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HUMPHRIES, PRICE & SMITH PROGRESS TO GRAND SLAM KNOCKOUT STAGES

Former champions Luke Humphries, Gerwyn Price and Michael Smith were among the five names to secure their spots in the knockout stages of the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts on Monday.

Chris Dobey, Ricky Evans and Luke Woodhouse had already secured their places in the knockout stages, and were joined in the last 16 by a number of big names including Humphries.
The world number one followed his nine-dart heroics on Sunday with a 5-3 win over Nathan Aspinall to top Group A and secure his place in Round Two. Humphries only needed one leg to advance, but averaged over 102 to set up a tie with World Youth Championship runner-up Jurjen van der Velde on Wednesday.

"I knew I had to start off really well," reflected Humphries, who broke with a ten-dart leg and followed with a 12-dart hold to assert his early dominance against Aspinall. "You know what you need to do. I needed one leg to go through, I knew that - but it didn't affect me, I felt comfortable. "It's been a tough group, but I'm really happy to win all three matches. "We're in the business end now and the longer format suits me. I love playing the long format here."

Elsewhere in Group A, Smith defeated Alex Spellman 5-2 to qualify for the knockout stages for the first time since winning the tournament back in 2022. Smith, who qualified for the Grand Slam via last week's Tour Card Holder Qualifier, will play Dobey in the last 16 on Wednesday.

"I'm over the moon," said the 2022/23 World Champion. "I'm through to the last 16 and I can finally relax now. "I did my job getting the two points but I would have liked it to be 5-0 or 5-1. "Now I'm in the last 16, I'm four games away from winning two Grand Slams. "I could win this tournament, and I didn't have that belief a couple of months ago."

Elsewhere, three-time champion Price cruised to a 5-1 win over Stefan Bellmont, securing his place in the knockouts and topping Group D in the process.

"I had a slow start losing the first game but to come through and top the group, I'm happy with that," admitted Price, who is through to the last 16 of the Grand Slam for the seventh time. "I just wanted to qualify through the group stage and get through to the last 16."
The Welshman will face Martin Schindler in Round Two, after the German number one made it out of the group stage for the first time in his career with a 5-2 win over Alexis Toylo.
"I've played Martin a couple of times. There's a lot of boys in good form and he's probably one of them," said Price of his upcoming opponent.

Elsewhere, Woodhouse subjected Stephen Bunting to his third consecutive 5-4 defeat to top Group C, earning a tie against Evans. Evans had already secured qualification after winning his opening two games, but succumbed to a strong James Wade performance, as the world number five bowed out with a 5-2 win.

Debutant Van Der Velde progressed to the last 16 by stunning Damon Heta 5-3, as Dobey secured top spot in Group B with his third consecutive 5-1 win over Martin Lukeman.

The Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts will continue on Tuesday, with Groups E, F, G and H drawing to a close at WV Active Aldersley.
There will be three straight shoot-outs for places in the knockout stages, headlined by a blockbuster clash between Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson. Connor Scutt and Karel Sedlacek also lock horns for a place in the last 16, whilst Lukas Wenig and Cam Crabtree will battle to reach the knockout stage on their debuts in Wolverhampton.

No one is safely through yet in Group F, which will be settled as Wessel Nijman faces Lisa Ashton, before Gian van Veen plays Josh Rock.

Defending champion Luke Littler has already confirmed progression to Round Two, but the World Champion will be vying to top his group, with Danny Noppert and Niko Springer aiming to do the same in Groups H and G respectively. The 2025 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts will be 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). Click here for match stats & results.

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