Evening Sees More Big Names Depart
The ruthless nature of the Grand Slam of Darts group stage was on full display in Wolverhampton, as a series of high-profile players were eliminated on Sunday despite winning their final matches. Ross Smith, the reigning European and World Series Finals champion, became the most significant casualty of the evening session after his 5-4 victory over Gabriel Clemens proved insufficient to keep his campaign alive.
Coming into the match after a shock opening loss to Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, Smith knew he required a victory of 5-3 or better to have a chance of progressing from Group O. He secured the win against the German, but the narrow 5-4 scoreline meant he fell short on leg difference. The result leaves Rodriguez in a strong position to advance alongside Clemens, depending on the outcome of their final tie.
A similar fate befell Beau Greaves, who recorded a win against Niels Zonneveld but was also knocked out of the tournament. The damage for Greaves was done during her opening match on Saturday, when she suffered a heavy 5-2 defeat to the defending champion, Luke Littler. That result left her with too great a deficit to overcome, rendering her Sunday victory a hollow one. The Grand Slam’s origins as a cross-code event make such encounters compelling, harking back to the era when BDO and PDC players first met on this unique stage.
Cross Shines as Seeds Fall in Afternoon
The evening’s drama followed an afternoon session that had already seen several seeded players bundled out. Jonny Clayton, Josh Rock and Luke Woodhouse all saw their tournaments come to a premature end, continuing a trend of surprise results in the newly-expanded 48-player event.
The standout performance of the afternoon belonged to Rob Cross, who produced a scintillating display to eliminate Jonny Clayton. Averaging over 114, ‘Voltage’ was in imperious form, firing in a remarkable sequence of finishes to overwhelm his opponent. Cross checked out 137, 138, 100, 91 and 76 in consecutive legs to secure his place in the knockout phase and send the former Premier League champion home.
Clayton had been under pressure from the start, having lost his opening fixture to Anton Ostlund, and he simply had no answer to the barrage from Cross. The sheer number of established names exiting at this early stage has reshaped the tournament draw. The elimination of players like Smith, Clayton and Rock will have significantly altered the outright betting markets, with the odds on the remaining favourites shortening considerably. Any darts betting guide would highlight the volatility of this format, where a single poor performance can prove terminal.
The group stage concludes on Monday evening with the final matches for players in Groups A to H. Two-time defending champion and world number one Luke Littler, who has remained unbeaten at the Wolverhampton venue since his debut in 2024, will be in action against Niels Zonneveld.
