Danny Noppert dumps Michael van Gerwen out of the Grand Slam as Luke Littler continues his charge
Danny Noppert produced a terrific display to knock Michael van Gerwen out of the Grand Slam of Darts at the Last 16 stage on Thursday, as Luke Littler maintained his title defence.
Van Gerwen’s quest for a fourth Grand Slam title was derailed by a clinical Noppert, who prevailed 10-6 in a high-quality contest against his former World Cup partner.
Noppert led 3-2 following a sensational opening session which featured 170 checkouts from both players, as well as a 160 finish from Van Gerwen.
Former UK Open champion Noppert was averaging 112 in the opening exchanges, and Van Gerwen was unable to live with his compatriot’s consistency, succumbing 10-6 despite landing eight 180s.
“It was a rollercoaster. I think I coped well under pressure, so I’m really happy,” said Noppert.
“Over the whole game I played well. Everything went my way, but in the end I was a little bit nervous.
“If I keep playing like this and maintain this form, I think there will be problems for everyone.”
Littler, meanwhile, continued his title defence with a dominant 10-4 victory over Wessel Nijman, averaging 105.4 with 10/12 on the doubles.
The 18-year-old powered into a 5-0 lead to leave Nijman staring down the barrel, landing a hat-trick of 15-darters and legs of 13 and 12 darts to assert his dominance.
Nijman won three of the next four legs to threaten an unlikely fightback, but the Dutchman paid the price for missing three darts at doubles in a crucial tenth leg as Littler duly punished and went on to seal an emphatic victory, registering 12 and 11-dart holds to triumph with an astonishing 83 per cent checkout success rate.
“Wessel and I have had our battles in the past, so to get that win over him was special,” insisted Littler, who has won 11 consecutive games on the Grand Slam stage.
“I had to switch on tonight. I’ve won titles like the World Matchplay coming back from 5-0 down, but tonight I wanted to prove a point and start strongly.
“I know if I get to the final I’ll be world number one, so I’m taking it game by game and hopefully Josh and I can have another great game like we did at the World Matchplay.”
Littler will now renew his rivalry with Josh Rock in a repeat of their epic World Matchplay semi-final in July, after the Northern Irishman edged out Connor Scutt in a tense last-leg shoot-out.
The World Cup of Darts winner seized upon a below-par start from Scutt to race into a 3-0 lead, before overcoming a mid-game slump to seal his progress with a 14-dart hold in the decider.
“We both didn’t play as well as we could tonight,” reflected Rock, who landed a brace of ton-plus checkouts on his way to victory.
“I’ve never missed the treble 20 as much in my life. I just couldn’t hit the treble 20 at all.
“I am absolutely grateful I won that game, but I did not deserve to win. I need to wake up after that game.”
Lukas Wenig, meanwhile, recorded a landmark 10-8 victory over German compatriot Niko Springer to progress to a maiden televised quarter-final.
Having secured top spot in Group H, the unheralded German continued his breakthrough run with a clinical display of doubling in Wolverhampton.
Springer made the early running, but a sensational 154 checkout from Wenig in leg nine sparked the turnaround, with the 31-year-old winning four of the last five legs to prevail.
“I don’t find words for this, this is so amazing,” admitted Wenig, who also won four matches in last month’s Tour Card Holder Qualifier to seal his qualification.
“The stage has not been my friend, I have had really big problems up there, so to go to the quarter-finals really is unbelievable.”
Grand Slam of Darts 2025 Day Six Results
Thursday November 13
Second Round
Lukas Wenig 10-8 Niko Springer
Josh Rock 10-9 Connor Scutt
Luke Littler 10-4 Wessel Nijman
Michael van Gerwen 6-10 Danny Noppert
