Luke Littler and Luke Humphries both made winning starts in the grand slam of darts as Michael van Gerwen defeated Beau Greaves in a thriller finale at Wolverhampton.
All 32 players took part on the first day of the round robin group stage at WV Active Aldersley in Wolverhampton, which was spread over two sessions, with Greaves threatening to upset the three-time Grand Slam champion in a high-scoring match.
Greaves took advantage of Van Gerwen’s wayward finishing to hold on in the first leg and his next three successful throws, but the Dutchman took the lead after an 11-dart break before winning the next dart to go up 4-2.
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Highlights of Luke Littler’s 5-1 win over Karel Sedlacek in the Darts Grand Slam
The contest went to a decider after Greaves produced a 13-dart hold and fired off consecutive 180s en route to another 12-dart break, with both players wasting match darts before Van Gerwen snatched a dramatic win on D3.
Greaves averaged 101.47 points in the first day’s loss, scoring a maximum of 3 points, leaving him with some work to do as he prepares to advance to the finals for the first time. Nico Springer leads his group with a 5-3 victory over former Grand Slam finalist Gary Anderson.
“Winning the first game is always a relief for any player,” Van Gerwen said. “I was putting pressure on myself and it gave me confidence going into tomorrow night.
“In my opinion, there’s never been a better female darts player, but now she has to push herself. She’s still young, but I have to focus on myself. It’s not going to get any easier. Next up is Nico Springer, then Gary Anderson, but I’m not going to run away from it, you have to fight.”
Michael van Gerwen beat Beau Greaves in Wolverhampton finals thriller
Littler, who is defending his television title for the first time and is looking to rise to number one in the world, began his title defense with a 5-1 win over Karel Sedlacek. There, he produced sensational setup plays and averaged 98 points with an overwhelming performance.
“It’s a little disappointing because I was really hoping for a whitewash win,” Littler admitted. “This is the second major I’ve come to defend. It didn’t go well in the Premier League, but here I had a good start.”
“I want to play back-to-back games. If we win tomorrow night, I think we can relax on Tuesday. It’s full of great memories to be back here.”
Humphries, the 2023 champion, pushed Alex Spellman away with a straight leg, paving the way for a one-sided victory with a 13-dart break and 14-dart hold that prevented his opponent from getting a single dart on a double.
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Highlights of the Grand Slam darts match between Luke Humphries and Alex Spellman, as the world’s No. 1 player gets off to an impressive start.
Smith defeats Aspinall in TV return
Connor Scutt survived match darts when he was down 4-3 and fired five perfect darts in the deciding leg to defeat Darryl Gurney in an eventful match and take second place in Group E behind Littler.
Humphries leads Group A ahead of former Grand Slam champion Michael Smith. Michael Smith took advantage of Nathan Aspinall’s double and missed 19 darts to claim a 5-3 victory in a repeat of the 2022 final.
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Nathan Aspinall produced a little jig after scoring an 86 checkout against Michael Smith, despite having missed a number of chances in the outer ring so far.
“It’s a little emotional to go up there and win that match, but I’m really happy to get over the line,” said Smith, who hasn’t appeared on TV since the British Open in March. “Nathan was supposed to win. I just worked hard and got the job done in the end. And I was going to win.”
Luke Woodhouse secured a 5-2 victory over Martin Schindler, winning the first three legs before capping off the win with a fantastic 120 finish, but in the final match of the night Stephen Bunting suffered a shock defeat to Alexis Toiro in the final leg.
Springer posted a 152 finish to defeat Anderson, who had won three straight from 3-2 to advance from the group stage each year, and the Scotsman will now face Greaves in Sunday’s round robin.
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Nico Springer beat Gary Anderson 5-3 in the Grand Slam of Darts, becoming the German’s pick for the huge 152 checkout.
Van Veen loses to former champion Price, gets beaten by Ashton
Three-time Grand Slam champion Gerwyn Price opened his season with a loss to Ricky Evans in the final match, despite trading seven maximums and posting an impressive 167 checkout.
Group D was very heated with James Wade also losing in the deciding match of the final leg. There, ‘The Machine’ wasted four match darts as Stefan Belmont snatched a 5-4 victory.
Cam Crabtree beat Johnny Clayton 5-1 to take top spot in Group H. Danny Knoppert survives match darts with a 5-4 win over Lukas Wennig. Meanwhile, Chris Dobey and Damon Heta opened Group B with a 5-1 win over Judjen van der Velde and Martin Lukman respectively.
Lisa Ashton took reigning World Youth Champion and European Championship winner Jan van Veen to the deciding final leg, where the Dutchman won by a narrow margin, but in the group Wessel Nijman defeated Josh Rock by the same score.
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Wessel Nyman beats Josh Locke 5-4 in Grand Slam of Darts match, hitting an impressive 130 on the bullseye
What happens on Sunday?
Group stage matches will be played twice on Sunday, with the top two from each group going head-to-head and the bottom two from the same group playing against each other.
Afternoon session (live on Sky Sports Mix from 1pm)
Martin Lukeman vs Jurjen van der Velde (B)
Johnny Clayton vs Lukas Wennig (H)
Josh Locke vs Lisa Ashton (Female)
James Wade vs. Gerwyn Price (Democrat)
Ricky Evans vs. Stephen Belmont (Democrat)
Danny Knoppert vs. Cam Crabtree (H)
Jan van Veen vs Wessel Nyman (F)
Chris Dobie vs Damon Heta (B)
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Alexis Toiro won the Grand Slam of Darts match with a top-top checkout over Stephen Bunting for a 100-pin victory.
Evening Session (live from 7pm on Sky Sports+ and 7.30pm on Sky Sports Main Event)
Nathan Aspinall vs Alex Spellman (A)
Darryl Gurney vs Karel Sedlacek (E)
Stephen Bunting vs Martin Schindler (C)
Gary Anderson vs Beau Greaves (G)
Luke Littler vs Connor Scutt (E)
Luke Humphries vs Michael Smith (A)
Michael van Gerwen vs Nico Springer (G)
Luke Woodhouse vs Alexis Toiro (C)
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