GRAND SLAM OF DARTS - DAY ONE SUMMARY

• Luke Littler wins blockbuster clash against Beau Greaves.
• Michael van Gerwen survives a deciding-leg epic against Henry Coates.
• Nathan Aspinall & Gian van Veen record remarkable averages.
• Jonny Clayton, Ross Smith & Josh Rock suffer opening day defeats.

Luke Littler opened his bid for a third consecutive Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts title with a statement victory over Beau Greaves on a pulsating day of action in Wolverhampton.

Reigning champion Littler averaged 109.97 to win through a compelling encounter against Women’s World Matchplay champion Greaves, who averaged almost 104 in defeat.

The Doncaster trailblazer won their previous meeting in last year’s World Youth Championship, only for Littler to avenge that result with a blistering display on Saturday evening.

“I knew I needed to get off a strong start,” admitted the world number one, who is yet to taste defeat in 15 matches at this event.

“Beau was fantastic, but I’m happy with my performance and I’ve still got a 100% record in Wolverhampton.

“I just love it here. When you’re performing like this you’re going to be happy, I’ve been practising hard and I’m glad I’ve shown it tonight.”

Littler will now take on Dutch Darts Champion Niels Zonneveld in his next Group A assignment on Monday, knowing that victory will confirm his place in the knockout stage.

Day One of the £1m event saw 16 round-robin ties take place across a bumper double session, as a host of big names delivered the goods at WV Active Aldersley.

Three-time champion Michael van Gerwen came out on top in a nine-leg thriller against rising star Henry Coates, as the Dutch superstar won his opening group game for a 16^th consecutive year.

Coates crashed in five 180s and produced superb 121 and 156 checkouts to threaten a major upset, only for Van Gerwen to survive two match darts in the decider to triumph with a 100.42 average.

“I think you need to give credit to Henry,” reflected Van Gerwen, who will also face Jeffrey de Graaf in Group L.

“For his first time on the big stage I think he played a phenomenal game, but I had to dig deep tonight.

“Everyone knows where I’m coming from. I have to battle for every game I want to win, and luckily today I gave some joy to myself!”

2023 champion Luke Humphries also impressed in the West Midlands, averaging 105.7 to wrap up a hard-fought 5-3 victory against PDC Asian Champion Paolo Nebrida.

However, Nathan Aspinall was Saturday’s stand-out performer, producing the highest televised average of his career in a 5-1 drubbing of Maik Kuivenhoven.

The Stockport star seized control of Group P with an irrepressible display, averaging 111.68 and converting back-to-back 149 and 120 checkouts en route to victory.

“I’m in a very good headspace at the moment,” insisted Aspinall, a Grand Slam runner-up in 2022.

“This format is absolutely brutal. It’s so cut-throat. There’s going to be lots of shocks and I don’t want to be one of them, and that’s why I was so focused.

“This first game was massive, so I’m buzzing to put in a great performance and now I’ll be raring to go on Tuesday.”

Dutch number one Gian van Veen produced similarly staggering numbers in his win over big stage newcomer Carl Sneyd, averaging 110.51 to run out a 5-2 winner in the evening’s penultimate encounter.

James Wade also impressed in his Group K opener against Cam Crabtree, averaging north of 104 to begin his record-equalling 19^th Grand Slam campaign in style.

Gerwyn Price made a winning start on his Wolverhampton return, defying a furious fightback from Joe Hunt – which featured a spectacular 170 checkout - to begin his bid for a fourth Eric Bristow Trophy.

Nevertheless, Ross Smith was one of several high-profile names to succumb on Day One, as Rusty-Jake Rodriguez punished a profligate display from the European Champion to claim a shock 5-3 win in Group O.

Jonny Clayton and Josh Rock are also precariously placed in their respective groups, after losing out to debutants Anton Ostlund and Tommy Morris respectively.

Ostlund edged past world number five Clayton in Group G, while Morris averaged 100.33 in an eye-catching 5-2 win against two-time quarter-finalist Rock in Group C.

Tom Sykes also prevailed on his Wolverhampton debut, running out a 5-3 winner against Luke Woodhouse to secure the early initiative in Group J.

Stephen Bunting averaged almost 101 in a dramatic encounter against Raymond Smith, while Ryan Searle reeled off the last two legs in just 23 darts to seal a deciding-leg win over Charlie Manby.

Elsewhere, Dutch duo Wessel Nijman and Jermaine Wattimena eased past Adam Sevada and Lisa Ashton, while Chris Dobey swept aside World Youth Championship finalist Jan Schmidt.

Day Two of the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts will see Saturday’s losing players return to play Player B from each group, with Smith, Clayton and Rock amongst the stars in action.

The 2026 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts is being broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).

Click here for match stats & results.

2026 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts
Saturday November 14
Afternoon Session
8x Group Matches (Seeded Player v Player C)
Tom Sykes 5-3 Luke Woodhouse (J)
Jermaine Wattimena 5-2 Lisa Ashton (B)
Stephen Bunting 5-4 Raymond Smith (D)
Ryan Searle 5-4 Charlie Manby (F)
Tommy Morris 5-2 Josh Rock (C)
Wessel Nijman 5-1 Adam Sevada (H)
Nathan Aspinall 5-1 Maik Kuivenhoven (P)
Anton Ostlund 5-4 Jonny Clayton (G)

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)
8x Group Matches (Player B v Saturday Afternoon’s Losing Player)
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)

Evening Session (1930 GMT)
8x Group Matches (Player B v Saturday Evening’s Losing Player)
Martin Schindler v Jan Schmidt (N)
Joe Cullen v Paolo Nebrida (I)
Sebastian Bialecki v Joe Hunt (E)
Bradley Brooks v Carl Sneyd (M)
Ricky Evans v Cam Crabtree (K)
Niels Zonneveld v Beau Greaves (A)
Ross Smith v Gabriel Clemens (O)
Jeffrey de Graaf v Henry Coates (L)