Luke Littler Suffers Shock First-Round Exit at World Grand Prix

Luke Littler, the defending champion and world number one, was eliminated in the first round of the World Grand Prix in Leicester on Sunday, losing 2-1 to Luke Woodhouse in what Sky Sports described as one of the biggest upsets in the tournament's history.¹²³

A shock defeat

Littler, described in reports as a double world champion, went down 2-1 to Woodhouse, of Worcestershire, who came from behind to seal victory with a checkout of 75 in two darts.¹⁷⁴

Reports differed on Littler's average in the match: some outlets recorded it at 82.41, while others disputed that figure. Sports Mole reported that Littler hit five 100-plus scores in the deciding set before the loss.²¹⁷⁵

The defeat came just over a week after Littler was knocked out in the quarter-finals of the World Series of Darts Finals by Jonny Clayton, according to the BBC, and followed reports that he had been booed and whistled during the World Series event in Amsterdam.²¹

Van Gerwen also falls

Michael van Gerwen, who was bidding for what Sky Sports described as a seventh World Grand Prix title, was eliminated 2-1 by Ryan Joyce, a 2024 semi-finalist, after coming back from a set down. Sky Sports reported this was Van Gerwen's third consecutive first-round exit at the event, though other outlets disputed the description of him as a six-time champion.¹³²⁴

The BBC reported that Van Gerwen lost five of the last six legs of the match.²

Rest of the field

Elsewhere on the opening night, Gerwyn Price, described as the 2020 champion by Sky Sports, though this was disputed by other reporting, defeated Sebastian Bialecki 2-0, hitting three 180s and producing what DartsNews.com reported as the night's highest average of 101.61. Jonny Clayton, credited by Sky Sports as the 2021 winner, beat Krzysztof Ratajski 2-1.³¹⁵

Ross Smith defeated Cameron Menzies 2-1, having averaged 99.54 according to DartsNews.com. Smith, described as the World Series of Darts Finals champion, revealed afterwards that he had been hospitalised on the Friday before the tournament with heart issues in addition to a virus, and said he had considered withdrawing.⁵³

Nathan Aspinall, the 2022 runner-up, beat Kevin Doets in a last-leg decider, Danny Noppert defeated Niko Springer 2-1, and Wessel Nijman beat Rob Cross, the 2018 world champion, in straight sets.²⁵³

Reaction

In a message shared on Instagram after the match, Littler wrote: "Well played @lukewoody180 was a good game … Luke took his chance and nice week off now, all the best to [him] for rest of the tournament." He then indicated where his attention would turn next, adding: "May aswell get myself to OT (Old Trafford) now I'm out. LETS GO THE WIRE @warringtonrlfc."¹³⁶

For his part, Woodhouse offered this response: "Luke's not a robot. He's going to have days and weeks and whatever where he's not right on it," before continuing, "I hope people will take the time to appreciate how good he is and not give him a hard time."³