Luke Littler continued his defence of the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts with a dominant victory over Wessel Nijman, as Danny Noppert accounted for Michael van Gerwen in a captivating all-Dutch affair on Thursday.
Day Six of the £650,000 event saw Round Two draw to a close in Wolverhampton, as Josh Rock and Lukas Wenig completed the quarter-final line-up at WV Active Aldersley.
However, Littler stole the headlines with a devastating doubling display, averaging almost 106 to set up a blockbuster quarter-final clash against Rock on Saturday evening.
Reigning champion Littler powered into a five-leg lead to leave Nijman staring down the barrel, landing a hat-trick of 15-darters and legs of 13 and 12 darts to assert his dominance.
Nijman won three of the next four legs to threaten a stirring fightback, but the Dutchman paid the price for spurning three darts in a crucial tenth leg, which would have reduced the arrears to 6-4.
Littler took full advantage to wrap up an emphatic victory, registering 12 and 11-dart holds to triumph with an astonishing 83% checkout success rate.
“Wessel and I have had our battles in the past, so to get that win over him was special,” insisted Littler, who has won 11 consecutive games on the Grand Slam stage.
“I had to switch on tonight. I’ve won titles like the World Matchplay coming back from 5-0 down, but tonight I wanted to prove a point and start strongly.
“I know if I get to the final I’ll be world number one, so I’m taking it game by game and hopefully Josh and I can have another great game like we did at the World Matchplay.”
Littler will now renew his rivalry with Rock in a repeat of their epic semi-final clash in July’s World Matchplay, after the Northern Irishman edged out Connor Scutt to triumph in a last-leg shoot-out.
The World Cup champion punished a profligate start from Scutt to race into a 3-0 lead, before overcoming a mid-game slump to seal his progress with a 14-dart hold in the decider.
“We both didn’t play as well as we could tonight,” reflected Rock, who converted a brace of ton-plus checkouts on his way to victory.
“I’ve never missed the treble 20 as much in my life. I just couldn’t hit the treble 20 at all.
“I am absolutely grateful I won that game, but I did not deserve to win. I need to wake up after that game.”
Elsewhere, Van Gerwen’s bid for a fourth Grand Slam of Darts crown was derailed by a superb Noppert, who came out on top in a high-quality contest against his former World Cup partner.
Noppert led 3-2 following a sensational opening session which featured 170 checkouts from both players, as well as a 160 combination from Van Gerwen.
Former UK Open champion Noppert was averaging 112 in the opening exchanges, and Van Gerwen was unable to live with his compatriot’s consistency, succumbing 10-6 despite landing eight 180s.
“It was a rollercoaster. I think I coped well under pressure, so I’m really happy,” claimed Noppert, who will take on Wenig for a place in the semi-finals – in a repeat of their dramatic Group H encounter.
“Over the whole game I played well. Everything went my way, but in the end I was a little bit nervous.
“If I keep playing like this and maintain this form, I think there will be problems for everyone.”
Wenig, meanwhile, recorded a landmark 10-8 victory over his fellow countryman Niko Springer in advancing to his maiden televised quarter-final.
Having secured top spot in Group H, the unheralded German continued his breakthrough run with a clinical display of doubling in Wolverhampton.
Springer made the early running, but a sensational 154 checkout from Wenig in leg nine sparked the turnaround, with the 31-year-old winning four of the last five legs to prevail.
“I don’t find words for this, this is so amazing,” admitted Wenig, who also won four matches in last month’s Tour Card Holder Qualifier to seal his qualification.
“The stage has not been my friend, I have had really big problems up there, so to go to the quarter-finals really is unbelievable.”
The quarter-finals of the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts begin on Friday, as world number one Luke Humphries faces Michael Smith in a battle of the former Grand Slam champions.
Elsewhere, three-time winner Gerwyn Price takes on Ricky Evans, who is featuring in his maiden Grand Slam of Darts quarter-final.
The 2025 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts is being broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
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2025 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts
Thursday November 13
4x Second Round
Lukas Wenig 10-8 Niko Springer
Josh Rock 10-9 Connor Scutt
Luke Littler 10-4 Wessel Nijman
Danny Noppert 10-6 Michael van Gerwen
Friday November 14 (1900 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals
Ricky Evans v Gerwyn Price
Luke Humphries v Michael Smith
Saturday November 15 (1900 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals
Danny Noppert v Lukas Wenig
Luke Littler v Josh Rock
