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ספורט · Grand Slam darts

Littler’s seven-180 barrage leaves Greaves facing Grand Slam arithmetic

Seven 180s powered Littler to a 5-2 opening win and a perfect 15-match Grand Slam record. Greaves averaged above 103—but now needs more than a narrow victory to stay alive.

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HeyDex

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Seven legs, seven 180s. Luke Littler’s opening Grand Slam of Darts performance left Beau Greaves so little room that she averaged 103.82 and still lost 5-2. This was less a story of chances squandered than chances denied.⁠1⁠23

Littler began his pursuit of a third successive title at WV Active Aldersley in Wolverhampton on Saturday, November 14, 2026, with a 109.97 three-dart average and a tournament record that remains immaculate: 15 matches, 15 wins. The world number one has another group match to negotiate before he can turn that start into a knockout place. Greaves already needs more than a narrow victory to survive.⁠1⁠2⁠19

The decisive separation came early. Littler broke Greaves’ throw in the second leg—winning a leg she started—and moved 3-0 ahead in a best-of-nine contest requiring only five legs for victory. Greaves later held throw to reduce the deficit to 4-2, but Littler ended the match on double top, the double-twenty segment, with his first match dart.⁠1

His seven maximums, each a three-dart visit worth the highest possible 180 points, explain the pressure better than the scoreline alone. Sporting Life reported that Greaves had only three darts at doubles throughout the match. She converted two, a rounded 67 per cent. Her finishing was not what let her down; Littler repeatedly reached the finish before she could get a turn at it.⁠1⁠23

That distinction matters when judging Greaves’ performance. A hundred-plus average is substantial resistance, even in defeat. It also explains how Littler could dominate the match while identifying his own finishing as an obvious weakness.

I was very good at the scoring, but 29 per cent on the doubles needs to improve.

Luke Littler 1

That was Littler’s rounded post-match assessment of his doubles conversion, not his scoring average. Speaking to Sky Sports, he also acknowledged why the early lead mattered: “I needed to get off to a strong start because Beau started to find it at the end.” His verdict on his opponent was uncomplicated: “Beau was fantastic.”⁠1

Greaves had already demonstrated that she could beat him, winning their World Youth Championship semi-final 6-5 on October 13, 2025. More than a year later, Littler reversed that result without needing her own scoring standard to collapse.⁠31⁠23

There is still a sensible limit to the conclusions. Former world champion John Part described Littler’s maximums and scoring on Sky Sports as “absolutely phenomenal”, but thought Greaves had started below her best and could play better. “We’re not sure Luke has been fully tested yet, but let’s see,” he said. An outstanding opener is evidence of form, not advance payment for a trophy.⁠1

One defeat, very little shelter

The redesigned group stage makes this victory more valuable—and Greaves’ defeat more dangerous—than under the old system. The expanded 48-player field is divided into 16 groups of three, with only the winner advancing. Previously, players had three group matches and the top two progressed from each four-player group. Now each player gets just two matches.⁠14

A win earns two points and a defeat none. Littler therefore has two points, Greaves none, and Niels Zonneveld still has both his matches to play. Greaves faces Zonneveld on Sunday, November 15; Littler meets him on Monday, November 16. For Littler, the uncomplicated route is to win again and secure Group A outright.⁠1⁠19

For Greaves, merely winning is not enough. Applying the published leg-difference rules to her opening 5-2 defeat, she must beat Zonneveld 5-2 or better to retain a qualifying chance. She then needs Zonneveld to beat Littler, creating a three-way tie on two points, and needs the resulting tiebreaks to favour her.⁠19

A 5-3 or 5-4 victory would still eliminate her. Either would leave her with a negative overall leg difference; in a three-way points tie, those differences add up to zero, so at least one opponent must finish above her. That is the unforgiving arithmetic behind Sunday’s match: a win can be a victory on the night and still end her tournament.⁠19

The first tiebreak is total leg difference, followed by total legs won, then legs won against throw. Next come total tournament average and highest winning-match average, both measured to two decimal places. Only if those fail to separate the players does a nine-dart points shootout come into play. Tied shootout scores lead to further three-dart visits, with PDC rankings determining the order in which players choose when to throw.⁠19

One possible sequence shows why it would be premature to talk about a shootout: if Greaves beats Zonneveld 5-2 and Zonneveld then beats Littler 5-2, all three finish with two points, zero leg difference and seven legs won. The next test would be legs won against throw—not an automatic playoff.⁠19

The scheduling is less tidy than the qualification rules. Sky Sports’ published schedule lists Sunday’s evening session at 19:00 GMT, while the Professional Darts Players Association and LiveDarts list 19:30. Greaves against Zonneveld is sixth in the advertised evening order, so neither session time establishes her individual match start. Monday’s session is scheduled to begin at 19:00 GMT.⁠14⁠19⁠16

A timely lift before the Worlds

For Littler, this was also a useful interruption to a less successful autumn. After winning the first five majors of 2026, he came up short at the World Series of Darts Finals, lost in the World Grand Prix’s first round and exited the European Championship in the quarter-finals. “The last three or four majors haven’t gone well, but I’ve been practising, and I’m glad I’ve shown it,” he told Sky Sports.⁠1

The 19-year-old from Warrington is already a back-to-back world champion and won the Grand Slam in both 2024 and 2025, beating Luke Humphries 16-11 in last year’s final. Another title would put him alongside Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen as only the third player to win this tournament three years running.⁠1⁠14

There is more money attached to this attempt, too. The Eric Bristow Trophy comes with a £200,000 winner’s prize from a £1 million fund, up from £650,000 in 2025. But the immediate dividing line is qualification: a last-16 loser receives £20,000, compared with £12,500 for second in a group and £5,000 for third.⁠14⁠19

The Group A winner faces the Group B winner on November 18, with that section’s quarter-final on November 20. Matches lengthen to best of 19 legs in the last 16 and best of 31 from the quarter-finals onward. The semi-finals and final are both on November 22.⁠19

Littler says he plans to skip the Players Championship in Minehead, making Wolverhampton his final major before the World Championship, scheduled for December 11 to January 3, with a few exhibitions in between. This was a persuasive start to that preparation. For Greaves, the task is more immediate and less forgiving: reproduce the scoring, win by at least three legs, then wait for a result she cannot control.⁠1⁠19

מקורות25

מבין המקורות המצוטטים כאן, Google News United Kingdom (GB:en) פרסם ראשון, 6 ימים לפני שידור הדיווח הזה. 13 כלי תקשורת נוספים פרסמו בעקבותיו.
  1. Google News United Kingdom (GB:en)
  2. ESPN.com
  3. Express and Star
  4. sportinglife.com
  5. Google News United Kingdom (GB:en)
  6. World Darts Guide
  7. The Stats Zone
  8. talkSPORT
  9. +6 כלי תקשורת נוספים
  10. HeyDay News

6 כתבות קודמות נקראו לצורכי רקע.8 כלי תקשורת ללא תאריך:live-darts.comBzzoiro Sports DataDarts InfoDarts NerdDartStatsmastercaller.com

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36 מקורות מ־25 כלי תקשורת· המצוטטים ביותר תחילה

כפי ששודר
  1. Luke Littler hit seven maximums in seven legs to beat Beau Greaves five-two.
  2. He's chasing a third straight Grand Slam title, while Greaves already faces elimination in her next match. Only one player can qualify from their group. What do they each need to keep their tournament alive?
  3. Littler seized control early at WV Active Aldersley in Wolverhampton. He broke Greaves' throw in the second leg, winning a leg she started, then moved three-nil ahead. In this best-of-nine opener, five legs were enough to win.
  4. Greaves held her throw to cut the gap to four-two. But Littler finished the match on double top, the double-twenty segment, with his first match dart.
  5. Littler has now won all fifteen of his Grand Slam matches. The world number one won the tournament in 2024 and 2025, and this opening victory keeps his perfect record intact.
  6. The nineteen-year-old from Warrington is already a back-to-back world champion. He beat Luke Humphries sixteen-eleven in last year's Grand Slam final. Another title would make him only the third player to win this tournament three years running, joining Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen.
  7. Littler averaged 109.97 points per three darts. Greaves averaged 103.82 herself, but had only three darts at doubles to finish legs. Littler's scoring repeatedly brought him to the finish before she had a chance.
  8. A maximum means scoring 180 in one three-dart visit. Littler managed seven of those across the seven legs. Greaves converted two of her three finishing opportunities, a rounded sixty-seven percent. She took most of the chances she actually received.
  9. Littler still found something to work on. He put his own doubles conversion at twenty-nine percent and said it needed to improve. That's his rounded assessment of his finishing, separate from his three-dart scoring average.
  10. He said he needed that strong start because Greaves began finding her game towards the end. He called her fantastic and said he was happy with the win.
  11. Greaves had already beaten Littler six-five in a World Youth Championship semifinal. That meeting came on October 13, 2025. More than a year later, he reversed the result here while she still produced an average above a hundred.
  12. Former world champion John Part praised Littler's scoring and maximums as “absolutely phenomenal.” But he also thought Greaves started below her best and could play better.
  13. Part questioned whether Littler had been fully tested. His caution comes with tougher matches still ahead, and after an autumn in which Littler's results fell short of his extraordinary start to the year.
  14. Littler won the first five majors of 2026. Then he came up short at the World Series of Darts Finals, lost in the World Grand Prix's first round, and exited the European Championship in the quarterfinals. He said he'd been practising and was glad that work showed here.
  15. Subscribe to this channel as the next two Group A matches decide who advances.
  16. Littler plans to skip the Players Championship in Minehead. That makes Wolverhampton his last major before the World Championship, which runs from December eleventh to January third. He expects a few exhibitions in between.
  17. First, he has to negotiate a shorter, less forgiving Grand Slam group stage. The expanded field contains forty-eight players.
  18. The forty-eight players are split into sixteen groups of three. Each player gets two matches, with two points for a win and none for defeat. Only the group winner advances to the last sixteen.
  19. Previously, players had three group matches and the top two advanced from each four-player group. Now a single defeat leaves much less room to recover. Littler has two points; Greaves has none.
  20. Greaves faces Niels Zonneveld on Sunday, November fifteenth. With leg difference the first tiebreak, she needs to win five-two or better to retain a qualifying chance. She then needs Zonneveld to beat Littler on Monday.
  21. A five-three or five-four win would still leave Greaves eliminated. Littler has the simpler route: beat Zonneveld and he wins the group. Monday's session is scheduled to begin at seven in the evening.
  22. A three-way points tie goes first to total leg difference, then total legs won, then legs won against throw. Next come tournament average and winning-match average, both to two decimal places. Only after those comes a nine-dart points shootout.
  23. If shootout scores stay tied, the players continue in three-dart visits until they're separated. PDC rankings determine who gets first choice of throwing order. If Greaves wins five-two and Zonneveld then beats Littler five-two, all three would be level on points, leg difference and legs won. Legs won against throw would be the next test.
  24. Sunday's evening session has two advertised start times, seven and half past seven. Those are session times. Neither gives an exact start for Greaves against Zonneveld, which comes later in the evening's order of play.
  25. The tournament runs from November fourteenth to the twenty-second, with the Eric Bristow Trophy at stake. Its prize fund has risen from six hundred and fifty thousand pounds last year to one million pounds.
  26. The champion receives two hundred thousand pounds; the runner-up, a hundred thousand. Losing semifinalists get sixty thousand, quarterfinalists thirty-five thousand, and last-sixteen players twenty thousand. Second in a group pays twelve thousand five hundred; third, five thousand.
  27. The matches also lengthen after the groups. The last sixteen play best of nineteen legs. From the quarterfinals through the final, it's best of thirty-one.
  28. The Group A winner faces the Group B winner on November eighteenth. Their quarterfinal follows on November twentieth. The semifinals take place on the afternoon of November twenty-second, with the final that evening.
  29. Littler can secure that knockout place himself by beating Zonneveld. Greaves needs a win by at least three legs, followed by a Littler defeat and favourable tiebreaks. Her hundred-plus average has left her with a route through, but no control over Monday's result.

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