World No. 2 Michael Smith faced a shocking elimination on the first night of the Hungarian Darts Trophy, falling 6-3 to Jonny Clayton. Fresh off a loss to Luke Littler in the World Series of Darts Finals, Smith’s defeat marked a disappointing first-round exit, despite a brief attempt at recovery.
Clayton surged ahead with a strong performance, securing a three-leg lead and achieving four 180s at a 94.17 average. Next up for Clayton is top seed and defending champion Dave Chisnall.
In other matches, Peter Wright narrowly defeated Joe Cullen in a thrilling decider, while Raymond van Barneveld advanced by beating Ritchie Edhouse 6-3 and will face Ross Smith in the next round. Notable first-round winners also included Nathan Aspinall, James Wade, and Andrew Gilding, while high-profile competitors Michael van Gerwen, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price are set to begin their campaigns on Saturday.
Looking ahead, the 2024 BoyleSports World Grand Prix is the next major event on the darting calendar. Scheduled for October 7-13 at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester, this annual £600,000 tournament will showcase 32 of the world’s best players competing for the championship title, which was clinched by Luke Humphries last year.
Humphries, fresh off his inaugural TV ranking title win against Gerwyn Price, will return to defend his title in this highly anticipated tournament. In a new format change, the semi-finals on October 12 will be played over the best of nine sets, while the final on October 13 will follow a best of 11 sets format. Fans can look forward to an exciting week of darts featuring both seasoned champions and rising stars.
