World Grand Prix: Nathan Aspinall, Raymond van Barneveld, James Wade suffer early exits on opening night

Nathan Aspinall was eliminated by Stephen Bunting as James Wade and Raymond van Barneveld also failed to make any progress; watch the double-in, double-out World Grand Prix Darts from Leicester’s Morningside Arena until the final on October 8 – live on Sky Sports

Nathan Aspinall, James Wade and Raymond van Barneveld had to leave the first round on the opening night of the 2023 World Grand Prix.

Stephen Bunting overcame poor finishing to beat 2022 number two and world number 5 Aspinall in a 2-1 victory.

Bunting showed his strength in doubles, achieving a 3-1 victory in the first set. A horrible leg for Aspinall left him needing twelve darts to find the double.

Aspinall then found a clutch 140 to take the match to a deciding set, but Bunting held firm under pressure, a huge maximum in the deciding leg helping him to the D16 finish for the win.

Van Barneveld was defeated 2–1 by Martin Schindler, a disastrous opening match that foreshadowed his early departure.

‘Barney’ came back to take the second set, but Schindler’s score proved too much as he broke the throw on the deciding leg to seal the match and a spot in the second round.

Krzysztof Ratajski made an unlikely comeback to win 2-1 and eliminate two-time winner Wade.

Wade led 2-0 in the final, deciding set, but Ratajski fought back and was almost perfect on the trebles to take three legs in a row and complete an astonishing win.

Smith is showing skill while Anderson and Price are also making progress

World champion Michael Smith showed his brilliance, dropping 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 victory that included two throw breaks.

Despite Rydz rallying with a brilliant 126 checkout to take a leg, Smith won three more in a row to wrap up the match and set a marker in the competition.

Gerwyn Price defeated Danny Noppert in a 2-0 rout, with ‘The Iceman’ showing his class by taking the first set, 112 and 101 finishes to break the roll plus a dominant deciding leg that gave him the upper hand.

From then on, Noppert was unable to respond and the Welshman powered through three consecutive legs to complete the victory, with his doubles score too good for the Dutchman.

Dirk van Duijvenbode was the first to be eliminated when he fell 2-1 to Brendan Dolan.

Van Duijvenbode got going quickly as he took all three legs against the throw in the first set for a 1-0 lead, but Dolan fought back to take the second set and take the match to a decider.

Then it was his turn to take all three sets as he found the double much faster than his opponent, sealing the victory and the spot in the second round with a top finish.

In the next clash, in-form Gary Anderson took on the ‘Special One’ Jose de Sousa, the Portuguese number 1 with an average of 102.5 and took the first set after a break 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 nail-biting deciding leg for the 2-1 win.

The final match of the evening saw Rob Cross and Andrew Gilding locked in a tight, albeit low-quality, affair as Gilding sealed the 2-1 victory in a last-leg decider.

Cross missed three match darts for victory and Gilding held his nerve to hit tops to seal only his second ever World Grand Prix win.

Tuesday during the World Grand Prix

Michael van Gerwen begins his title defense against Josh Rock in a mouth-watering first-round battle.

Van Gerwen, who won his sixth World Grand Prix title in 2022, opens his challenge against world youth champion Rock.

Third seed Peter Wright plays German number 1 Gabriel Clemens in his opener, while Hungarian Darts Trophy winner Dave Chisnall takes on Luke Woodhouse.

Watch the double-in, double-out World Grand Prix Darts at Leicester’s Morningside Arena every night until the final on October 8 – live on Sky Sports. Stream the World Grand Prix and more with NOW for £21 per month for six months