The second round of the World Grand Prix commenced on Day 3 in Leicester, with former Grand Prix winners Luke Humphries and Jonny Clayton making an appearance to try and double their respective title tallies.

Nathan Aspinall 2-3 Ryan Joyce

Nathan Aspinall claimed the first set after winning in the last leg, with the Stockport star throwing a sensational 13-darter while under the cosh to establish a lead and take the first set. Aspinall threw a 101 checkout in the third leg.

After the interval, Ryan Joyce responded with a set of his own to level up the affair, averaging 90 across the five legs to put himself on level terms. A crucial break of throw at the start of the third set catapulted him to claim the overall lead.

Once again, Aspinall showed his grit to force the match to a last-set decider after Joyce made a mistake with 114 left. Joyce missed the single 20 with his second dart meaning he couldn’t check out, meaning Aspinall returned to checkout in two darts.

The former Grand Prix finalist formulated a 2-1 lead in the final set but wired double 20 and missed two match darts by hitting double 5 instead, which Joyce capitalised on and then produced a stunning final leg in the last leg to progress to the quarter-finals.

Rob Cross 3-1 Martin Schindler

Rob Cross raced out of the floodgates with a whitewash first set averaging just over 94, but regressed to such a low average of 78 in the second which allowed the recent European Tour to equal the affair with three legs of his own.

Schlinder complied two further legs and looked on the brink of leading 2-1 in sets. However, the 2018 World Champion had other ideas, as he dug in deep to reel off three legs in a row to claim the third set.

Cross continued to plough his way through despite a slight drop in the average department, but Voltage put himself into the World Grand Prix final for the first time at the eighth time of asking.

Despite the duo averaging 86 and 83 respectively, 7 180’s and 26’s 140+’s was thrown between them.

Luke Humphries 3-1 Ricardo Pietreczko

In a repeat of the very narrow affair at the 2024 PDC World Championship, Luke Humphries and Ricardo Pietreczko battled it out for the third game of the evening. Humphries stormed his way through to take the first set with three unanswered legs, but Pietreczko cemented himself into the game to answer straight back with a set of his own.

Humphries upped the ante on the outer ring, checking out 130 in set three, and claimed victory over the German in the final set to progress through and continue his title defence. Humphries averaged 92.01 to Pietreczko’s 91.73, but the world number one’s doubling told the story, with him completing 45.45% of chances on the outer segment.

Jonny Clayton 3-1 Ross Smith

The final match of the night was between Jonny Clayton and Ross Smith. Smith took the opening set but that was the only set he could muster on the night. Clayton was unable to have an attempt on the doubles in the first set and averaged a lacklustre 74.20, but improved to put the game back on level terms.

The Welshman proceeded to steal the third set despite averaging far less than Smith in a last leg decider. This inevitably put all the pressure on Smith heading into the next set and his game dropped significantly, especially on the doubles with a 1/8 success rate, which enabled Clayton to win the fourth and final set 3-1.