The World Grand Prix opens at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester on Monday. Luke Humphries starts the tournament as defending champion after defeating Gerwyn Price 5-2 in the final last year. It is difficult to predict who will win the tournament this year, as there are a number of contenders for this unique major tournament.
After all, the World Grand Prix is the only PDC major that is played according to the double in/double out format and that can cause a few surprises. At Sky Sports the commentators have already made some predictions. Laura Turner, herself active in the women’s sector, is pushing Luke Littler to the fore. “I think it will be a final between him and Gary Anderson, with Luke coming out as the winner,” she says.
Michael Bridge, on the other hand, believes that Humphries will successfully defend his title. “I love his professionalism and he is also a big contender for overall victory in every tournament he takes part in. I believe he will win the World Grand Prix for the second year in a row. Stuart Pyke agrees with that . “Luke has special memories of this tournament, after all it was his first major title. He will be particularly keen to triumph again.”
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But now Searle too?
Abigail Davies has a slightly different opinion. “It would be pretty boring if I chose Michael van Gerwen or Luke Humphries,” she says. “So I’m going to go for an outsider and choose Ryan Searle. He recently missed seven match darts to win the Swiss Darts Open overall. I’m still disappointed with his placing myself, but hopefully he’s already gotten over the disappointment and can go to the World Grand Prix, in my opinion he is the best player in the world on double 20 and in a tournament with a double in/double out format that can be a big help.”
Finally, Rod Studd gives a perhaps somewhat surprising name. “I think Chris Dobey will win. He’s in great shape at the moment (Dobey won another Players Championship this week) and has done well here in the past. He’s been knocking on the door for a while and maybe this will be it Tournament.”
Cross
There is great agreement on the question of who will be the first to fall. “Rob Cross,” they say almost unanimously. Fourth seed Cross had no luck in the draw and will face Luke Littler in the first round.
In addition to the clash between Cross and Littler, there are a number of other great games on the agenda in the first round, but which ones are the Sky Sports commentators looking forward to the most? “Michael Smith vs. Gary Anderson will be a real cracker,” predicts Turner. Michael Bridge then returns with perhaps a rather surprising choice. “I’m looking forward to the game between Luke Woodhouse and Dimitri Van den Bergh,” he says. Luke has been playing well recently and will be looking to establish himself among the top players.”
