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World Grand Prix Darts: Luke Littler in shock first-round exit as defending champion loses to Luke Woodhouse | Darts News

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Defending champion Luke Littler suffered a shock first-round exit at the World Grand Prix as he lost out 2-1 to Luke Woodhouse in Leicester, on the same night that six-time winner Michael van Gerwen was also eliminated.

Littler won the first set, but was far from his best as Woodhouse spurned several chances at double to have taken the opener into a deciding leg.

Woodhouse made no mistake in sets two and three, however, to see him pull off one of the biggest upsets in the hostory of the double-in, double-out tournament.

Luke Littler's World Grand Prix defence was ended at the first hurdle by Luke Woodhouse
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Luke Littler’s World Grand Prix defence was ended at the first hurdle by Luke Woodhouse

He’ll face former finalist Nathan Aspinall in the second round after he overcame Kevin Doets in a final-leg decider earlier on the opening night.

Following his stunning early exit, Little posted on his Instagram: “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.”

Littler followed that up by signalling his intent to now attend the Super League Grand Final on Saturday, which features his beloved Warrington Wolves – and would have clashed with the Grand Prix semi-finals.

“May aswell get myself to OT (Old Trafford) now I’m out. LETS GO THE WIRE @warringtonrlfc,” Littler added.

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Speaking back in February, Luke Littler looked ahead to the Super League season and correctly predicted Warrington Wolves would make it to Old Trafford

Following his seismic victory over Littler, Woodhouse said afterwards: “Luke’s not a robot. He’s going to have days and weeks and whatever where he’s not right on it.

“But look I think people have echoed it and I’m going to say it again, he’s one of a kind Luke.

“I hope people will take the time to appreciate how good he is and not give him a hard time. You might not see another Luke Littler ever again.”

Van Gerwen dumped out but Price, Clayton win

Elsewhere, not only were Van Gerwen’s hopes of a seventh Grand Prix crown dashed but he suffered a third-straight first-round loss in the tournament as Ryan Joyce came back from a set down to defeat the Dutchman.

Welsh duo Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton, winners of the Grand Prix in 2020 and 2021 respectively, also progressed, with Price putting in the performance of the night as he averaged 101.61 and dropped only one leg in beating Sebastian Bialecki.

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Gerwyn Price hit two huge 120 checkouts in his dominant victory on the opening night of the World Grand Prix

Clayton was made to work much harder by Krzysztof Ratajski, one of six matches (out of eight) to go the distance on the opening night.

Cameron Menzies and Kevin Doets both missed match darts when losing out to Ross Smith and Aspinall, respectively.

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Cameron Menzies nails 158 to take an early lead against Ross Smith in the World Grand Prix

Each had chances to wrap up two-set victories, but Menzies missed two looks at tops before Smith swept him aside 3-0 in the deciding set, while Doets spurned three match darts – including a wild miss at bullseye – and Aspinall would ultimately take it in a last-leg decider in the third set.

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Nathan Aspinall wins a messy set to stay alive against Kevin Doets at the 2026 World Grand Prix

Danny Noppert came flying out of the blocks to open the night, claiming five consecutive legs before Niko Springer, out of nowhere, claimed the next three to take the second set, before normal service resumed in the third.

Wessel Nijman, meanwhile, rounded off the evening with a routine 2-0 victory over Rob Cross.

He’ll face Clayton next, while Noppert takes on MVG conqueror Joyce and Price goes up against Smith, who revealed he almost pulled out of the World Grand Prix after being hospitalised in the week leading up to the tournament.

“I’ve had a week from hell,” Smith said after his first-round victory. “I’ve come home and picked up some sort of virus and I’ve had a few issues with my heart as well.

“I was in hospital on Friday. I thought I was pulling out of this event on Saturday, so to be here is an achievement in itself. Let alone play and win like that, I’m very happy.”

Monday’s first-round results

First to two sets

  • Danny Noppert 2-1 Niko Springer
  • Ross Smith 2-1 Cameron Menzies
  • Nathan Aspinall 2-1 Kevin Doets
  • Jonny Clayton 2-1 Krzysztof Ratajski
  • Gerwyn Price 2-0 Sebastian Bialecki
  • Michael van Gerwen 1-2 Ryan Joyce
  • Luke Littler 1-2 Luke Woodhouse
  • Wessel Nijman 2-0 Rob Cross

Tuesday’s first-round schedule

First to two sets

  • Chris Dobey vs Jermaine Wattimena
  • Ryan Searle vs William O’Connor
  • Josh Rock vs Niels Zonneveld
  • James Wade vs Joe Cullen
  • Gary Anderson vs Damon Heta
  • Gian van Veen vs Dirk van Duijvenbode
  • Luke Humphries vs Dave Chisnall
  • Stephen Bunting vs Andrew Gilding

The second round takes place across Wednesday and Thursday, with the quarter-finals on Friday, semi-finals on Saturday and final on Sunday.

Watch day two of the World Grand Prix live on Sky Sports+ and Sky Sports Main Event from 6pm on Tuesday, with coverage every day up to and including the final on Sunday. Latest Sky Sports deals or stream with no contract on NOW

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Chicago Bears 27-7 Philadelphia Eagles: Case Keenum shines on first start since 2023

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Veteran quarterback Case Keenum starred on his first start for almost three years as the Chicago Bears handed the Philadelphia Eagles their first defeat of the season.

Starting his first NFL game since December 2023, the 38-year-old threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another as the Bears won 27-7 at Soldier Field in Chicago.

It is the first time he has thrown multiple touchdowns in a game since October 2019, while he is also the oldest player to score a rushing touchdown for the Bears.

Keenum, an NFL journeyman playing at his eighth franchise, was called into action because of a knee injury to Caleb Williams and Tyson Bagent’s concussion.

Wide receiver Kalif Raymond, who scored a touchdown, said: “He was like, ‘I may not be a cowboy, but this is definitely not my first rodeo – a lot of confidence in him; a lot of confidence in himself.

“He practises, preps every week, but particularly this week. We didn’t expect anything different from him.”

Keenum’s first drive resulted in a touchdown for Luther Burden III, and Cairo Santos added a 29-yard field goal before Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts rushed for a touchdown to cut the Bears’ half-time lead to 10-7.

Santos added a second field goal early in the third quarter before the Bears scored two touchdowns among 17 unanswered points.

The Bears defence limited the Eagles to 248 yards and picked off an interception off Jalen Hurts and replacement Andy Dalton.

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Flex your football brain with our daily quizzes

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Test your ball knowledge against today’s Who Am I?, Five in Five and Brainteaser.

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F1 Q&A: Horner and Ferrari, Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix, Bottas’ Baku crash and the VSC, Williams upgrade

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Mercedes’ George Russell took his first victory since June by holding off Max Verstappen to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar completed the podium on his return after missing three races with a broken wrist.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli finished fifth in Baku, meaning his advantage over team-mate Russell has narrowed to 66 points.

This weekend, Formula 1 heads to Malaysia, the host of the Bahrain Grand Prix – an event originally due to take place in April but which was postponed because of the war in the Middle East.

Before the race in Sepang, BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson answers your latest questions.

Does Christian Horner really want the team principal job at Ferrari, or even have a shot at it? – Ben

This topic has become a subject for conversation in recent days following an interview Horner did with the Times, external as he promotes his new book.

Horner said: “At this stage in my life, there’s only one team for which I would accept non-participation in ownership.”

Asked whether he would take a job there, he replied: “Would I consider Ferrari? I mean, Ferrari is the biggest brand in Formula 1. It’s the dream. And arguably it’s the sleeping giant of Formula 1.”

Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur made his views about Horner’s intervention pretty plain after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix when he said: “Mr Horner is looking for a job – that, everybody knows – everywhere.”

Vasseur said the speculation surrounding the team meant Ferrari were “not working in the perfect serenity”.

Horner’s comments seem to make it clear that he would consider a job offer from Ferrari. But the key questions are under what conditions he might accept it, and whether he would be offered it in the first place.

Horner has made it very clear over the years that he believes an F1 team needs one person in charge and in overall control.

It’s highly unlikely he would get that at Ferrari, where chairman John Elkann and chief executive officer Benedetto Vigna will always have more authority than any team principal.

Even at Red Bull, where Horner had theoretical leadership at the F1 team, he was ultimately answerable to headquarters in Austria and that is what led to his removal in the end.

It’s hard to imagine how Elkann and Vigna could or would countenance any situation where they were removed from any input into the F1 team.

And it’s even harder to imagine a situation where that was not the de facto position even if a team boss had been given assurances they would be left alone.

Then there is the question of whether Ferrari would want Horner.

Horner comes with baggage. All of the above for a start, and on top of that there is the cloud under which he left Red Bull.

There is no doubt that he was a remarkably successful team principal there, the team winning eight drivers’ titles, six constructors’ championships and 124 grands prix in his two-decade tenure.

However, the team unravelled in his final 18 months in charge, in the wake of the accusations of sexual harassment and coercive, controlling behaviour that were made against him by a female employee.

Red Bull dismissed those allegations after two internal investigations led by external lawyers.

But they were a key factor in Adrian Newey leaving his position as chief technical officer – along with internal politics in which Newey felt his role had been diminished by Horner.

Newey was followed out of the door by long-time sporting director Jonathan Wheatley and head of strategy Will Courtenay.

Horner was finally dismissed following a slump in form which Red Bull bosses concluded the team did not appear to be capable of arresting under his leadership.

In the Times interview, Horner says that the only justification he was given by Red Bull for his sacking was “it was more Christian Horner Racing than Red Bull Racing”.

He adds at other points in the interview: “I am a bit of a Marmite character. I know I’m not everybody’s cup of tea. It’s impossible to be.” And: “I’m the cure and the problem.”

Clearly, any decision as to whether Horner is the person you want to lead your F1 team would need careful consideration.

It’s also worth mentioning that Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton has made it pretty clear over the past few years that he has little time for Horner.

Why hasn’t the FIA made a decision on the final two races of the season? They’ve cancelled the final rounds of the World Rally Championship and World Endurance Championship because of the Middle East conflict. Surely they should be confirming the changes in the calendar now? – Nigel

To start with a point of order, it is Formula 1 that decides the calendar – as in, the commercial rights holder – not the FIA, the governing body. The FIA’s role is effectively only to rubber-stamp F1’s decision.

As things stand, F1 is planning to end the season as the calendar was originally scheduled – with Las Vegas followed by Qatar and then Abu Dhabi, external over the last two weekends in November and the first in December.

Although the war continues between the US/Israel and Iran, the advice F1 has been getting is that the situation in those two countries is stable, and there is not a high risk of attacks on civilian infrastructure.

The UK Foreign Office, for example, does not advise against travel to Qatar and Abu Dhabi., external It simply says the situation there “remains unpredictable” and that “there is a risk of more attacks and unforeseen escalation in the region”.

And the two countries consider themselves open for business.

However, F1 has a contingency plan.

Imola in Italy is preparing to host a race on the weekend of Abu Dhabi.

If the two Middle Eastern races cannot happen as a result of an escalation of the situation in the Gulf, Imola would step in and hold the season finale on 4-6 December.

But unless and until that happens, there is no confirmation of changes to make, as there are currently no changes.

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