Luke Littler won 5-0 against Keane Barry in Group F as Michael van Gerwen beat Noa-Lynn van Leuven; Luke Humphries was beaten 5-3 by Rowby-John Rodriguez in Group A; watch the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton until November 17 - live on Sky Sports
Sunday 10 November 2024 07:39, UK
Reigning champion Luke Humphries suffered a shock defeat to Rowby-John Rodriguez in Group A as Luke Littler sent out a message from Group F with a 5-0 drubbing of Keane Barry to get off to a perfect start on his Grand Slam of Darts debut.
World No 1 Humphries got off to a slow start against Rodriguez and was made to pay, a sensational 141 checkout and a crucial break of throw from the underdog sealing a huge scalp.
It looked like Humphries was fighting back with some heavy scoring but Rodriguez kept his cool and continued to find the trebles consistently under pressure, a T20, T19, D12 finish landing in style and allowing him to celebrate winning against the world champion.
It was a different story for Littler who was in the zone from his first dart, a lovely 121 checkout on the bull sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Littler went on to average over 112 as he completed his first opening-round win in a ranking tournament since the UK Open in March, sealing the victory in just six minutes.
"I wanted to make a statement. I'm here to win," Littler told Sky Sports after his victory.
"It's like the Champions League football group stage. Leading up to it I was practising well and enjoying it, but I'm really glad tonight.
"When I came on stage, all the fans were singing my walk-on and it gets me up for it and gets me ready. I'm glad I won.
"I want to top the group, everyone wants to. There's a little bonus for finishing top, so get out the group stage and then focus on the first-to-10 legs and hopefully go on and on."
The other big storyline of the night was in Group G as Michael van Gerwen cruised to a 5-0 whitewash against Noa-Lynn van Leuven to go top, as his opponent made history as the first transgender player to take part in a televised PDC tournament against men.
After a first-leg break of throw, MVG hit his stride, working the crowd as he wrapped up the victory. Van Leuven had to deal with some early boos on her debut, while 'Oh Michael van Gerwen' rang around the Wolverhampton crowd.
In the other Group F clash, Dimitri Van den Bergh won his encounter against Lourence Ilagan with a sensational 164 checkout on the bull.
In what was a scrappy match, Van den Bergh found crucial breaks of throw on the way to a 5-1 win that stands him in good stead in the group just behind 'The Nuke'.
Elsewhere in Group G, Gary Anderson set out a marker with a dominant 5-1 victory over Ryan Joyce with the sixth highest-ever average in Grand Slam history of 113.2.
Anderson was in the zone from the first dart, a double break helping him ease to the win, Joyce unable to counter his brilliant treble-hitting.
Mickey Mansell caused a big upset in Group A on his Grand Slam debut with a 5-3 victory over James Wade.
Wade took an early 2-0 lead through a brilliant 121 checkout, but Mansell fought back, taking out 140 and then averaging over 119 at points to cement a huge win for his campaign.
It means Wade and Humphries will now be in a battle to keep their tournament hopes alive.
In Group E, Michael Smith fought hard to secure a 5-2 victory over Mensur Suljovic, a crucial break of throw plus a nice 96 checkout allowing 'Bully Boy' to roar with pride as he got the win and put himself at the top of the ladder.
World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker was beaten 5-2 by Jermaine Wattimena in the final match of the evening session.
It was an important break of throw in the sixth leg that put Wattimena on top, a bulls-top finish sealing the deal.
Women's No 1 Beau Greaves will rue her double hitting as she suffered a 5-2 loss against world No 12 Danny Noppert in Group B.
Greaves got off to a slow start but rallied to bring it back to 3-2, her inability to find the doubles or the bull gifting Noppert chances which he took to clinch the victory on tops.
Meanwhile, Cameron Menzies grew into the contest and showed the quality he has had throughout the year with a 5-2 win over Martin Schindler, putting him at the top of Group B alongside Noppert, their same winning margins putting them on level pegging.
Peter Wright suffered a tough whitewash loss to Martin Lukeman to reduce his chances of making it out of Group C, Lukeman putting himself top of the pile.
With Lukeman hitting the trebles brilliantly, Wright could not get into the encounter, not having a single dart at double throughout the entire match.
Rob Cross also pulled through in a 5-2 victory over Leonard Gates in Group C, doing what was necessary despite not playing vintage darts.
Cross found a crucial break of throw in the fourth leg to put himself on top and from there never looked back.
Connor Scutt put in a sensational performance against Dave Chisnall in a 5-0 whitewash in Group D, averaging over 104 as he hit 180s for fun.
The manner of the loss for Chisnall now makes it very difficult for him to get out of his group, especially with Ritchie Edhouse picking up his second-ever victory on the Grand Slam stage with a 5-1 drubbing of Ross Smith to close the afternoon session.
In the first match of the tournament, Stephen Bunting beat Wessel Nijman in a 5-4 final-leg shoot-out to get off to winning ways in Group H.
After four breaks of throw to get the match going, Bunting found a 114 checkout to get himself in some sort of control, clinching 61 on D18 for the victory, Nijman's final dart cruelly bouncing out as he went for the maximum.
However, it was Gian van Veen who finished the day at the top of the 'Group of death' after a 5-2 victory over Josh Rock, averaging over 100 with a sensational 127 checkout to clinch the clash.
Sunday's afternoon session will see Groups B, C, D, and H in action, starting with Danny Noppert and Cameron Menzies.
Martin Schindler then takes on Beau Greaves, with Peter Wright against Leonard Gates and Rob Cross facing Martin Lukeman.
Dave Chisnall then plays Ross Smith, Ritchie Edhouse plays Connor Scutt, Josh Rock is up against Wessel Nijman, and Stephen Bunting closes the afternoon against Gian Van Veen.
You can watch all the matches live on Sky Sports from 1pm.
