World darts champion Luke Littler was eliminated in the opening round of the World Grand Prix, suffering a shock defeat to Luke Woodhouse in Leicester. The 19-year-old defending champion struggled to maintain his recent form, having exited the World Series of Darts Finals at the quarter-final stage just over a week prior.
Although Littler secured the first set, he averaged only 82.41 throughout the match, significantly below his standard. This inconsistency allowed Woodhouse to level the score before completing a checkout of 75 to take the deciding set 3-1 on legs and advance to the last 16.
In other notable results from the early stages of the tournament, 2022 runner-up Nathan Aspinall defeated Dutch debutant Kevin Doets 2-1. Aspinall will now face Woodhouse in the next round.
Former world number one Michael van Gerwen also fell at this stage, losing five of the final six legs in a contest against 2024 semi-finalist Ryan Joyce. Joyce recovered to win the match 2-1 and has been drawn against Danny Noppert, who advanced past Niko Springer by the same scoreline.
Wales’ Gerwyn Price claimed a comfortable 2-0 victory over Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki, losing just a single leg. Price will meet Ross Smith, who recovered from behind to defeat Scotland’s Cameron Menzies 2-1.
Additionally, Jonny Clayton progressed with a 2-1 win over Krzysztof Ratajski and will now contest the next round against the Netherlands’ Wessel Nijman, who defeated 2018 world champion Rob Cross in straight sets.
Van Gerwen losing to Joyce is wild. Something is definitely wrong with MvG’s form this season. Can he turn it around?
Woodhouse was brilliant. That 75 checkout sealed it perfectly against a struggling Littler. Huge night for him.