Darts youngster Fabian Schmutzler's debut at the World Cup came to a quick end.
The second youngest player in tournament history lost his opening match against Englishman Ryan Meikle with 0: 3 in front of around 3000 spectators in London's Alexandra Palace.
The Frankfurter surprisingly qualified for the World Cup on the Development Tour at the beginning of November.
Due to the defeat, the 16-year-old Schmutzler was the youngest player to ever make it to the second round.
After a nervous start and the quick 3-0 in the first set, he kept up with his opponent nine years older and managed to win his first leg.
In the end, Schmutzler achieved an average of 89.14 points, which is about as many as the 71st world ranking, but used his chances of winning the doubles too seldom (33 percent).
Last afternoon, quarter-finalist Daryl Gurney (Northern Ireland) defeated Englishman Ricky Evans 3-1.
The German duel between Florian Hempel (Cologne) and Martin Schindler (Strausberg) will take place on Sunday.
The German number one, Gabriel Clemens (Saarwellingen), is not required until December 23rd.
96 players from 29 nations fight for the winner's check of 500,000 pounds (around 546,000 euros) in the most important tournament of the year.
In addition to world champion Gerwyn Price, who already moved into round three on Wednesday, former world champions Peter Wright (Scotland) and Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands) are among the favorites.
The final is scheduled for January 3rd.