Nathan Aspinall was knocked out by Stephen Bunting as James Wade and Raymond van Barneveld also failed to progress; watch the double in, double out World Grand Prix Darts from the Morningside Arena in Leicester up until the final on October 8 - live on Sky Sports
Tuesday 3 October 2023 00:04, UK
Nathan Aspinall, James Wade and Raymond van Barneveld suffered first-round exits on the opening night of the 2023 World Grand Prix.
Stephen Bunting overcame some poor finishing to knock out 2022 runner-up and world No 5 Aspinall in a 2-1 victory.
Bunting showed his strength on the doubles to cruise to a 3-1 win in the first set, a ghastly leg for Aspinall saw him take 12 darts to find the double.
Aspinall then found a clutch 140 to take the match to a deciding set but Bunting held strong under pressure, a huge maximum in the deciding leg helping him to the D16 finish for the victory.
Van Barneveld was defeated 2-1 by Martin Schindler, a disastrous opening leg foreshadowing his early exit.
'Barney' came back to take the second set, but Schindler's scoring proved too much as he broke the throw on the deciding leg to seal the match and a second-round spot.
Krzysztof Ratajski pulled off an unlikely comeback to win 2-1 and knock out two-time winner Wade.
Wade found himself 2-0 up in the final deciding set but Ratajski fought back and was near perfect on the trebles to take three legs in a row and clinch an astonishing victory.
World champion Michael Smith showed his brilliance and dropped just one leg as he raced to a 2-0 victory over Callan Rydz.
Smith got off to a flying start against Rydz, a 124 checkout helping him to a first-set win that included two breaks of throw.
Despite Rydz rallying with a brilliant 126 checkout to take a leg, Smith then won three more in a row to wrap up the match and lay down a marker in the competition.
Gerwyn Price demolished Danny Noppert in a 2-0 routing, 'The Iceman' showing his class to take the first set, 112 and 101 finishes to break the throw plus a dominant deciding leg giving him the upper hand.
From there, Noppert could not respond, and the Welshman cruised through three back-to-back legs to wrap up the win, his scoring on the doubles too good for the Dutchman.
Dirk van Duijvenbode was the first to be knocked out as he fell 2-1 to Brendan Dolan.
Van Duijvenbode got going quickly as he raced to take all three legs in the first set against the throw for a 1-0 lead but Dolan fought back to clinch the second set and take the match to a decider.
It was then his turn to take all three sets as he found the doubles much quicker than his opponent, sealing the win and the spot in the second round with a tops finish.
The next clash saw an in-form Gary Anderson take on the 'Special One' Jose de Sousa, the Portuguese No 1 averaging 102.5 to clinch the first set on a break of throw in the deciding leg.
However, the 'Flying Scotsman' fought back and showed why he is one to watch in this year's tournament, taking four legs in a row, with some huge maximums along the way, plus a nervy deciding leg for the 2-1 win.
The final clash of the night saw Rob Cross and Andrew Gilding in a tight, albeit low-quality, affair as Gilding sealed the 2-1 win in a last-leg decider.
Cross missed three match darts for the victory and Gilding held his nerve to hit tops and seal only his second-ever World Grand Prix win.
Michael van Gerwen will begin his defence of the title against Josh Rock in a mouth-watering first-round tussle.
Van Gerwen, who lifted his sixth World Grand Prix title in 2022, will open his challenge against world youth champion Rock.
Third seed Peter Wright will play German No 1 Gabriel Clemens in his opener, with Hungarian Darts Trophy winner Dave Chisnall up against Luke Woodhouse.
Watch the double in, double out World Grand Prix Darts at the Morningside Arena in Leicester every night up until the final on October 8 - live on Sky Sports. Stream the World Grand Prix and more with NOW for £21 a month for six months
