Grand Slam of Darts 2024: Luke Humphries suffers shock loss to Rowby-John Rodriguez as Luke Littler wins in six minutes

Reigning champion Luke Humphries suffered a shock defeat to Rowby-John Rodriguez in Group A as Luke Littler despatched out a message from Group F with a 5-0 drubbing of Keane Barry to get off to an ideal begin on his Grand Slam of Darts debut.

World No 1 Humphries bought off to a sluggish begin in opposition to Rodriguez and was made to pay, a sensational 141 checkout and an important break of throw from the underdog sealing an enormous scalp.

It appeared like Humphries was combating again with some heavy scoring however Rodriguez stored his cool and continued to seek out the trebles persistently below stress, a T20, T19, D12 end touchdown in type and permitting him to have a good time profitable in opposition to the world champion.

​​​​​​​It was a unique story for Littler who was within the zone from his first dart, a beautiful 121 checkout on the bull sending the group right into a frenzy.

Littler went on to common over 112 as he accomplished his first opening-round win in a rating event because the UK Open in March, sealing the victory in simply six minutes.

“I wanted to make a statement. I’m here to win,” Littler informed Sky Sports activities after his victory.

“It is just like the Champions League soccer group stage. Main as much as it I used to be practising nicely and having fun with it, however I am actually 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 need to high the group, everybody needs to. There’s a bit of bonus for ending high, so get out the group stage after which concentrate on the first-to-10 legs and hopefully go on and on.”

The opposite huge storyline of the evening was in Group G as Michael van Gerwen cruised to a 5-0 whitewash in opposition to Noa-Lynn van Leuven to go high, as his opponent made historical past as the primary transgender participant to participate in a televised PDC event in opposition to males.

After a first-leg break of throw, MVG hit his stride, working the group as he wrapped up the victory. Van Leuven needed to take care of some early boos on her debut, whereas ‘Oh Michael van Gerwen’ rang across the Wolverhampton crowd.

Within the different Group F conflict, Dimitri Van den Bergh received his encounter in opposition to Lourence Ilagan with a sensational 164 checkout on the bull.

In what was a scrappy match, Van den Bergh discovered essential breaks of throw on the best way to a 5-1 win that stands him in good stead within the group simply 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 common in Grand Slam historical past of 113.2.

Anderson was within the zone from the primary dart, a double break serving to him ease to the win, Joyce unable to counter his good treble-hitting.

Mickey Mansell brought about a giant upset in Group A on his Grand Slam debut with a 5-3 victory over James Wade.

Wade took an early 2-0 lead by an excellent 121 checkout, however Mansell fought again, taking out 140 after which averaging over 119 at factors to cement an enormous win for his marketing campaign.

It means Wade and Humphries will now be in a battle to maintain their event hopes alive.

In Group E, Michael Smith fought exhausting to safe a 5-2 victory over Mensur Suljovic, an important break of throw plus a pleasant 96 checkout permitting ‘Bully Boy’ to roar with delight as he bought the win and put himself on the high of the ladder.

World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker was crushed 5-2 by Jermaine Wattimena within the last match of the night session.

It was an vital break of throw within the sixth leg that put Wattimena on high, a bulls-top end sealing the deal.

What occurred within the afternoon session?

Ladies’s No 1 Beau Greaves will rue her double hitting as she suffered a 5-2 loss in opposition to world No 12 Danny Noppert in Group B.

Greaves bought off to a sluggish begin however rallied to convey it again to 3-2, her incapability to seek out the doubles or the bull gifting Noppert possibilities which he took to clinch the victory on tops.

In the meantime, Cameron Menzies grew into the competition and confirmed the standard he has had all year long with a 5-2 win over Martin Schindler, placing him on the high of Group B alongside Noppert, their identical profitable margins placing them on stage pegging.

Peter Wright suffered a troublesome whitewash loss to Martin Lukeman to cut back his possibilities of making it out of Group C, Lukeman placing himself high of the pile.

With Lukeman hitting the trebles brilliantly, Wright couldn’t get into the encounter, not having a single dart at double all through your complete match.

Rob Cross additionally pulled by in a 5-2 victory over Leonard Gates in Group C, doing what was mandatory regardless of not taking part in classic darts.

Cross discovered an important break of throw within the fourth leg to place himself on high and from there by no means appeared again.

Connor Scutt put in a sensational efficiency in opposition to Dave Chisnall in a 5-0 whitewash in Group D, averaging over 104 as he hit 180s for enjoyable.

The style of the loss for Chisnall now makes it very troublesome for him to get out of his group, particularly with Ritchie Edhouse choosing up his second-ever victory on the Grand Slam stage with a 5-1 drubbing of Ross Smith to shut the afternoon session.

Within the first match of the event, Stephen Bunting beat Wessel Nijman in a 5-4 final-leg shoot-out to get off to profitable methods in Group H.

After 4 breaks of throw to get the match going, Bunting discovered a 114 checkout to get himself in some kind of management, clinching 61 on D18 for the victory, Nijman’s last dart cruelly bouncing out as he went for the utmost.

Nevertheless, it was Gian van Veen who completed the day on the high of the ‘Group of dying’ after a 5-2 victory over Josh Rock, averaging over 100 with a sensational 127 checkout to clinch the conflict.

How the teams are shaping up:

What is going on on Sunday?

Sunday’s afternoon session will see Teams B, C, D, and H in motion, beginning with Danny Noppert and Cameron Menzies.

Martin Schindler then takes on Beau Greaves, with Peter Wright in opposition to Leonard Gates and Rob Cross dealing with Martin Lukeman.

Dave Chisnall then performs Ross Smith, Ritchie Edhouse performs Connor Scutt, Josh Rock is up in opposition to Wessel Nijman, and Stephen Bunting closes the afternoon in opposition to Gian Van Veen.

You possibly can watch all of the matches dwell on Sky Sports activities from 1pm.