Luke Littler Eliminated in Shock World Grand Prix Stunner

World champion Luke Littler's defense of his World Grand Prix title came to an abrupt end on Monday as he suffered a surprise first-round defeat to Luke Woodhouse in Leicester. Littler, who had been looking to rebound from a recent quarter-final exit at the World Series of Darts Finals, struggled throughout the best-of-three match, averaging 82.41.

Despite winning the opening set, Littler could not maintain his form, allowing Woodhouse to level the contest. Woodhouse then secured the deciding set 3-1 in legs with a checkout of 75 to seal the upset.

Woodhouse is now set to face 2022 runner-up Nathan Aspinall in the last 16. Aspinall advanced after a close 2-1 victory over Dutch debutant Kevin Doets.

In other early matches on Monday, six-time champion Michael van Gerwen lost five of the final six legs, falling 2-1 to Ryan Joyce. Joyce, a semi-finalist in 2024, will next play Danny Noppert of the Netherlands, who defeated Niko Springer of Germany by the same scoreline.

Gerwyn Price of Wales made a comfortable start, losing only one leg in his 2-0 win against Sebastian Bialecki of Poland. Price is scheduled to meet Ross Smith of England, who came from behind to beat Cameron Menzies of Scotland 2-1.

Jonny Clayton of Wales edged past Krzysztof Ratajski of Poland 2-1 and will face Wessel Nijman of the Netherlands. Nijman eliminated 2018 world champion Rob Cross in straight sets.