Nathan Aspinall is out for revenge in the kindest way possible when he takes on Ryan Joyce on Friday night at the World Grand Prix. It is Quarter-Finals night and 'The Asp' is looking to beat 'Relentless', who downed him a few years ago in the same tournament.
Aspinall survived three match darts to edge past Kevin Doets and then Luke Woodhouse to book his place in the last eight at the Mattioli Arena. He was more impressive against Woodhouse, registering a straight-sets win. He now features in his first televised Quarter-Final of 2026, having lost to Luke Littler in July's World Matchplay and at the recent World Series of Darts Finals. He was set to face Littler in round two again, but Woodhouse had other ideas.
"I've been working really hard to try and compose myself in key moments," said Aspinall. "On Monday night that paid dividends, so I wanted to start how I finished in round one and my doubling in was a hell of a lot better against Luke. I hit so many 180s and overall I thought it was a great performance. Luke's one of those players - he's fantastic, but he does start beating himself up a bit, and I noticed at certain points his head was going."
Aspinall has not had the best week off the oche, with the Stockport star having his car smashed in, this after he was unwell in Amsterdam, but he continues to roll on. The mark of a true fighter, and he believes he can shine again in the latter half of the week. "We're all here to win," he continued. "I know I can score as well as anybody in the world of darts, and that's what I practice on. I focus on the scoring. As long as I can handle the pressure, which I think I've shown already in these two games in the big moments… I'm going to be really tough to beat this week. If it all comes together I'm one of the best players in the world. Everyone knows that, but you've got to prove it and hopefully this week I can have a decent run. I've got [Ryan] Joycey in the next game. He's ridiculous on double 16 and I'm going to have to play well because he beat me here a couple of years ago, so it's payback on Friday!"
