Woodhouse hits out at “absolutely freezing” conditions

LUKE WOODHOUSE hit out at “absolutely freezing” conditions at the Grand Slam.

The World No.17 complained on social media after losing his opening Group J clash 5-3 to Tom Sykes at the WV Active Aldersley in Wolverhampton.

Woody, 38, spent a great deal of the first match of the tournament blowing on his hands to warm up.

He then said on Instagram: “Genuinely understand it’s the same for both players…but we shouldn’t be playing in those conditions..so cold…well done to @tomsykes180 he dealt with it better than me…but ridiculous conditions…onto tomorrow fingers crossed not like playing in a freezer.”

Tom Sykes admits felt the cold as well, adding: “It’s a bit cold out there. I've got hand warmers in my pockets and I have hand warmers in my pockets no matter where I play or when I play, and even my hands were absolutely freezing.

“It were pretty cold but hopefully it warms up for the rest of the week.”

TOMMY MORRIS took less than 10 MINUTES to beat Josh Rock 5-2 in Group C on his debut in Wolves.

‘The Gun’ revealed: “There was a bit of inspiration at the start of the year. I don’t want to get into it too much but I nearly lost my wife giving birth. For me it’s an inspiration to do really well.

“I looked at this game being a full-time dad, looking after children instead of playing darts. So I’ve took that as a bit of a boost to me. A kick up the butt, so to speak.”

NATHAN ASPINALL smashed Maik Kuivenhoven 5-1 in Group P, narrowly missing a nine-darter. He averaged 111.67, missing three darts at his final double to fall just short of Michael van Gerwen’s 115.19 record. STEPHEN BUNTING survived a scare but won his opening Group D clash 5-4 over Raymond Smith while JERMAINE WATTIMENA dumped Lisa Ashton 5-2 in Group B.

Jonny Clayton suffered the biggest shock defeat of the opening session, going down to 5-4 to Anton Ostlund in Group G.

Images by Taylor Lanning.