Grand Slam of Darts Round-Up | Littler averages over 105 in dominant win as Noppert dumps out van Gerwen
PDCLuke Littler sent out an ominous message to the rest of the
field after producing a fabulous display against Wessel Nijman in the Grand Slam
of Darts, winning 10-4.
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The reigning Gtand Slam champion came out of the blocks like
a rocket. At the end of the first session, he was averaging over 107, hit 5/6
doubles and was 5-0 ahead over the talented Dutchman, who had no answer to the rampant
18-year-old.
Nijman came out in the second session a lot more competitive.
He broke the Littler throw to get back into the match. He would keep tabs with
the world champion and had multiple darts to make it 6-4. He failed to take them,
and the Englishman made him regret those mistakes as he went 7-3 ahead.
The Nuke was comfortably able to see the match out from
here. He finished in style, taking out 96 in two darts to prolong his unbeaten
streak in Wolverhampton. He missed just two darts on the outer ring and averaged
over 105 in a statement win.
| Luke Littler | VS | Wessel Nijman |
|---|---|---|
| 105.38 | Average (3 Darts) | 94.94 |
| 15 | 100+ Thrown | 16 |
| 11 | 140+ Thrown | 6 |
| 5 | 180 Thrown | 5 |
| 96 | Highest Checkout | 78 |
| 0 | Checkout 100+ | 0 |
| 83.3 | Checkout percentage | 40 |
| 10 / 12 | Checkout | 4 / 10 |
170’s galore as Noppert defeats three-time champion
Danny Noppert continued his fine form in major tournaments
this year after taking down Michael van Gerwen 10-6. The first session produced
four ton+ finishes in one of the most incredible stretches of darts played at
the Grand Slam. Van Gerwen kicked off proceedings with a 170 checkout. This was
incredibly repeated by Noppert two legs later, who continued the impressive
fishing trip in Wolverhampton. He then took out 101 the next leg before Mighty
Mike took out 160 to wrap up an outstanding five legs of darts. Noppert was
averaging 112 while van Gerwen was slacking with a 106 average.
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The high finishing would not continue but the high quality would.
Three 15-dart holds of throw were followed by a plethora of doubles missed by
van Gerwen. He got away with it, but just after Noppert missed the bull for a
119 checkout to break. The Green Machine would then spurn the chance to level
as Noppert showed him to hit double 18 to take a 6-4 lead.
Noppert found a lot of joy on double two, hitting it in
consecutive legs. The second time to claim a second break and full authority of
this match. The Freeze almost completed a marvellous performance with a 120
outshot but he missed a match dart at tops. He returned a leg later on that
target to secure a brilliant result. It is a fifth major quarter-final in 2025,
and a first in the Grand Slam.
| Michael Van Gerwen | VS | Danny Noppert |
|---|---|---|
| 96.5 | Average (3 Darts) | 98.69 |
| 11 | 100+ Thrown | 10 |
| 9 | 140+ Thrown | 10 |
| 8 | 180 Thrown | 7 |
| 170 | Highest Checkout | 170 |
| 2 | Checkout 100+ | 2 |
| 33.3 | Checkout percentage | 50 |
| 6 / 18 | Checkout | 9 / 18 |
Rock crawls over the line
An under-par Josh Rock just managed to hold off Connor Scutt
10-9. Rock sprinted out very quickly, ominously going 3-0 ahead which included a
102 checkout. However, he started to flounder as Scutt grew into the tie, winning
three legs on the spin to get back into it. The World Cup champion was not finding
his best game, struggling on the outer ring. After taking out 106 on double 16,
he missed four darts to break and go into the second session ahead. Scutt took
his chance to make it 5-5.
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It looked like Rock had found his flow as he stormed out
into an 8-5 lead. This would not be the definitive blow he would have hoped for
as Scutt fought his way back. He found a three-leg burst of his own to draw
level at 8-8. The Northern Irishman re-took the lead before a missed match dart
at the bull allowed Scutt to clean up on double two and force a last-leg
decider. Rock had the advantage with it on his throw and took full advantage of
this by going out in 14 to confirm another major quarter-final in 2025. He will
need to play better when he faces Littler for a spot in the last-four.
| Josh Rock | VS | Connor Scutt |
|---|---|---|
| 89.73 | Average (3 Darts) | 91.65 |
| 27 | 100+ Thrown | 22 |
| 10 | 140+ Thrown | 12 |
| 4 | 180 Thrown | 3 |
| 106 | Highest Checkout | 54 |
| 2 | Checkout 100+ | 0 |
| 35.7 | Checkout percentage | 37.5 |
| 10 / 28 | Checkout | 9 / 24 |
Wenig dream debut continues
On debut, Lukas Wenig has reached his first major
quarter-final in a 10-8 victory over fellow German Niko Springer. It was Springer
started the brighter, taking out consecutive 15-darters to go 2-0 ahead, but Wenig
quickly levelled. At 3-3, Springer looked like he was set to make his move. A
12-darter was followed by a 70 outshot to head 5-3 ahead. However, a
show-stopping 154 checkout from Luu broke instantly back before drawing all square
at the end of the second session.
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Wenig took the lead for the first time in the match, once
again utilising tops. He had pinned 6/7 darts on the outer ring at this point.
This was a break of throw, but once again it did not last long as Springer levelled
in 14-darts before re-taking the lead. He was unable to extend this out with
Wenig’s incredible finishing prolonging. He took out 73 in two to break and go
8-7 ahead before holding to leave himself one leg away from the quarter-final.
He missed two match darts on double 16 but came back a leg later on tops to
wrap up the biggest win of his career.
| Lukas Wenig | VS | Niko Springer |
|---|---|---|
| 93.2 | Average (3 Darts) | 93.31 |
| 17 | 100+ Thrown | 14 |
| 12 | 140+ Thrown | 9 |
| 3 | 180 Thrown | 7 |
| 154 | Highest Checkout | 70 |
| 1 | Checkout 100+ | 0 |
| 52.6 | Checkout percentage | 57.1 |
| 10 / 19 | Checkout | 8 / 14 |

Lucas MichaelDarts Journalist
Lucas Michael is a darts journalist and reporter based in Cambridge, UK, and has been part of the DartsNews team since 2025. He covers professional darts through reports, analysis, round-ups, and live coverage, with a focus on clear context and accurate reporting across the PDC calendar.
A key part of his work is liveblogging major tournaments throughout the year, providing real-time updates, match coverage, and contextual reporting across the professional circuit. He also reports regularly from events on site and has covered the PDC World Darts Championship from the venue, delivering first-hand insight throughout the tournament.
Within the newsroom, Lucas works closely with the editorial team and supports coverage alongside Chief Content Officer Samuel Gill and reporter Kieran Wood.
Lucas holds a BA (Hons) in Sports Journalism. In his work, he places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating content promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Ultimately it is a bye for whoever draws Barney. It will be another stroppy and sulky performance once he goes behind. Barney was excellent but really must completely call it a day now.richieburnettrocks07-11-2026
- I'm disappointed he was not able to secure a spot at the Grand Slam. With Carl Sneyd taking care of Daryl Gurney, he would have had to beat Andy Boulton before facing the winner of Sneyd vs Mensur Suljović for a Grand Slam spot. Unfortunately, after beating Filip Bereza comfortably, he succumbed to Boulton, and the board would ultimately be won by the highly inconsistent Carl Sneyd. Since he could instead have been drawn against the likes of Cristo Reyes, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Stephen Bunting, I think once Gurney was out of the picture he would have been favourite to win his board, and it seems like a massive missed opportunity to put 5 grand on his ranking and seal another major TV appearance ahead of the Worlds. The highs and lows of following Raymond van Barneveld!Deduce635806-11-2026
- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026
- Fair play to Fallon. But...shows the mockery when a professional players wins what was meant to be an amateur v Pro event, Littlers performance was poor, and what about the players who didn't get a game? Would have been better if the pot was split amoungst all the winners and they all got a leg.BandB31-10-2026






