Luke Humphries lands match-winning nine-darter at the Grand Slam of Darts

Luke Humphries produced a sensational nine-darter to seal a crucial victory over Michael Smith at the Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton on Sunday.

A pulsating double-session on Day Two at the Aldersley Leisure Village saw six players secure qualification for the knockout phase.

While Humphries is not yet assured of a place in the Last 16, he grabbed the headlines by sealing a 5-3 win over Smith with the seventh nine-darter in Grand Slam history.

The world number one had produced an earlier 139 checkout and added an 80 finish to edge 4-3 in front, before kicking off the eighth leg with a 177, following up with a 180 and taking out 144 to seal the points in remarkable fashion.

“It’s the weirdest game of darts I’ve been involved in,” admitted Humphries, who sits top of Group A with four points.

“I didn’t feel good and couldn’t hit a treble. It all felt like hard work and I thought the game was gone.

“To then go on and hit a nine-darter, that’s why darts is one of the best sports in the world. It was quite an incredible game to be part of, and I’m still flabbergasted from what just happened!”

While Humphries still requires three legs from his final group game against Nathan Aspinall to secure his progression, Aspinall bounced back from his opening night defeat to Smith by seeing off debutant Alex Spellman 5-2 to keep his qualification hopes alive.

Meanwhile, defending champion Luke Littler made it nine games unbeaten in the Grand Slam as he defied a 170 checkout from Connor Scutt to prevail 5-3 with a 105 average.

“We were both up for a good game,” said Littler. “I can say now that I’m through, relax tomorrow and come back Tuesday.

“It was better than the first game and hopefully I can play even better going forward. I’m very happy that the pressure is off going into the final game.”

Ricky Evans also reeled in the Big Fish with a 170 checkout en route to a 5-4 win over Swiss debutant Stefan Bellmont 5-4 to reach the knockout phase for the first time.

Evans will be joined in progressing from Group E by either Bellmont or three-time Grand Slam champion Gerwyn Price – who whitewashed James Wade in a result which eliminates this year’s UK Open and World Matchplay runner-up.

Chris Dobey secured his place in the Last 16 with a 5-1 demolition of Damon Heta, while last year’s beaten finalist Martin Lukeman cannot escape the group stage after suffering a 5-4 loss to Dutch debutant Jurjen van der Velde.

Danny Noppert also moved into the knockout phase following a 5-4 win over Cam Crabtree – who now takes on Lukas Wenig in a winner-progresses clash after the German ended Jonny Clayton’s hopes with a shock 5-3 success.

Hungarian Trophy winner Niko Springer will also feature in the knockout phase after he continued a memorable Wolverhampton debut with a 5-4 win over Michael van Gerwen.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Van Gerwen now faces a straight shootout with Gary Anderson in Tuesday’s final Group G fixture, after the Scottish star edged out Beau Greaves in a last-leg epic.

A high-quality encounter saw both players average above 102, while the two-time World Champion defied a 100 per cent checkout success rate from Greaves – who for the second consecutive game averaged over a ton but lost in a last-leg decider.

“She’s going to cause so much trouble next year on the ProTour,” said Anderson. “I watched Beau the night before, she was hitting 140 after 140.

“After the next five years, I don’t think you will have one person dominating darts because from these youngsters there are going to be so many good darts players.”

Fourth seed Stephen Bunting is another high-profile name to crash out in the group stage, with Luke Woodhouse securing progression from Group C.

Bunting had suffered a shock 5-4 defeat to Alexis Toylo on Saturday and went down to Martin Schindler by the same scoreline 24 hours later to see his hopes ended.

Toylo this time went down 5-2 as Woodhouse progressed thanks to five straight legs, but the Filipino now takes on Schindler on Monday for a spot in the Last 16.

Gian van Veen averaged 107 in a 5-3 win over Wessel Nijman, while Josh Rock whitewashed Lisa Ashton 5-0 – meaning that three players can still qualify in Group F.

Karel Sedlacek missed ten match darts before finally closing out a 5-3 win over an out of sorts Daryl Gurney to condemn the Northern Irishman to elimination in Group E, where the Czechia star now faces off against Scutt for a second round spot.

Grand Slam of Darts 2025 Day Two Results

Sunday November 9

Afternoon Session

Groups B-D-F-H Second Matches
Martin Lukeman 4-5 Jurjen van der Velde (B)
Jonny Clayton 3-5 Lukas Wenig (H)
Josh Rock 5-0 Lisa Ashton (F)
James Wade 0-5 Gerwyn Price (D)
Ricky Evans 5-4 Stefan Bellmont (D)
Danny Noppert 5-4 Cam Crabtree (H)
Gian van Veen 5-3 Wessel Nijman (F)
Chris Dobey 5-1 Damon Heta (B)

Evening Session

Groups A-C-E-G Second Matches
Nathan Aspinall 5-2 Alex Spellman (A)
Daryl Gurney 3-5 Karel Sedlacek (E)
Stephen Bunting 4-5 Martin Schindler (C)
Gary Anderson 5-4 Beau Greaves (G)
Luke Littler 5-3 Connor Scutt (E)
Luke Humphries 5-3 Michael Smith (A) – *Humphries hits a nine-darter*
Michael van Gerwen 4-5 Niko Springer (G)
Luke Woodhouse 5-2 Alexis Toylo (C)