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.
More to follow…
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