VIEWERS shared the despair of Jermaine Wattimena - after spotting his pained reactions in his latest hammering against Luke Littler.
Wattimena is one of darts' most dangerous Dutchmen - EXCEPT when he tackles the Nuke.
And despite performing brilliantly in the UK Open last 32, he was still thumped 10-4 by the 18-year-old world champion.
Wattimen suffered a 16-2 defeat at the hands of Littler last November - the heaviest ever loss in a Grand Slam of Darts quarter-final.
This time the 36-year-old held the Nuke to just a 3-2 lead at the first interval as both players averaged 103.
But Littler got better and better, steaming away to a victory that maintained his perfect record over Wattimena.
The Warrington whizkid averaged 104 overall, hitting eight 180s and landing a 136 checkout.
Fans spotted the dazed behaviour of Wattimena as he was outgunned despite a decent performance.
The nonplussed Netherlands victim turned to the crowd with his hands stretched up as if to say: "What can I do?"
Then came the moment that won him sympathy as he bent over despondently, with his arms sagging onto his legs.
One viewer posted: "Poor Wattimena always plays well against him and gets battered."
Another wrote, "Feel sorry for him here" and a third said: "Jermaine didn't do a lot wrong there."
Littler's finishing was phenomenal - bagging two out of every three attempts at a double.
And one observer claimed: "Wattimena plays anyone else and he's winning comfortably. Haha, feel sorry for him here."
Unsurprisingly the Nuke's status as favourite for the title was strengthened by arguably his finest display of the tournament so far.
But 2024 world champ Luke Humphries is also in prime form - judging by his 10-0 win over "best pal" Ryan Searle.
But Cool Hand revealed he was "crushed inside" to triumph by what he reckons was a freak scoreline.
He added: "You don’t want to smash someone who is so close to you."
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