Noppert, Lukeman and Edhouse excel as the Group Stage nears its conclusion – 2024 Grand Slam of Darts Night 3 Recap

Group A

Luke Humphries was confirmed out on Night 2 in a stunning upset but he turned it back on against already qualified Mickey Mansell, running out a 5-1 winner, pinning a brilliant 135 checkout to clinch a consolation win. The World Champion will now turn his interest to defending another major title at the Players Championship Finals.

Whoever won between James Wade and Rowby-John Rodriguez would be the 2nd man out of Group A and it was a vintage Wade performance to reach the Last 16 yet again, this loss meant that RJR actually finished 4th despite his win over Humphries.

Group B

Beau Greaves needed a miracle in order to get out of the group, but she could still play the spoiler in a hotly contester round robin. The 2-time Women’s World Champion did exactly that, putting in a staggering performance to beat a below par Cameron Menzies 5-1 to really shake the group ahead of the contest between Schindler and Noppert.

The before mentioned matchup contributed to Martin Schindler needing just 3 legs to make it to the knockout stage. The game was high quality with it being level after 4 legs, Schindler then missed 2 darts at double 16 to qualify with Noppert taking the leg aswell as the next. The Wall then missed 2 more darts in a dramatic final leg to clinch it before Danny Noppert cleaned up to take him and Menzies through. Heartbreak for the German Number One, who averaged 109.

Group C

Martin Lukeman’s dream Grand Slam of Darts debut continued as he was confirmed Group C winner after a comfortable victory over the American ace Leonard Gates.

Rob Cross needed just two legs to join ‘Smash’ in the Last 16 and to prevent Peter Wright from making it out the group stage yet again. It took Cross just three legs to get the job done, Voltage used this as fuel to win 5-1 in emphatic style.

Group D

Ritchie Edhouse was looking to make it 3 from 3 in the group stage, he had a tie against the wounded Dave Chisnall to do so. Madhouse was much better than his previous game as he raced into a 3-0 lead before taking out a remarkable 148 checkout with Chizzy left on 40 for his first leg of the match. However, Chisnall did manage to pick up the next two legs before Edhouse took the 7th with a 10 darter to win 5-2 and cement himself as a contender for back to back major triumphs.

The last game of the evening saw 2022 European Champion Ross Smith take on the 2024 Challenge Tour Winner Connor Scutt in a shootout to see who would face Martin Lukeman in the next round. Smudger started with a very comfortable hold of throw before breaking Scutt in the next leg to take an early advantage. It was a 5-0 whitewash win for Connor Scutt in Game 1 but he ends his Grand Slam endeavour with a 5-0 whitewash loss.

2024 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts

Day 3 – Group Stage

Results

Group A

Luke Humphries 5-1 Mickey Mansell (Q)

James Wade (Q) 5-1 Rowby-John Rodriguez

Group B

Cameron Menzies (Q) 1-5 Beau Greaves

Danny Noppert (Q) 5-2 Martin Schindler

Group C

Martin Lukeman (Q) 5-3 Leonard Gates

Rob Cross (Q) 5-1 Peter Wright

Group D

Dave Chisnall 2-5 Ritchie Edhouse (Q)

Ross Smith (Q) 5-0 Connor Scutt