Littler beats Greaves to start Grand Slam defence

Luke Littler began his Grand Slam of Darts title defence with a 5-2 win over Beau Greaves in Wolverhampton. The comfortable opening victory keeps his bid for a third consecutive title on track and extends his unbeaten run in the tournament to 15 matches.

Littler, 19, opened with a 3-0 lead and finished with an average just under 110 and seven 180s, despite Greaves threatening a comeback. He is aiming to match Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen by winning three successive titles. Elsewhere, Luke Humphries won his opener, while Ross Smith lost 5-3 to Rusty-Jake Rodriguez and Van Gerwen edged debutant Henry Coates 5-4.