Grand Slam of Darts: Luke Humphries hits sensational nine-darter as Luke Littler progresses and Beau Greaves’ hopes come to an finish

Luke Humphries gained his match in opposition to Michael Smith with an unbelievable nine-darter on day two of the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton, with Luke Littler reserving his spot within the final 16.

The world No 1 bookended his match with two unbelievable finishes. After getting the competition actually going with a elegant 139 within the fourth leg, he saved his cool as ‘Bully Boy’ continued to battle as he returns from damage.

With the match then 4-3 in his favour, ‘Cool Hand’ discovered perfection, scoring 177, 180 after which T20, T20, D12 to ship the Wolverhampton crowd into pandemonium.

It gave Humphries his second televised nine-darter and fourth on an enormous stage.

“I absolutely have no idea where that came from at the end there to be honest,” Humphries mentioned.

“It was a extremely, actually horrible efficiency for myself initially. I assume this occurs in darts, I am not used to it, however up there it felt arduous work, it did not really feel nice.

“In observe it was all excellent, I do not really feel unhealthy, no accidents, I went up there and it was simply actually unhealthy for myself.

“Do you know what, the whole leg felt effortless, though. When I hit the 177 it didn’t feel hard work and then the 180 felt good and then as soon as the first treble goes in, if you go on 141 it’s a lot harder because you have to swap and stuff but the first dart was great and then obviously the second one followed it and then double 12.

“I form of felt most likely extra relaxed on the truth that I wasn’t enjoying effectively.”

In the identical group, Nathan Aspinall saved his Grand Slam hopes alive with a tricky 5-2 victory over Alex Spellman who’s now out of competition however may nonetheless play an enormous position in his group as his closing opponent, Smith, and Humphries can all nonetheless mathematically take one of many two locations accessible in Group A.

Greaves suffers powerful loss that units up MVG vs Anderson traditional

Regardless of averaging over 100 for the event up to now, Beau Greaves can’t qualify for the subsequent stage after a 5-4 loss to Gary Anderson in a deciding-leg traditional.

Greaves entered the encounter on the again of an almighty contest with Michael van Gerwen, who now takes on Anderson on Monday in a straight shoot-out for the second Group G spot within the final 16 after Niko Springer gained 5-4 in opposition to the ‘Inexperienced Machine’, protecting his nerve to carry his throw within the ninth leg.

In Greaves’ battle with Anderson, she took a 2-0 lead however Anderson confirmed his class to battle again, each gamers averaging extremely in an outstanding displaying wherein the 180s got here at a constant tempo.

With the match then within the deciding leg, the ‘Flying Scotsman’ punished ‘Beau N Arrow’, taking out an enormous 103 to place him one step nearer to protecting his 100 per cent development document on the Grand Slam intact.

“She’s brilliant, isn’t she,” Anderson mentioned.

“I’ve pulled out just about every stop that I’ve had in the bag tonight to win that game.

“She goes to trigger a lot hassle subsequent yr on the circuit.

“She is by far [the best female player] until somebody else comes along, but I would say that.

“I do know Fallon (Sherrock) is a superb participant, and Lisa (Ashton), however Beau is a wee bit totally different.”

Littler ensures his Grand Slam defence continues

Littler continued his quest to defend a TV title for the primary time and transfer to world No 1 by reserving his spot within the subsequent spherical with a 5-3 victory over Connor Scutt.

The match bought off to an electrical begin as Littler broke throw with a 121 earlier than Scutt fired again by reeling in ‘The Huge Fish’ 170 end.

Nevertheless, Littler then took issues up a notch and, after one other break of throw with a 102 on tops, he held his throw with some type, wrapping up the match on his favorite D10.

Elsewhere in Group E, Karel Sedlacek reeled off 5 legs in a row and ultimately succeeded together with his eleventh try at a match dart to dump Daryl Gurney out of the Grand Slam.

In the meantime in Group C, Martin Schindler pulled off an enormous 5-4 win over Stephen Bunting to ship ‘The Bullet’ out as Luke Woodhouse progressed following a powerful 5-2 win over Alexis Toylo.

Afternoon session: Wade and Clayton endure early Grand Slam exits

Gerwyn Worth turned the blockbuster match-up of the afternoon in opposition to James Wade right into a one-sided demolition job, bulldozing Wade in a 5-0 whitewash defeat.

That loss leaves Wade rooted to the underside of Group D and out of the competitors, with the match between Worth and Springer now a straight shoot-out for the second spot within the subsequent stage after Ricky Evans made it back-to-back wins with a deciding-leg 5-4 victory over Stefan Bellmont.

Danny Noppert repelled a powerful problem from Cam Crabtree to grab a 5-4 win, whereas Lukas Wenig, enjoying within the Grand Slam of Darts for the primary time in his profession, held his nerve at hand Jonny Clayton a 5-3 defeat. ‘The Ferret’ now can’t qualify for the knockout phases.

Josh Rock powered previous Lisa Ashton, placing in a advantageous show to win 5-0 as Dutch rivals Gian van Veen and Wessel Nijman met in a tense match, with the previous coming by to win 5-3.

Jurjen van der Velde managed to pip Martin Lukeman 5-4 and the ultimate dart of the Sunday afternoon session was a bullseye from Chris Dobey as he defeated Damon Heta 5-1.

What’s subsequent?

The group stage actually hits crunch time on Monday and Tuesday as we discover out who our final 16 will likely be on the Grand Slam of Darts 2025. Anderson takes on Van Gerwen for the ultimate spot in Group G, whereas Humphries, Smith and Aspinall are all in competition in Group A.

Monday November 10, from 7pm (Sky Sports activities + and Sky Sports activities Major Occasion)

James Wade vs Ricky Evans (D)

Chris Dobey vs Martin Lukeman (B)

Stephen Bunting vs Luke Woodhouse (C)

Martin Schindler vs Alexis Toylo (C)

Damon Heta vs Jurjen van der Velde (B)

Gerwyn Worth vs Stefan Bellmont (D)

Michael Smith vs Alex Spellman (A)

Luke Humphries vs Nathan Aspinall (A)

Who will win the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts? Watch all through the week reside on Sky Sports activities. Stay protection continues Monday from 7pm on Sky Sports activities+ and Sky Sports activities Major Occasion. Stream darts and extra prime sport with NOW