Irish interest in the PDC World Darts Championship came to and end as both Brendan Dolan and Josh Rock lost their third-round matches, against Michael van Gerwen and Chris Dobey respectively.
Dolan took the opening set against his Dutch opponent, but the latter found his groove to lead 3-1 and had chances to complete the job.
Enniskillen's Dolan hung in to reduce the deficit but could not stop the three-time champion from winning 4-2.
Rock went down by the same margin to England's Dobey.
After establishing a 2-1 lead, the Co Antrim native was powerless in preventing Dobey from winning the next three sets.
Tournament favourite, last year's runner-up, Luke Littler took time to find his groove before beating Ian White 4-1.
The 17-year-old survived set darts in the first and fourth sets but made his opponent (54) pay for letting him off the hook.
Nathan Aspinall fired a warning to his rivals after booking his place in the last 16 with a 4-0 win over Andrew Gilding at the Alexandra Palace.
The 33-year-old Aspinall did not have to be on his best form to beat his below-par opponent and maintain hopes of emulating his back-to-back semi-final appearances in 2019 and 2020.
But he believes an evident improvement in one of the weaker parts of his game augurs well for the sterner tests that will face him in the later stages.
Aspinall told Sky Sports: "Normally I'm really bad at finishing, that’s normally why I lose, but in the last two games I’ve scored very well. I don’t care about averages and numbers – I’m in the last 16.
"In the last six months I’ve been very flat when I’m playing and I’ve made a conscious effort to get that fire lit in my stomach. If I get the scoring going with that finishing, I’m tough to beat."
Aspinall will face Ricardo Pietreczko in the last 16 after the German brushed aside Scott Williams 4-1, wrapping up his victory with an impressive 121 checkout.
Ryan Joyce set up a potential last 16 clash with Luke Littler after withstanding a double comeback by opponent Ryan Searle to clinch a nail-biting 4-3 win.
Searle dredged his way back to level after losing the first two sets, then also recovered from 2-0 down in the sixth set to force the decider.
But at 3-2 down in the final set, Searle missed a single 20 to set up a dart at tops that would have tied the set at 3-3, and Joyce duly finished the job to earn his place in round four for the first time since 2019.
