World Grand Prix 2025 | Day Two Preview and Order of Play

The first round action continues at the 2025 World Grand Prix on Tuesday with four former champions among the star names commencing their campaigns.

The opening night of the historic double-start event saw three seeded players suffer an early exit in Leicester, while three matches went down to a last-leg shootout.

Focus now shifts to the bottom half of the draw bracket, with tournament favourite Luke Littler beginning his bid for a maiden World Grand Prix title with a showdown against Gian van Veen.

Littler is making only his second appearance in this event and is vying for his first victory following a first round exit to Rob Cross on debut 12 months ago.

The reigning World Champion has added the UK Open and World Matchplay to his major title tally this season, while also finishing runner-up in the Premier League and World Series Finals.

The 18-year-old opens up against the player whom he defeated to be crowned World Youth Champion in 2023, as well as in this year’s UK Open quarter-finals en route to further silverware in Minehead.

Van Veen has been handed another nightmare first round draw, but will relish the challenge, having notably knocked out Luke Humphries in the opening round of July’s World Matchplay en route to reaching the quarter-finals.

Another blockbuster clash sees Dutch powerhouses Michael van Gerwen and Dirk van Duijvenbode collide.

Van Gerwen has claimed this title on six occasions, having famously secured his maiden major triumph in Dublin back in 2012.

The world number three roared back into the winner’s circle at last month’s World Series Finals on home soil in Amsterdam, having also picked up a European Tour title earlier this year.

Van Duijvenbode’s first major final to date came at this event behind closed doors in 2020, losing out to Gerwyn Price, but he has failed to win a match in three subsequent appearances.

Price, who also finished runner-up here in 2021 and 2023, launches his latest title tilt with a tie against world number 19 Ryan Searle.

Price has stormed to four Players Championship titles this year, as well as the Baltic Sea Darts Open and Poland Masters, and the Welshman has reached at least the semi-final stage in four of his last five World Grand Prix appearances.

Searle warmed up for his sixth successive World Grand Prix in style by winning Players Championship 28 at this very venue exactly a week ago and will be determined to continue that blistering burst of form.

Meanwhile, reigning champion Mike De Decker starts the defence of his title against former finalist Peter Wright.

The Belgian is bidding to become only the third player in the 28-year history of the tournament to successfully retain the title, with last year’s remarkable triumph seeing him defeat the likes of Gary Anderson, James Wade and Humphries en route to glory.

Wright, runner-up in Dublin in 2018, is searching for his first win on a major stage in 2025, with a torrid recent run of form seeing him drop out of the world’s top 16 and suffer six opening round exits on the European Tour, as well as at the World Matchplay.

Jonny Clayton, the 2021 World Grand Prix champion, starts out against former UK Open champion Andrew Gilding.

Clayton has enjoyed a fine season in front of the TV cameras, finishing runner-up at the World Masters and World Cup and reaching the semi-finals of both the UK Open and World Matchplay.

Dutch Darts Championship winner and a ProTour event winner in Rosmalen, Clayton starts out against Norfolk veteran Gilding – who reached the quarter-finals here two years ago and was also a quarter-finalist in July’s World Matchplay.

World Cup of Darts winner Josh Rock faces a tricky opener against last year’s Grand Prix semi-finalist Ryan Joyce.

Tenth seed Rock is bidding for his first World Grand Prix win at the third time of asking but has proved a different animal on both floor and stage this year, reaching successive semi-finals at the UK Open, World Matchplay and World Series Finals, as well as reaching two European Tour finals and adding a further Players Championship title.

Joyce has established himself as one of the deadliest double hitters on the tour and will be out to inflict Déjà vu on the Northern Irishman, having prevailed in straight sets in their first round meeting here 12 months ago.

Daryl Gurney, the 2017 champion, takes on former European Champion Ross Smith in another stand-out fixture.

Gurney famously claimed his first major title in Dublin and went on to add the Players Championship Finals a year later, before partnering Rock to World Cup glory this summer.

Smith has suffered second round exits in all four previous World Grand Prix appearances and recorded an emotional triumph at Players Championship 29 last Wednesday, just days after pulling out of the Swiss Darts Trophy due to a family bereavement.

The opening match of the night sees Damon Heta face Luke Woodhouse in a repeat of their World Championship classic.

Heta notably landed a nine-darter in last year’s Third Round meeting at Ally Pally to earn a £60,000 bonus, but ultimately went on to lose the match in a seventh set decider.

The Australian number one, who reached the final of Players Championship 30 last Thursday, is vying to register his first win at the World Grand Prix at the fifth attempt.

Woodhouse, meanwhile, enjoyed a terrific run to the final of the recent Swiss Darts Trophy, finishing runner-up to Stephen Bunting, and is provisionally now ranked world number 28.

The action gets under way from 6pm BST, with first round ties to be contested over the best of five sets.

All sets are the best of five legs and there will be no tie break in any set. All legs must begin and end with a double, meaning that a player must hit a double before they can begin scoring in each leg.

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BOYLE Sports World Grand Prix 2025 Day Two Schedule

Tuesday October 7

First Round

6pm-11pm
Damon Heta v Luke Woodhouse
Ross Smith v Daryl Gurney
Jonny Clayton v Andrew Gilding
Gerwyn Price v Ryan Searle
Luke Littler v Gian van Veen
Michael van Gerwen v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Peter Wright v Mike De Decker
Josh Rock v Ryan Joyce