Doubles are at the fore over the next week as the Boylesports World Grand Prix takes place at a new venue in Leicester with 32 of the best darts players in the world looking to sew up one of the biggest titles in the sport.
That is exactly what Gerwyn Price did last year and he will bid to defend the title successfully in Leicester. This draw is absolutely loaded though so whoever wins next Saturday will certainly have played very well to do so.
Recent Winners
2020 – Gerwyn Price
2019 – Michael van Gerwen
2018 – Michael van Gerwen
2017 – Daryl Gurney
2016 – Michael van Gerwen
2015 – Robert Thornton
2014 – Michael van Gerwen
2013 – Phil Taylor
2012 – Michael van Gerwen
2011 – Phil Taylor
The Format
This is the one tournament of the year where the format is completely different. In every leg players have to hit a double to start scoring and then hit another to finish the leg. We are at set play in this tournament as well. The first round is a bunfight over the best-of-three sets while the second round and quarter finals move up to the best-of-five. It is the best-of-seven for the semi-finals and then the champion will be decided over the best-of-nine sets in the final on the Saturday. Each set throughout the tournament is the best-of-five legs and the deciding set will be settled in the fifth leg rather than a tiebreak.
Top Half
The defending champion Gerwyn Price just so happens to be the world champion and the world number one and therefore he will attempt to defend the title from the top half of the draw. There are only eight seeds in this event which means only three others are say in the top half. Former finalist Dave Chisnall is one of those while a previous winner of this tournament, James Wade is another. The other is the former World Matchplay winner Dimitri Van den Bergh who always seems to play well on the big stage right now.
The fact there are only eight seeds in the competition has gone against Gerwyn Price because he has drawn the horror draw of Michael Smith in the first round. Smith is not the only tasty talent in this half of the draw who isn’t seeded. There is also the former finalist Mervyn King, Mensur Suljovic who has a good record here, Damon Heta, Stephen Bunting, the 2017 champion Daryl Gurney and the man who was beaten in the final of the competition in Dirk van Duijvenbode.
Bottom Half
The recently crowned World Matchplay champion Peter Wright heads up the seedings in the bottom half of the draw this week. He was the finalist in this tournament in 2018 but hasn’t been beyond the quarter final apart from that which might keep the other seeds in this section honest. They are the man who has won this title on five previous occasions in Michael van Gerwen, the Grand Slam champion Jose de Sousa and a player who has surprisingly never won this tournament in Gary Anderson.
As with the top half of the draw, the bottom half is loaded with great players who aren’t seeded this week. The chief of those has to be the Premier League champion Jonny Clayton while Nathan Aspinall is the second highest ranked player who isn’t seeded. Former world champion Rob Cross, Polish star Krzysztof Ratajski, Glen Durrant, Ian White, Danny Noppert and Vincent van der Voort are some of the other players who will fancy their chances this week, as will former finalist and history maker in this event Brendan Dolan.
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Outright Betting
This tournament has a history of surprise finalists and winners and with the way the draw is loaded this week I wouldn’t be surprised to see the shocks continuing. I just don’t see a way the draw doesn’t open right up so I’ll take a couple of players who are a little down the market in the hope of getting a decent run out of them. The first of those is a fully fit and inspired again Mensur Suljovic. He has three times made the semi-finalist in this tournament but I would wager he has never arrived in better form than he’s in right now. In the last few weeks he has spearheaded Austria through to the World Cup final and made the final of the European Tour event in Gibraltar last week where Ratajski, de Sousa and Simon Whitlock were among his victims. He got trounced by Price in the final but the format here suits the Austrian better and if he can overcome the challenge of Dave Chisnall in the first round there is a huge showing awaiting him.
Historically Brendan Dolan has played some of his best darts in this format and this tournament and when you consider he is probably having his best spell on the PDC tour at the minute it makes sense to back him to come through in the bottom half. He has as nice an early draw as there is in this tournament and we know from when he made the nine dart finish and then made the final that this is an event he enjoys. Dolan is scoring heavier than ever these days and has always been one of the best double hitters in this tournament. He might be a decent price here.
Quarter Betting
I’m very surprised we can get 9/2 about James Wade winning the second quarter. I readily accept that Dimitri Van den Bergh is the future of the two but he has only played three double start matches in his life and only won one of them. Although he is class he still has issues with the doubles in a regular leg from time to time so I’m not sure I want to back him here. The likes of Daryl Gurney and Dirk van Duijvenbode have all enjoyed good runs in this tournament in recent times and merit respect but I’m not convinced over the form of either.
The one thing you need in this tournament is the ability to hit doubles regularly and even now there aren’t many who are as reliable on the doubles as Wade. He sits fifth in the checkout stats in the stage events in 2021 which is the sort of record we are accustomed to seeing from him. There is no easy draw in this tournament but the form of Heta on the big stage probably flatters to deceive more than most so Wade should be able to get into the tournament and from there he becomes dangerous. I like him in this quarter.
Tips
Back M.Suljovic to win World Grand Prix (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 81.00 with Coral (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Back B.Dolan to win World Grand Prix (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 51.00 with William Hill (1/2 1-2)
Back him here:
Back J.Wade to win 2nd Quarter for a 1/10 stake at 5.50 with BetVictor
Back him here:
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