Defending champion Luke Littler stunned by Luke Woodhouse in World Grand Prix opener
World No 1 Luke Littler's World Grand Prix title defence ended on the opening night in Leicester as underdog Luke Woodhouse won 2-1 in the first round.
Luke Littler’s defence of the World Grand Prix darts title is over after a shock first-round defeat to Luke Woodhouse on the opening night in Leicester.
The world No 1 scraped the opening set 3-1 despite being well below his best, but Woodhouse bounced back to level the match and held his nerve in the deciding set of the double-in, double-out format to seal a 2-1 victory — the biggest win of his career, Sporting Life reported.
Littler, who won the title for the first time last year with a 6-1 victory over Luke Humphries, was the odds-on favourite despite seeing his bid for a clean sweep of PDC majors in 2026 ended at the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam last week.
The 19-year-old took the defeat with good grace, posting on Instagram afterwards: “Well played @lukewoodly180 was a good game, good one to be apart of aswell. Both hit, both missed but Luke took his chance and nice week off now, all the best to Luke for rest of tournament.”
It was a night of upsets in Leicester. Six-time World Grand Prix champion Michael van Gerwen also crashed out in the first round, losing to Ryan Joyce — his third first-round exit in a row at the event. Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton both progressed with 2-0 and 2-1 wins respectively, the PA News Agency reported.
Woodhouse will now face Nathan Aspinall in the second round.
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