Big Names Knocked Out In The Group Stages Of The Grand Slam

Big Names Knocked Out In The Group Stages Of The Grand Slam

Alex Moss |

A Week In Darts – November 13, 2024 – World’s Top Three All Suffer Early Exits At The Grand Slam Of Darts

A dramatic start to this year’s Grand Slam of Darts has seen plenty of big names exit the tournament at the first hurdle. Here’s our round-up of all the darting action in Wolverhampton so far...

@dartscorner.co.uk 🎯🏆 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐥𝐚𝐦 - The Weekly Dartscast co-host Alex Moss brings you Darts Corner's recap of all the darts action from the group stages of the Grand Slam of Darts! #WeGetDarts #darts #dartscommunity #dartsfamily #dartsaddict #standupifyoulovethedarts #pdc #lovethedarts #dartsnews #sportsnews #sports #dartsrecap #grandslamofdarts #fyp ♬ original sound - Darts Corner

TOP THREE SEEDS BOW OUT

The world’s top three players have all been knocked out in the group stages of the Grand Slam of Darts, as Luke Humphries, Michael Smith and Michael van Gerwen tasted early exits in Wolverhampton this week.

The world number one Humphries was a red-hot favorite to begin his Grand Slam title defense with a comfortable passage through Group A, but defeats to Rowby-John Rodriguez and James Wade would send the top seed out of the tournament with a game to spare.

Humphries signed off his campaign with a 101 average and a 5-1 victory against the already-qualified Mickey Mansell on Monday night, which helped him finish third in the group but behind Mansell and Wade, who both advanced to the last 16.

The big names continued to tumble out of the Grand Slam last night, as the three-time Grand Slam champion van Gerwen lost a straight shootout against Ryan Joyce in Group G.

After losing 5-4 to an in-form Gary Anderson on Sunday, the third seed van Gerwen needed to beat Joyce in his last group game to progress to the knockout stages.

However, the recent World Grand Prix semi-finalist Joyce had other ideas, breaking van Gerwen in the deciding leg to clinch the runners-up spot in the group behind Anderson.

A new name is now guaranteed on the Eric Bristow Trophy on Sunday night, as the 2022 champion Smith was sent packing after a 5-0 defeat to Mike De Decker last night.

The winner-takes-all clash in Group E saw the World Grand Prix champion De Decker average 100 and not allow Smith a single dart at a double, as the second seed was eliminated in the group stages of the Grand Slam for a second year in a row.

GROUP OF DEATH DELIVERS

Group H was heavily tipped as the ‘Group of Death’ leading into this year’s Grand Slam of Darts, and it certainly lived up to the hype with a record-breaking set of performances.

Gian van Veen topped the group with three wins from three and averaged 108.89 across the three games, including an eye-watering 114.71 in a 5-1 demolition of Stephen Bunting.

The group concluded last night with Bunting edging out Josh Rock 5-2 in a straight shootout to see who would finish second and join van Veen in the last 16.

Debutant Wessel Nijman averaged an incredible 107 for the tournament, including averages of 106, 105 and 111, but would end up bottom of the group without a point.

The quartet of players produced a combined average of 105.66 in the group, smashing the previous record for the highest group average at the Grand Slam of 98.96 (Group A in 2017).

MENZIES SNEAKS THROUGH

The most dramatic finish to a group at this year’s Grand Slam arguably came in Group B on Monday night, as Cameron Menzies essentially survived ‘four match darts’ to sneak through to the last 16.

After losing 5-1 to the reigning women’s world champion Beau Greaves in his last group game, Menzies faced an agonizing wait to see if he would still qualify for the knockout stages.

Martin Schindler required three legs against Danny Noppert in the group’s finale, but would miss four darts at a double to secure the third and decisive leg he needed to go through.

A 5-2 victory for Noppert meant it was Menzies who finished second in the group instead of the unfortunate Schindler, who averaged 109 in defeat but would finish below Menzies based on the pair’s head-to-head (Menzies beat Schindler 5-2 in their group game).

Pictures: PDC

Alex Moss is a content creator for Darts Corner and the co-host of the Weekly Dartscast podcast. Alex co-founded the Weekly Dartscast in 2017 and has helped produce 350+ episodes of the podcast, with their list of previous guests on the show a who’s who in the world of darts.

Alex also writes content for the Darts Corner blog, including the weekly darts news round-ups and how-to guides.

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