Boylesports World Grand Prix 2021 Day Two preview and order of play | First Round culminates

The First Round action continues at the 2021 Boylesports World Grand Prix on Monday with more big names bidding to avoid an early exit in Leicester.

Sunday saw the ties from the top half of the draw take place, with 2020 finalist Dirk van Duijvenbode, 2017 champion Daryl Gurney and fifth seed Dimitri van den Bergh among the notable early casualties.

Day Two of the Boylesports World Grand Prix features a number of mouth-watering ties, including reigning World Matchplay champion Peter Wright against 2019 World Matchplay winner Rob Cross.

Second seed Wright is aiming to add this elusive trophy to his rapidly growing haul, having come closest in 2018 when he lost out to rival Michael van Gerwen in the final.

Wright, who also won the World Cup of Darts alongside John Henderson last month, remains in hot pursuit of the world number one spot and will be determined to apply further pressure on Gerwyn Price this week.

Cross, meanwhile, is out to improve on a below-par record in this competition, having suffered three First Round defeats and a Second Round loss in his four previous appearances.

Cross and Wright go head-to-head (Photo by Lawrence Lustig/PDC)

Michael van Gerwen kicks off his quest for a sixth Grand Prix crown with a clash against former World Cup team-mate Danny Noppert.

Van Gerwen claimed his first major title at this event in Dublin back in 2012, proving the catalyst for his domination of the sport in the subsequent years, but he is yet to land a major ranking title so far this season.

The world number three ended the TV title drought at the Nordic Masters last month and warmed up for this event by defeating Noppert 6-5 from 4-1 and 5-3 down in the Gibraltar Trophy last weekend.

Noppert was left to rue four missed match darts on that occasion and will be out for revenge over the quick-fire double-start format.

Gary Anderson, Grand Prix runner-up in 2016, faces a tough opener against his close friend Ian White – twice a quarter-finalist.

Anderson’s tournament appearances have been few and far between since the World Matchplay, but the ‘Flying Scotsman’ will now look to build up a head of steam at this important stage of the campaign.

White has been contending with injury in recent months and has dropped out of the world’s top 16, but a strong run here could spark a timely resurgence from the Stoke star.

Perhaps the most closely-matched contest of the evening sees top 16 stars Nathan Aspinall and Krzysztof Ratajski go head-to-head.

Both players are making only their third appearance in this event, with former UK Open champion Aspinall reaching the Last Eight on his debut in Dublin, while Ratajski is yet to register a win despite his renowned efficiency on the outer ring.

Grand Slam champion Jose De Sousa opens up with a tie against 2020 Premier League champion Glen Durrant in the final match of the evening.

De Sousa was runner-up in his debut Premier League campaign this year, defeating ‘Duzza’ 7-4 along the way, and is now eyeing his first win in this competition at the second time of asking.

Durrant has endured a torrid season so far, finishing bottom of the Premier League without a point to his name and suffering a First Round defeat at the World Matchplay, in addition to several early exits on the ProTour.

Tenacious Teessider Durrant is projected to drop out of the world’s top 16 after this event but will be determined to dig deep and turn his fortunes around, starting against his stablemate De Sousa.

Premier League champion Jonny Clayton kicks off with a tricky test against debutant Callan Rydz.

Clayton has won just one game in three previous Grand Prix appearances and will be keen to atone for his disappointment of failing to qualify for next week’s European Championship.

Rydz, 23, continues to ride the crest of a wave, having reached the Quarter-Finals on his World Matchplay debut, as well as picking up his first Players Championship title this season.

Vincent van der Voort aims to improve on a record of six First Round defeats in nine World Grand Prix appearances when he faces German number one Gabriel Clemens.

The opening match of the night sees history-making 2011 finalist Brendan Dolan take on Lithuanian debutant Darius Labanauskas.

The action gets under way from 6pm BST, with all First Round matches contested over the best of three 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 he can begin scoring in each leg.

WATCH THE WORLD GRAND PRIX STREAMED LIVE HERE (18+)

Boylesports World Grand Prix 2021 Day Two Schedule of Play

Monday October 4

First Round

6.15pm Darius Labanauskas v Brendan Dolan
6.45pm Callan Rydz v Jonny Clayton
7.15pm Vincent van der Voort v Gabriel Clemens
7.45pm Nathan Aspinall v Krzysztof Ratajski
8.15pm Gary Anderson v Ian White
8.45pm Peter Wright v Rob Cross
9.15pm Michael van Gerwen v Danny Noppert
9.45pm Jose de Sousa v Glen Durrant