World champion Luke Littler suffered a third-round exit from Players Championship One in Wigan, the opening event of the 2025 PDC ProTour season.

The Robin Park Leisure Centre welcomed the newest additions to the professional circuit alongside established players in a 128-strong field, with a top prize of £15,000.

Littler – beaten by Michael van Gerwen on the opening night of the Premier League in Belfast – had started with a 6-4 win over Canadian veteran Jim Long and then beat Martin Lukeman 6-3, but was averaging only 87.4.

Joe Cullen, though, proved too strong for the 18-year-old, landing eight maximums in a convincing 6-3 victory, taking five straight legs as Littler missed 15 doubles.

There was no such trouble for world number one Luke Humphries, who coasted on into the last four.

In the last 16, Humphries saw off Mike de Decker, who had beaten him in the 2024 World Grand Prix final.

Humphries then landed a 160 finish to wrap up a 6-1 win over Darryl Pilgrim and move into the semi-finals, where he will take on Cullen.

There were also early exits for former world champions Gary Anderson – who was beaten 6-4 by Ricky Evans in the first round – and Peter Wright, who lost by the same scoreline to Adam Hunt.

Michael Smith, who recently revealed his problems with arthritis, went out to Belgium’s Dimitri van den Bergh, while women’s world champion Beau Greaves slipped to a 6-4 defeat against Owen Bates on her Pro Tour debut.

World number five Stephen Bunting lost to Andrew Gilding, who went on to reach the semi-finals, where he will play Rob Cross.