Luke Littler’s love affair with the Grand Slam of Darts continued, as the back-to-back champion produced an average of nearly 110 to win his blockbuster match with Beau Greaves in a 5-2 success at Aldersley Leisure Village.
Littler, unbeaten at the venue having lifted the Eric Bristow Trophy in 2024 and 2025, dominated his contest with the Women’s World Matchplay champion, and banked maximum points in a Group A that also included the dangerous Niels Zonneveld, who will meet Greaves on Sunday.
The big guns largely fired, and Gian van Veen was in fine form, averaging 110.51 in a 5-2 win against Carl Sneyd, with the debutant also impressing in defeat with an average of over 101.
Luke Humphries was also a high-averaging winner, with ‘Cool Hand’ clocking 105.70 in fending off a late Paolo Nebrida comeback to record a 5-3 opening win.
Gerwyn Price was cruising at 4-0 up against PDC Winmau Challenge Tour Order of Merit winner Joe Hunt, but Hunt rallied, a 170 finish included to reel off three straight legs before the Welshman completed victory.
Ross Smith suffered a surprise opening defeat in Wolverhampton, as the European and World Series Finals champion was below-par in a 5-3 defeat to Rowby-John Rodriguez, who came through the qualifiers to make the tournament proper.
Michael van Gerwen got the better of Henry Coates in a match that featured nine maximums, and the Dutchman had to dodge two match darts from the youngster before prevailing in a final leg.
James Wade produced a rock-solid performance on opening day, a 104.09 average and two ton-plus finishes getting the job done in a 5-1 success over World Youth Championship finalist Cam Crabtree.
Chris Dobey rounded the evening off with a routine win against World Youth Championship finalist Jan Schmidt, averaging nearly 99 in a 5-2 Group N win.
The action continues on Sunday.
2026 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts
Saturday November 14
Evening Session
8x Group Matches (Seeded Player v Player C)
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 5-2 Carl Sneyd (M)
Chris Dobey 5-2 Jan Schmidt (N)
Sunday November 15
Afternoon Session (1300 GMT)
Karel Sedlacek v Maik Kuivenhoven (P)
Niko Springer v Adam Sevada (H)
Alan Soutar v Lisa Ashton (B)
Cameron Menzies v Raymond Smith (D)
Luke Woodhouse v Krzysztof Ratajski (J)
Andrew Gilding v Charlie Manby (F)
Jonny Clayton v Rob Cross (G)
Josh Rock v Kevin Doets (C)
