Top seed Luke Humphries defeated Nathan Aspinall to secure his place in the knockout stages of the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton. Humphries averaged 102.62 and maintained a 100% record to finish top of Group A.
Michael Smith, who beat American Alex Spellman 5-2, took second place in the group. That result means an early exit for Aspinall — despite a 100.01 average and five 180s — who was unfortunate to meet Humphries in such rich form; Humphries also produced a nine-darter on Sunday.
Humphries will face Netherlands’ Jurjen van der Velde in round two, which begins on Wednesday. Chris Dobey sealed first place in Group B with a 5-1 win over Martin Lukeman and will meet 2023 world champion Michael Smith in the next round, even though Dobey averaged only 81 in that match.
Gerwyn Price also advanced comfortably, winning Group D after a 5-1 victory over Switzerland’s Stefan Bellmont. James Wade beat Ricky Evans 5-2, a result that confirmed Price’s top spot in the group.
Already-eliminated Stephen Bunting suffered a third consecutive final-leg defeat as Luke Woodhouse edged him 5-4 to win Group C. Germany’s Martin Schindler progressed after beating the Philippines’ Alexis Toylo 5-2.
The remaining group fixtures in the bottom half of the draw take place on Tuesday. World champion Luke Littler had already qualified for the second round ahead of those matches.
Full results:
James Wade 5-2 Ricky Evans
Chris Dobey 5-1 Martin Lukeman
Stephen Bunting 4-5 Luke Woodhouse
Martin Schindler 5-2 Alexis Toylo
Damon Heta 3-5 Jurjen van der Velde
Gerwyn Price 5-1 Stefan Bellmont
Michael Smith 5-2 Alex Spellman
Luke Humphries 5-3 Nathan Aspinall
