Ryan Searle stole the headlines on Day Three in Wolverhampton but the departure of reigning Champion Michael Smith was perhaps the shock of the event so far.
The Grand Slam of Darts group stage will conclude on Tuesday, as the final round-robin matches in Groups E-H take place at WV Active Aldersley.
Heavy Metal Searle produced the sixth nine-darter in Grand Slam history to book his place in the knockout stage for the first time. Michael van Gerwen, Nathan Aspinall and American debutant Stowe Buntz have confirmed their qualification to the knockout stage, with a total of eleven players already through. Meanwhile world number two Peter Wright and Stephen Bunting will lock horns for a last 16 berth.
Elsewhere, Fallon Sherrock and Beau Greaves also face straight shoot-outs for qualification, as they take on Rob Cross and Damon Heta in Groups G and H respectively.
GROUP TABLES
GROUP A
| P | W | L | LW | LL | +/- | LWAT | Pts | |
| James Wade (Q) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 5 | 4 |
| Krzysztof Ratajski (Q) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 10 | +4 | 5 | 4 |
| Michael Smith | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Nathan Girvan | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 15 | -10 | 1 | 0 |
GROUP B
| P | W | L | LW | LL | +/- | LWAT | Pts | |
| Josh Rock (Q) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 4 | +11 | 7 | 6 |
| Chris Dobey (Q) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Jonny Clayton | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 12 | -3 | 4 | 2 |
| Berry van Peer | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 15 | -8 | 2 | 0 |
GROUP C
| P | W | L | LW | LL | +/- | LWAT | Pts | |
| Luke Humphries (Q) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 4 | +11 | 7 | 6 |
| Gary Anderson (Q) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 10 | +1 | 5 | 4 |
| Dirk van Duijvenbode | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 12 | -2 | 7 | 2 |
| Steve Lennon | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 15 | -10 | 3 | 0 |
GROUP D
| P | W | L | LW | LL | +/- | LWAT | Pts | |
| Gerwyn Price (Q) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 2 | +13 | 6 | 6 |
| Ryan Searle (Q) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 12 | -2 | 5 | 4 |
| Nathan Rafferty | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 12 | -3 | 3 | 2 |
| Gian van Veen | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 15 | -8 | 3 | 0 |
GROUP E
| P | W | L | LW | LL | +/- | LWAT | Pts | |
| Stowe Buntz (Q) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 4 | 4 |
| Stephen Bunting | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 9 | -1 | 1 | 2 |
| Peter Wright | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 9 | -3 | 3 | 2 |
| Dave Chisnall | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 2 | 0 |
GROUP F
| P | W | L | LW | LL | +/- | LWAT | Pts | |
| Danny Noppert | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 4 | 4 |
| Brendan Dolan | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 4 | 2 |
| Andrew Gilding | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Haruki Muramatsu | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 10 | -5 | 2 | 0 |
GROUP G
| P | W | L | LW | LL | +/- | LWAT | Pts | |
| Michael van Gerwen (Q) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 5 | 4 |
| Rob Cross | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Fallon Sherrock | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 9 | -3 | 0 | 2 |
| Martijn Kleermaker | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 1 | 0 |
GROUP H
| P | W | L | LW | LL | +/- | LWAT | Pts | |
| Nathan Aspinall (Q) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 3 | 4 |
| Beau Greaves | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 2 | 2 |
| Damon Heta | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 9 | -2 | 2 | 2 |
| Ricardo Pietreczko | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 10 | -5 | 0 | 0 |
——ENDS—–
Images: Kieran Cleeves/PDC
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