Luke Littler caught by surprise at Grand Slam of Darts dream run to final opens up - 'Couldn't believe it'

But it's been a tournament to forget for a number of the top seeds with several surprise exits.

Humphries was the first man to fall after losing his opening two group games, eliminating him from the tournament with one match to spare.

Peter Wright and Dave Chisnall failed to win a single game as they were knocked out of Group C and D respectively.

But there were even more shocks on Tuesday night while Littler made light work of Ilagan.

Michael van Gerwen suffered a surprise defeat to Ryan Joyce to eliminate the world No 3 from the tournament.

And Michael Smith was smashed 5-0 by Mike De Decker in the biggest shock of the day with the No 2 seed unable to make the knockout stage.

When asked about his reaction to Humphries' exit from the tournament, Littler said: "I just couldn't believe it.

"I thought he would have gone through but I've now just got to focus on myself and hopefully I win the next game."

That next game will now come against De Decker rather than Smith in a huge boost to Littler's title chances.

The 2024 Premier League champion was also set to face Van Gerwen in a potential semi-final clash.

But the highest-ranked player Littler can face now in his half of the draw is Stephen Bunting, who faces Gary Anderson in the second round.

It's already been a far better major tournament for Littler than his previous three, having been knocked out in the first round at the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and European Championships.

Littler was given tricky draws in all three of those tournaments against top seeds, but he's feeling much better at the Grand Slam of Darts.

"I just wanted a good run," he said.

"I never said I need to win this tournament or want to.

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"Obviously I want to try and win everything, but past the majors the draws haven't been with me and I've lost and it's just back to the drawing board.

"It's going so far so well in this tournament and I'm enjoying myself."

Littler has already climbed up to 15th in the Order of Merit by reaching the second round and he could climb inside the top 10 by reaching the final.

Going on to win the entire event would see Littler rocket up the rankings to fifth, just ahead of Chisnall.