Boylesports World Grand Prix 2023 | Day Three Preview and Order of Play
The Second Round action commences at the 2023 Boylesports World Grand Prix in Leicester on Wednesday with a quartet of former World Champions in action.
The opening round of the double-start major saw three of the top eight seeds fall foul to the short format, while a host of in-form stars safely navigated their way through at the Morningside Arena.
Last 16 ties from the top half of the draw take centre stage on Day Three as the big names aim to remain in the running for the £120,000 top prize.
Gerwyn Price, the 2020 champion and number four seed, steps up his title quest with a clash against Polish number one Krzysztof Ratajski.
Price finished runner-up here two years ago before falling at the Semi-Final hurdle 12 months ago and has picked up a second World Cup title this year, while also finishing runner-up in the Premier League.
He opened up with an impressive straight sets win over world number nine Danny Noppert, producing a crucial 101 checkout along the way.
Ratajski, quarter-finalist here two years ago, claimed his second Euro Tour title in Jena last month and has also picked up a Players Championship title this season.
The former World Master began with a hard-fought deciding set victory over two-time World Grand Prix champion James Wade on Monday night.
Former finalist Gary Anderson aims to continue his blistering spell of form when he faces UK Open champion Andrew Gilding.
Anderson scooped his second Players Championship title of the year last week following a series of vintage displays, marking a perfection preparation for his 14th World Grand Prix campaign.
The two-time World Champion then averaged 95.4 in a high quality 2-1 win over Jose De Sousa and will be keen to pick up from where he left off.
Gilding enjoyed a fairy-tale triumph in Minehead back in March to become the latest new winner of a major title, and the 52-year-old ended a nine-year wait for a win at the World Grand Prix when he recovered from a set down to edge out Rob Cross on opening night.
World number one and World Champion Michael Smith comes up against 2011 Grand Prix runner-up Brendan Dolan.
Smith is making his eleventh appearance in the double-start major and has incredibly never made it beyond the Second Round stage, with ‘Bully Boy’ having suffered First Round exits in his last three outings.
Winner of the Bahrain Masters and a Euro Tour title this year, the St Helens star made an encouraging start here by brushing aside Callan Rydz 2-0 with a 96 average.
Dolan has become synonymous with this event since hitting an historic first double-start nine-darter in Dublin 12 years ago en route to the final, but had not won a match in the Grand Prix since 2016.
That, however, changed on Monday when he overcame Dirk van Duijvenbode 2-1 for another impressive scalp, having also knocked out Michael van Gerwen in this year’s World Matchplay.
The second match of the night sees in-form Stephen Bunting take on German ace Martin Schindler.
Bunting travelled to Leicester in a sparkling spell of form, having reached the final of the German Darts Open, as well as the Semi-Finals of a ProTour event last week, registering a host of ton-plus averages over the three days in Barnsley.
He continued in that vein by dumping out World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall in a deciding set and is looking to eclipse his run to two previous Grand Prix Semi-Finals.
Schindler has since reached the Semi-Finals of the World Cup alongside Gabriel Clemens, as well as the Semi-Finals of a Euro Tour event this year and registered his first win in this event at the expense of five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld.
The action gets under way from 7pm BST, with Second Round matches 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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Boylesports World Grand Prix 2023 Day Three Schedule
Wednesday October 4
Second Round
7pm-11pm
Andrew Gilding v Gary Anderson
Stephen Bunting v Martin Schindler
Gerwyn Price v Krzysztof Ratajski
Michael Smith v Brendan Dolan
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