Luke Littler laid down an early marker on day one of the Grand Slam of Darts, beating Beau Greaves 5-2.
Littler hit seven maximums and averaged a fraction shy of 110 in a high-class performance against an opponent whose standard might've been enough to win most other matches on the day.
Greaves averaged 103.82 herself and was 67% on the doubles, but the fact she only had three darts at them demonstrates how high Littler's level was in Wolverhampton.
It's not been the best of autumns for Littler, who nonetheless went into the event as a 6/4 favourite. On this showing, those odds may be left seeming extremely generous by the end of next week.
Luke Littler beats Beau Greaves! 🎯 pic.twitter.com/LiXLSebBYW
— Sky Sports Darts (@SkySportsDarts) November 14, 2026
Earlier, in-form Luke Humphries also impressed in a 5-3 victory over Paulo Nebrida, Cool Hand averaging 105, while James Wade and Gerwyn Price were other big-name winners in the evening alongside Michael van Gerwen, who laboured past 20-year-old Henry Coates 5-4.
The big surprise of the evening session came from Rusty Jake Rodriguez as he toppled Ross Smith, who will now need to beat Gabriel Clemens on Sunday and then hope Clemens can beat Rodriguez on Monday.
The new format means only the winner advances from three-person groups and therefore anyone who lost on day one, including Johnny Clayton, Josh Rock and Luke Woodhouse, now needs everything to go their way to stand a chance of progressing.
Clayton was beaten 5-4 by Anton Ostlund, Rock lost to Tommy Morris, and Woodhouse was beaten by Tom Sykes in the opening match.
Grand Slam of Darts results
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)
- 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 (1900 GMT)
- 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 v Carl Sneyd (M)
- Chris Dobey v Jan Schmidt (N)
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