Ryan Joyce hands Van Leuven second straight defeat as Keane Barry keeps Grand Slam of Darts hopes alive

Noa-Lynn van Leuven is still waiting for a first win at the 2024 Grand Slam of Darts. Ryan Joyce avoided the upset on Sunday night, taking a 5-3 win.

After a heavy 5-0 defeat against Michael van Gerwen, Van Leuven needed a win to have a chance of reaching the knockout stage. She looked threatening at one point too having won the first two legs by checking out 64 and 72 in the first two legs.

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Van Leuven then had as many as nine darts at a double to make it 3-0, but all these opportunities were missed. Joyce punished and got on the scoreboard with a 24-darter. A 110 check-out followed to level the score.

In the fifth leg, Van Leuven had a chance to regain the lead, but tops for a 3-2 lead was missed. Joyce did hit the double and took the lead for the first time in the match. Van Leuven then made it 3-3, after which Joyce kept his own leg with a 13-darter. In the eighth leg, Joyce quickly distanced himself from his Dutch opponent and a 15-darter gave him the win.

Later in the evening, Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson will play each other in Group G. If Anderson wins from 'Mighty Mike', Van Gerwen and Joyce will play each other on Tuesday to determine who will advance to the second round. If Van Gerwen wins from the Scot, theoretically everything is still possible.

In Group F, Keane Barry kept himself in the race by beating Lourence Ilagan 5-3. After a hopeless 5-0 defeat against an unleashed Luke Littler, Barry needed a big win over the Filipino to still have a chance of reaching the knockout stage. The Irishman will have to wait and see what the result of the match between Dimitri van den Bergh and Luke Littler will be.

Van den Bergh and Littler had won their first group match. If Littler manages to win against the Belgian, Ilagan will be eliminated for good. In that case, Van den Bergh and Berry will play a decider.

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