Searle seals narrow win over touted debutant Rock, Woodhouse hands defeat to newly crowned European Champion Ross Smith

In the so called Group of Death, it is Ryan Searle who has sealed an early win over highly touted debutant Josh Rock at the Grand Slam of Darts to take the early impetus on the opening night.

In a group which also includes Luke Humphries and Scott Williams, some sections expected Rock to join 'Cool Hand Luke' in getting out the group but 'Heavy Metal' tore apart the script with a 5-4 success in Wolverhampton.

A commanding lead for Searle saw him go 3-1 up in the early going before Rock came back with a 111 checkout for 3-3. But breaking at the right time after 'Rocky' had gone one away, he hit double two with his last dart to seal it.

While Luke Woodhouse handed recent European Champion, Ross Smith his first major defeat since winning the title in Dortmund with a superb 5-4 success for the Bewdley ace who of course hails from just down the road.

Smith started superbly with a 164 for a 2-1 lead but it was a tight tie and Smith went 4-3 up after Woodhouse wired the bull only for Woody to force a decider and seal it with a 104 checkout on his throw.