Premier League, but fell to defeat to 19-year-old world champion Luke Littler in Manchester on Thursday.
Price's period of perfection from the oche was the highlight of his night as he succumbed to a 6-3 quarterfinal loss in which he matched Littler's trademark high scoring but could not quite better his 54.5% checkout percentage.
After the Welshman's final dart nestled in the bed of double 12, he turned to the raucous crowd to celebrate and was congratulated by Littler who seemed to revel in Price's achievement as much as "The Iceman," himself.
Littler headed to the AO Arena seeking to secure a record fifth nightly win and extend his six-point lead over second-placed Luke Humphries, but he was beaten by the world No. 1 in the semifinals.
In the final, Humphries let a three-leg lead slip as Nathan Aspinall came back to triumph 6-4 in front of his home crowd.