Littler defeats Greaves 5-2 to begin Grand Slam title defence in Wolverhampton

Luke Littler began his defence of the Grand Slam of Darts with a 5-2 victory over Beau Greaves on the opening night in Wolverhampton, averaging just under 110 and recording seven 180s.

Littler, 19, claimed the 2025 Grand Slam title by beating Luke Humphries and became world number one for the first time; he arrives unbeaten in 15 Grand Slam matches and is seeking to become the third player after Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen to win three successive titles.

The world number one moved quickly to a 3-0 lead and then withstood a Greaves response to close out the best-of-nine contest without surrendering the initiative.

"I am happy with the win," Littler told Sky Sports. "I said in my pre-match interview I needed to get off to a strong start because Beau started to find it at the end there. "Beau was fantastic but I am happy with myself and still 100% here in Wolverhampton. "I think it is what I need. Obviously the past three or four majors haven't gone well, but I have been practising and I am glad I have shown it."

Last month Littler was knocked out in the quarter-finals of the European Championship and had also been beaten in the semi-finals of the World Youth Championships.

Other opening-night results saw Luke Humphries beat Paolo Nebrida to begin his campaign, Ross Smith suffer a 5-3 defeat by Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, and English debutant Henry Coates, 20, take Van Gerwen to a deciding leg before the three-time champion prevailed 5-4; there were also wins for Gerwyn Price, Nathan Aspinall, Stephen Bunting and Gian van Veen.

The expanded tournament will feature 48 group-stage matches across the opening three days.