The World Grand Prix of Darts gets underway on Monday, October 3rd welcoming in a week of live televised PDC darts. 32 of the world’s best players will be facing off in the fight to reach the final two on October 9th.
For the second year in a row, the play takes place at the Morningside Arena in Leicester rather than the Citiwest Hotel in Dublin, its traditional home for the last 20 years.
This will also be the 25th staging of the World Grand Prix which dates back to 1998. Famously, this prestigious tournament is unique in being the only major televised darts tournament that features a double in, double out scoring system. What this means is that players can’t start scoring until they have hit a double at the beginning of each leg.
World number one Gerwyn Price, reigning champion Jonny Clayton, world champion Peter Wright and five-time winner of the World Grand Prix Michael van Gerwen will all be among the favourites to take down one of the last televised events before the World Darts Championships get underway on December the 15th.
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The Iceman Cometh
2020 Grand Prix winner Gerwyn Price is the joint-favorite and has recently returned to the top of the PDC Order of Merit and he really shouldn’t be having any problems in his opening round match against debutant Martin Schindler. Only once has a debutant made the final of this event and that was Dirk van Duijvenbode back in 2020 when he lost to Price.
Despite the fact that Price came out and said he didn’t like double start darts, he won this event back in 2020 and finished runner-up here twelve months ago. He’s also in good form having recently won the World Series of Darts Finals and, having sat out last weekend’s event in Belgium, he should be nice and fresh too. The Welshman will likely face Darts Masters champion Joe Cullen or Damon Heta which, although tough, shouldn’t faze The Iceman.
Heta and Cullen faced each other in July’s Darts World Matchplay where it was Cullen who came out on top. The Heat has enjoyed a good summer without actually winning very much and I fancy The Rockstar to overcome the Aussie once again.
Rob Cross, who is a very good finisher but notoriously struggles with the double start format, is the highest seed in his quarter, James Wade being the other. Price has a good record against both and will be disappointed not to at least reach the final. He certainly has the easier draw than MVG, who was beaten in the first round last year by Danny Noppert, winner of this year’s UK Open. Noppert is a darter that exudes confidence on the outer ring, which is vital when it comes to double-start events.
The Freeze will be backing himself to bag another major title in Leicester and his quarter of the draw certainly looks the easiest. The Dutchman’s biggest problem could be a second-round duel with Michael Smith should Bully Boy overcome Nathan Aspinall. Both Aspinall and Smith have lost in the first round in each of the last two years and Bully Boy has only made nine appearances at the World Grand Prix, winning just two matches.
A year ago, it seemed unthinkable that Noppert would beat Smith to a major but that’s what’s happened as his stock continues to rise. He is even almost in with a shot at competing in next year’s Darts Premier League.
MVG Back To His Best
Joint favourite Michael van Gerwen is currently in the best form he has been in for the last couple of years which makes him an obvious threat, even taking into account his tricky opening match against Gary Anderson.
The Flying Scotsman is the world number nine but only the top eight have been seeded and he has been handed an unfortunate draw. Anderson hasn’t enjoyed a great year and is unlikely to cause Mighty Mike any problems, making the Dutchman the most likely to reach the next round.
The other seeds in MVG’s half are Jonny Clayton, Peter Wright and Jose de Sousa. Wright, though, has struggled at this event with his best performance so far being a was a run to the final in 2018, where he was beaten 5-2 by van Gerwen. Since then, Snakebite has only got past the first round on one occasion in three years, losing in the first round six times.
Despite Snakebite having a dismal record at the Grand Prix, the Scotsman is another to have got out of the long and exhausting World Series trips back in August so he should be a lot fresher than he normally is at this time of year. He also won a European Tour event earlier this month when he took down the German Open at the expense of Dimitri van den Bergh which should do him the world of good.
The Machine Is Switched On
Fifth seed James Wade has perhaps been awarded the kindest draw. A refreshed Wade, who has hardly played in September, has drawn debutant Martin Lukeman in the first round and also managed to give the big three a swerve in his quarter.
If The Machine wins his opening match, and he will, then either Ross Smith or Andrew Gilding await before a likely meeting with either Michael Smith or Nathan Aspinall.
Wade is a five-time finalist and two-time winner here and can possibly run into Price, so long as the Iceman doesn’t melt first. The next highest ranked players on Wade’s side of the draw doesn’t have the best of records at this event so be surprised to see The Machine go on a deep run. 11-time major winner Wade clearly likes the format and was a runner-up in New Zealand recently, so is in decent looking form.
The Best Of The Rest
Save for the van Gerwen Anderson clash, the tie of the first round is Jonny Clayton v Dirk van Duijvenbode. The Aubergenius played really well at the World Series Finals, just losing out to Gerwyn Price, but I’m giving The Ferret the nod here.
Elsewhere, Dave Chisnall is a very good starter and has climbed back up inside the top 14 on the PDC Order of Merit. That followed his win at the Belgium Open where he chucked in a nine-darter for good measure. Although his record in this event isn’t, great, Chizzy is more than capable of putting together a run.
2022 World Grand Prix Of Darts Outright Winner Bet365 Darts Betting Odds
Here is where the betting lines stand for the 2022 World Grand Prix of Darts on Bet365 as of September 30th.
Gerwyn Price – 9/2
Michael van Gerwen – 9/2
Peter Wright – 7/1
Jonny Clayton – 15/2
Michael Smith – 12/1
Luke Humphries – 12/1
Dimitri van den Bergh – 14/1
Joe Cullen – 16/1
Dave Chisnall – 20/1
Danny Noppert – 20/1
Dirk van Duijvenbode – 25/1
Nathan Aspinall – 28/1
James Wade – 33/1
Jose De Sousa – 33/1
Rob Cross 40/1
2022 World Grand Prix Of Darts Schedule (match odds provided by bet365)
Monday October 3
First Round (Best of three sets)
- Callan Rydz (11/8) v (4/7) Krzysztof Ratajski
- Brendan Dolan (11/10) v (8/11) Stephen Bunting
- Chris Dobey (2/1) v (2/5) Luke Humphries
- Dimitri Van den Bergh (4/5) v (1/1) Dave Chisnall
- Jonny Clayton (8/13) v (13/10) Dirk van Duijvenbode
- Peter Wright (3/10) v (5/2) Kim Huybrechts
- Michael van Gerwen (4/9) v (7/4) Gary Anderson
- Jose de Sousa (8/13) v (13/10) Adrian Lewis
Tuesday October 4
First Round (Best of three sets)
- Madars Razma (7/4) v (4/9) Ryan Searle
- Ross Smith (1/1) v (4/5) Andrew Gilding
- Danny Noppert (2/5) v (2/1) Gabriel Clemens
- Joe Cullen (4/5) v (1/1) Damon Heta
- Rob Cross (8/13) v (13/10) Daryl Gurney
- James Wade (4/9) v (7/4) Martin Lukeman
- Gerwyn Price (1/3) v (12/5) Martin Schindler
- Michael Smith (4/6) v (6/5) Nathan Aspinall
Wednesday October 5
Second Round (Best of five sets)
- Four Matches
Thursday October 6
Second Round (Best of five sets)
- Four Matches
Friday, October 7
Quarter-Finals (Best of five sets)
- Four Matches
Saturday, October 8
Semi-Finals (Best of seven sets)
- Winner QF 1 v Winner QF 2
- Winner QF 3 v Winner QF 4
Sunday, October 9
Final (Best of nine sets)
- Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2
QUICK GLANCE AT THE WORLD GRAND PRIX OF DARTS 2022
Venue: Morningside Arena, Leicester
Dates: 3rd of October – 9th of October
Format: Best of five, seven, nine sets
Current Champion: Jonny Clayton
Where To Watch: Sky Sports Arena HD
When to Watch: 19:00 UK