Michael van Gerwen out of Grand Slam as Luke Littler almost hits nine-darter

Michael van Gerwen crashed out of the Grand Slam of Darts in the group stage as Luke Littler missed double 12 for a nine-darter on an eventful night in Wolverhampton.

Three-time winner Van Gerwen lost in a last-leg decider to Ryan Joyce, exiting the tournament before the knockout phase for the first time since 2010.

The Dutchman started poorly but he clawed his way back into the match by taking consecutive legs with 11 and 14 darts respectively to make it 4-4, but Joyce checked out with double 10 to complete the upset.

Joyce told Sky Sports: “I’m happy to win. It didn’t feel like a battle, it felt like we were struggling a little bit. It’s a funny old game.”

Littler had almost raised the roof earlier in the night when he fell just short of a perfect leg, failing to pin double 12.

But the 17-year-old beat Lourence Ilagan 5-3 to secure a third consecutive win and set up a last-16 showdown with Mike De Decker.

The World Grand Prix winner needed to beat Michael Smith to reach the next stage and he did just that, hammering the former world champion 5-0.

In the opening fixture of the night, Gary Anderson made it three wins from three with victory over Noa-Lynn van Leuven.

Anderson will next play Stephen Bunting, who dispatched Josh Rock 5-2, while Gian van Veen beat Wessel Nijman 5-4 in an all-Dutch affair, Jermaine Wattimena edged Mensur Suljovic 5-4 and Dimitri van den Bergh saw off Keane Barry 5-1.