Cameron Crabtree had produced a seismic upset to end Luke Littler's hopes of becoming just the third player in history to capture multiple PDC World Youth Championship titles.
'The Nuke', who reigned supreme in the event three years ago, was the odds-on favourite to capture the crown for a second time next month, but saw his hopes evaporate at the semi-final stage for a second successive year.
Whilst it was an inspired Beau Greaves who proved the architect of Littler's downfall a year ago, it was Crabtree who produced tungsten brilliance to edge a tense and dramatic match in a final leg shootout.
The 23-year-old raced into a 2-0 lead against 2023 World Youth Champion, but the sport’s premier player soon regained control with a brutal three-leg spell.
The Warrington sensation followed up a magnificent 164 checkout with back-to-back 14-darters to move 3-2 ahead, but Crabtree was undeterred, hitting back with 92 and 100 finishes to take a 5-4 lead.
Back-to-back Alexandra Palace king Littler responded with a terrific 117 skin-saver to force a last-leg decider, although Crabtree wasn’t to be denied, firing in a 16-dart hold on double six to prevail with a 97.91 average.
The event -- which Littler won in 2023 with a 6-3 success over Gian van Veen -- began with a round-robin format on Monday, as the 128-player field were were split into 32 groups of four, with the top two players from each group advancing to the knockout phase.
Crabtree overcame Kai Clark, Lleyton Molyneux and Hungary’s Almos Kovacs in the group phase, before easing through to the last 16 with successive 6-2 wins against Lenny Schlueter and Lewis Mayes.
Following an emphatic 6-1 drubbing of Joseph Simpson, Crabtree then ran out a 6-4 winner against Kaya Baysal in the quarter-finals, after the 16-year-old had celebrated his maiden Development Tour title on Sunday.
This set up his blockbuster meeting against Littler, which he, of course, prevailed in, meaning he will now lock-horns with German talent Jan Schmidt in the Minehead showpiece next month.
For Littler, Monday's defeat means he has now been beaten in three successive matches for the first time in 18 months, with his 6-5 reverse earlier today coming on the back of losses at the hands of Luke Woodhouse in the World Grand Prix and Jonny Clayton in the World Series of Darts Finals.
