World number one Luke Humphries powered his way into the second round of the 2025 Boyle Sports World Grand Prix with victory over Nathan Aspinall.
The 2023 winner edged the first set 3-2 at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester despite his opponent landing a maximum 170 check-out in the second leg, but he raced to a 3-0 victory in the second, taking out 156 on the way.
Humphries will face Poland's Krzysztof Ratajski in the next round after he eased past Germany number one Martin Schindler with the minimum of fuss, losing just one leg on his way to a 2-0 win over the 16th seed.
World number four Stephen Bunting plundered five 180s and check-outs of 130 and 116 to see off the challenge of 25-year-old German Niko Springer 2-0.
It otherwise proved a difficult night for top 10 players on the first evening of the double in, double out tournament, with world number five James Wade going down 2-0 to Joe Cullen, who recovered from two legs down in the second set after securing a whitewash in the first to win.
Scotland’s Cameron Menzies pulled off something of a shock as he beat world number eight Chris Dobey 2-0 to set up a second round showdown with Rob Cross.
Dobey was made to pay for missed doubles at both ends as he lost the first set 3-0 and then squandered the darts in the final leg of the second to go down 3-2.
World number nine Cross survived a first-round scare as he edged to a 2-1 victory over debutant Wessel Nijman, who narrowly missed the bullseye as he went for a 127 finish in the decisive fifth leg of the third set to allow his opponent to check out on double 16.
Gary Anderson held his nerve to defeat six-time champion Raymond van Barneveld in a deciding third set, winning the final leg against the odds to seal a second-round tie against Cullen.
Danny Noppert hit a sensational 158 check-out as he scrapped his way to a 2-1 victory in his all-Dutch clash with Jermaine Wattimena, and his reward is a head-to-head with Bunting.
