Luke Littler and Nathan Aspinall shine on day one of the Grand Slam but the new cutthroat format leaves some seeds in danger.
Luke Littler and Nathan Aspinall shine on day one of the Grand Slam but the new cutthroat format leaves some seeds in danger.
Luke Littler and Nathan Aspinall shine on day one of the Grand Slam, but the new cutthroat format leaves some seeds in danger.
Luke Littler launched his bid for an historic third consecutive Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts title with a sensational victory over Beau Greaves, as the defending champion headlined an action-packed opening day in Wolverhampton.
The world number one produced a blistering average of 109.97 to overcome the Women’s World Matchplay champion in a thrilling encounter, despite Greaves also delivering an outstanding performance with an average approaching 104.
Having lost to the Doncaster star in their previous meeting at last year’s World Youth Championship, Greaves was unable to repeat that success as Littler made a commanding start to his latest title defence.
The victory also extended Littler’s unbeaten record at the Grand Slam to 15 matches, leaving him firmly in control of his bid to become the first player to win the tournament three years in succession.
“I knew I needed to get off a strong start,” admitted the reigning champion.
“Beau was fantastic, but I’m happy with my performance and I’ve still got a 100% record in Wolverhampton.
“I just love it here. When you’re performing like this you’re going to be happy, I’ve been practising hard and I’m glad I’ve shown it tonight.”
Littler will return on Monday to face Dutch Darts Championship winner Niels Zonneveld in his second Group A fixture, knowing another victory would guarantee his progression to the knockout stages.
The opening day of the £1million tournament featured 16 group-stage matches across two bumper sessions, with several of the sport’s biggest names making impressive starts to their campaigns.
Three-time champion Michael van Gerwen survived a major scare against rising star Henry Coates, eventually edging a nine-leg contest to extend his remarkable record of winning his opening group match at the Grand Slam for a 16th consecutive year.
Coates threatened a significant upset with five maximums and spectacular checkouts of 121 and 156, but Van Gerwen showed his experience to survive two match darts in the deciding leg and escape with a 5-4 victory, averaging 100.42.
“I think you need to give credit to Henry,” reflected the Dutchman, who will also face Jeffrey de Graaf in Group L.
“For his first time on the big stage I think he played a phenomenal game, but I had to dig deep tonight.
“Everyone knows where I’m coming from. I have to battle for every game I want to win, and luckily today I gave some joy to myself!”
Former champion Luke Humphries also began his campaign with a victory, averaging 105.7 in a hard-fought 5-3 success against PDC Asian Champion Paolo Nebrida.
However, the performance of the day belonged to Nathan Aspinall, who produced the highest televised average of his career in a devastating 5-1 demolition of Maik Kuivenhoven.
The Stockport star averaged an extraordinary 111.68 to take early control of Group P, while also showcasing his finishing power with consecutive checkouts of 149 and 120.
Aspinall, a Grand Slam finalist in 2022, believes his current mindset is putting him in a strong position to challenge for the title.
“I’m in a very good headspace at the moment,” he insisted.
“This format is absolutely brutal. It’s so cut-throat. There’s going to be lots of shocks and I don’t want to be one of them, and that’s why I was so focused.
“This first game was massive, so I’m buzzing to put in a great performance and now I’ll be raring to go on Tuesday.”
Gian van Veen delivered another outstanding performance in the evening session, averaging 110.51 to defeat Grand Slam debutant Carl Sneyd 5-2 in the penultimate match of the day.
James Wade also made an impressive start to his campaign, averaging above 104 to defeat Cam Crabtree in Group K as he embarked on a record-equalling 19th appearance at the tournament.
Gerwyn Price began his return to Wolverhampton with a victory, although he was pushed all the way by Joe Hunt. The Welshman had to withstand a furious fightback, which included a spectacular 170 checkout from Hunt, before getting his bid for a fourth Eric Bristow Trophy underway with a win.
There were also several major casualties, with European Champion Ross Smith among those to suffer an opening-day defeat.
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez capitalised on a below-par doubling display from Smith to claim a surprise 5-3 victory in Group O, immediately putting the former champion under pressure.
Jonny Clayton and Josh Rock also found themselves on the back foot after losing to debutants Anton Ostlund and Tommy Morris respectively.
Ostlund edged out world number five Clayton in Group G, while Morris produced a hugely impressive display against two-time quarter-finalist Rock, averaging 100.33 in a 5-2 success in Group C.
Tom Sykes also enjoyed a winning start to his Grand Slam career, defeating Luke Woodhouse 5-3 to take the early initiative in Group J.
Elsewhere, Stephen Bunting averaged almost 101 in a dramatic encounter against Raymond Smith, while Ryan Searle produced a strong finish against Charlie Manby, winning the final two legs in just 23 darts to secure a deciding-leg victory.
Wessel Nijman and Jermaine Wattimena both enjoyed comfortable wins against Adam Sevada and Lisa Ashton respectively, while Chris Dobey swept aside World Youth Championship finalist Jan Schmidt.
The group-stage action continues on Sunday, with Saturday’s losing players returning to face Player B from their respective groups as the battle for qualification intensifies.
Smith, Clayton and Rock are among the major names back in action, with all three knowing that another defeat would leave their hopes of reaching the knockout stages in serious danger.
Luke Littler and Nathan Aspinall shine on day one of the Grand Slam but the new cutthroat format leaves some seeds in danger.
2026 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts
Saturday November 14
Afternoon Session
8x Group Matches (Seeded Player v Player C)
Tom Sykes 5-3 Luke Woodhouse (J)
Jermaine Wattimena 5-2 Lisa Ashton (B)
Stephen Bunting 5-4 Raymond Smith (D)
Ryan Searle 5-4 Charlie Manby (F)
Tommy Morris 5-2 Josh Rock (C)
Wessel Nijman 5-1 Adam Sevada (H)
Nathan Aspinall 5-1 Maik Kuivenhoven (P)
Anton Ostlund 5-4 Jonny Clayton (G)
Evening Session
8x Group Matches (Seeded Player v Player C)
Gerwyn Price 5-3 Joe Hunt (E)
James Wade 5-1 Cam Crabtree (K)
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 5-3 Ross Smith (O)
Michael van Gerwen 5-4 Henry Coates (L)
Luke Humphries 5-3 Paolo Nebrida (I)
Luke Littler 5-2 Beau Greaves (A)
Gian van Veen 5-2 Carl Sneyd (M)
Chris Dobey 5-2 Jan Schmidt (N)
Sunday November 15
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)
8x Group Matches (Player B v Saturday Afternoon’s Losing Player)
Karel Sedlacek v Maik Kuivenhoven (P)
Niko Springer v Adam Sevada (H)
Alan Soutar v Lisa Ashton (B)
Cameron Menzies v Raymond Smith (D)
Luke Woodhouse v Krzysztof Ratajski (J)
Andrew Gilding v Charlie Manby (F)
Jonny Clayton v Rob Cross (G)
Josh Rock v Kevin Doets (C)
Evening Session (1930 GMT)
8x Group Matches (Player B v Saturday Evening’s Losing Player)
Joe Cullen v Paolo Nebrida (I)
Sebastian Bialecki v Joe Hunt (E)
Bradley Brooks v Carl Sneyd (M)
Chris Dobey v Martin Schindler (N)
Niels Zonneveld v Beau Greaves (A)
Ricky Evans v Cam Crabtree (K)
Ross Smith v Gabriel Clemens (O)
Jeffrey de Graaf v Henry Coates (L)
