Luke Littler, the world No 1, suffered a 2-1 defeat to Luke Woodhouse on Monday, marking an early end to his World Grand Prix title defence. The match took place in Leicester, where Littler was aiming to recover from a quarter-final exit in the World Series of Darts in Amsterdam a week prior.
Littler initially took the first set 3-1, despite reportedly not playing at his best. However, Woodhouse, the world No 18, secured the second set and then clinched the deciding set to complete the upset. Littler congratulated Woodhouse on social media following the game.
The opening night also saw other significant exits, with Michael van Gerwen losing 2-1 to Ryan Joyce, ending his bid for a seventh World Grand Prix crown. Rob Cross was also defeated 2-0 by Wessel Nijman. Meanwhile, Gerwyn Price advanced to the last 16 after a 2-0 victory over Sebastian Bialecki.