World Grand Prix: Gerwyn Price and Joe Cullen progress as James Wade and Michael Smith shock exit | News about darts

Nathan Aspinall earned a shock win over Michael Smith; Martin Lukeman experienced a surprise match against James Wade; Gerwyn Price clinched a dominant victory as Joe Cullen edged out Damon Heta in a tight contest

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Watch the best action on Day 2 of the World Grand Prix in Leicester

Michael Smith suffered an exit shock in the first round at the hands of Nathan Aspinall on a tumultuous night at the World Grand Prix in Leicester.

Stockport’s men took a 2-1 win over Smith as the world No 4 struggled to find rhythm in doubles matches.

Martin Lukeman delivered the performance of the night in a shock win over James Wade, while Gerwyn Price put on a professional performance against Martin Schindler and Joe Cullen overtook Damon Heta.

The final match of the evening was supposed to be a major encounter and it did not disappoint as Smith and Aspinall went head-to-head in a fast-paced clash.

Aspinall started the encounter with more promise, breaking Smith early with a 116 finish to take a two-foot lead.

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Nathan Aspinall started the match against Michael Smith with a score of 116 in the first round of the World Grand Prix

‘Bully Boy’ fought back for a leg of his own but that wasn’t enough as the world number 16 took advantage of some inaccuracies in his doubles to win the first set. .

The second set continued in a similar fashion to the first as Aspinall took a two-round lead but Smith was unwilling to take down without a fight and tested 95 to keep himself a draw before falling back with a 101 finish. to bring back the set level.

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Smith takes this shot to level the second set against Aspinall

A crucial next move and a lovely 171 shot put Aspinall close to victory with three darts in the game, but he failed to capitalize on his chance and Smith checked on the D10 to put it’s a separate set.

An anxious third set followed but Aspinall found his form to win 3-0, using D16 to open the scoring.

Price cut an extremely confident figure as he stepped out for his clash with Schindler and he got off to a flying start, breaking the throw in the first leg and keeping his strength to get ahead. front.

With neither player able to find a pair to test, Schindler fought back with D5 on the third turn of the set but to no avail when ‘The Iceman’ once again discovered his accuracy. to beat D2 in the first set. .

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Gerwyn Price enjoys this 101st shot on his way to victory over Martin Schindler

The Welshman’s dominance continued into the second set as Schindler couldn’t get his bearings, a delicate 101 shot to break the throw helped him win and enter the second round. .

Lukeman went through the most uncomfortable bout of the night before Wade, hitting the first set on three straight legs and stunning the world No 5 to his first televised win.

Lukeman, who is outside the world’s top 50, easily managed to find a large maximum score while Wade struggled to advance in the doubles, at one point Wade needed seven darts to get his footing. in a doubles match.

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Martin Lukeman caused a huge disappointment, beating James Wade in the first round

The second inning produced some partial resistance from Wade as he raised his average, a vital D2 kept him tied but the third saw Lukeman fight well and keep his throw. him with a D10 to take the lead.

Somehow, Wade managed to get the crucial 121st shot to send it to the decisive game but it was Lukeman who finished with three darts in the match and used them expertly, hitting the mark. D8 for the biggest win of his career to date.

It was supposed to be a tight and exciting match and Cullen and Heta did not disappoint in their opening set, trading throw-ins and finishing in attack before D16 saw Cullen score the opener. score.

Heta was in full control in the second set, breaking Cullen twice, including an excellent 115-shot, to equalize 3-0 and bring the result a draw but Cullen won the final set and the match was over. D8 to end an eye-catching and exciting match. .

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Joe Cullen took an early break in his first game against Damon Heta

The tight competitions continued as former world champion Rob Cross and former World Grand Prix champion Daryl Gurney went head to head, both players keeping their throws before Cross’ failed to find the crucial double. to start, missed nine times, giving Gurney a chance to crack and get the first set.

After Cross fought back in the second set, hitting two max points and breaking Gurney to make things steady, ‘Superchin’ reorganized and broke Cross early in the final to take the big win. .

Last year’s semi-finalist Danny Noppert was back to show his form in doubles once again against Gabriel Clemens. An incredible second leg saw the Dutchman hit 13 darts to claim the double but he rallied to hit a 101 offensive finish to stamp his foot before continuing. continue setting.

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Danny Noppert missed 12 darts in the brace to start his second leg against Gabriel Clemens but still won the first leg after a remarkable turn

Clemens fought back with a few feet but Noppert upped his game and won 2-0 as he looks set to take another step forward in 2021.

With three debuts performing as the opening round closed, there was some disturbance and Madars Razma put in a strong performance as he won 2-1 over Ryan Searle, taking the set. first after breaking twice before taking the lead. a lovely 108 shot to win the match and advance to the second round.

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Andrew Gilding hit this test score of 102 on his way to winning the first set of his first-round match against Ross Smith

An all-British draw between Ross Smith and Andrew Gilding saw Smith walk away with the spoils in a close 2-1 victory.

Wednesday saw the players from night one return to action as Adrian Lewis faced Chris Dobey, Peter Wright faced Krzysztof Ratajski, Michael van Gerwen played Stephen Bunting and Jonny Clayton faced Dimitri Van den Bergh while round two is in progress.

Watch the daily Darts news on skysports.com/dartsour mobile app and Twitter account @skysportsdarts. You can watch the 25th World Grand Prix ‘Double in, Double out’ lineup on Sky Sports until the final on October 9 in Leicester.