The 2022 World Grand Prix gets under way in Leicester on Monday with eight quick-fire First Round ties.
The annual double-start tournament will see the stars of the sport competing for the prestigious trophy and record £600,000 prize fund at the Morningside Arena.
The top 16 players from the main PDC Order of Merit are joined in the line-up by the next 16 highest ranked players from the ProTour Order of Merit.
Reigning champion Jonny Clayton is bidding to become only the third player in the 24-year history of the event to successfully retain the title, but faces a formidable First Round test against Dirk van Duijvenbode.
Clayton claimed his first televised PDC ranking title here 12 months ago and opened his account for 2022 in August’s New South Wales Masters.
The 2021 Premier League champion, who topped this season’s table before losing in the play-offs, has been drawn to face Van Duijvenbode for the third consecutive event, with the Dutchman prevailing in the Semi-Finals of the World Series Finals, before Clayton won a Euro Tour epic in Belgium last weekend.
Van Duijvenbode is defending runner-up prize money from this event two years ago and has enjoyed a sensational spell of form in recent weeks, finishing runner-up in the Dutch Masters and World Series Finals.
Meanwhile, two multiple World Champions collide in one of the stand-out ties of the opening round as Michael van Gerwen meets Gary Anderson.
The duo have shared one televised victory apiece this season, but it’s MVG who has much more to show for his efforts, regaining the Premier League and World Matchplay titles, as well as three European Tours and a Players Championship crown.
Van Gerwen is a five-time World Grand Prix winner, having secured his first PDC major title a decade ago in Dublin, but has been subjected to a flurry of early exits in recent years, including a First Round defeat to Danny Noppert last time out.
Anderson’s best run in this event saw him finish runner-up to Van Gerwen in 2016, and he has since failed to make it beyond the Quarter-Final stage.
The Flying Scotsman finished bottom of this year’s Premier League table and has since suffered opening round exits at the World Matchplay and World Series Finals, but will be determined to find form going into a crucial back end of the campaign.
World Champion Peter Wright launches his latest quest for a maiden Grand Prix title with a clash against Kim Huybrechts.
Wright was beaten in the 2018 final but has since picked up six major titles, including two World Championships and the 2021 World Matchplay.
The world number two is bidding to avoid a third consecutive First Round exit in this event and faces a tricky opener against the Belgian number two – who has lost in the opening round in five of his eight previous Grand Prix appearances.
Another tasty tie sees two-time World Champion Adrian Lewis take on former Grand Slam champion Jose de Sousa.
Lewis was runner-up in the 2010 World Grand Prix and returns to the double-start major for the first time since 2019, having ended a three-year title drought on the ProTour back in July.
De Sousa, the number six seed, was a three-time ProTour event winner last season but is yet to open his account for 2022, with his best run in a televised event this season coming at The Masters in January – when he reached the Semi-Finals.
Dimitri Van den Bergh looks to improve on his below-par record at the World Grand Prix when he faces in-form Dave Chisnall.
Van den Bergh has suffered two First Round exits and a Last 16 defeat in his three previous appearances but will be keen to replicate the form which guided him to two World Series titles this year and the Semi-Finals of the World Matchplay.
Chisnall, the 2013 and 2019 Grand Prix runner-up, warmed up in style by claiming the Belgian Open title last weekend – ending a three-year title drought and hitting a nine-darter in the process.
Two power-scorers face off as world number 11 Luke Humphries takes on 2019 Grand Prix semi-finalist Chris Dobey.
Humphries has racked up a fantastic four Euro Tour titles this season, in addition to two Players Championships, and will look to transfer that form onto the televised stage.
Dobey is aiming to bounce back from his agonising First Round exit at the World Matchplay – where he squandered an 8-2 lead in an eventual 11-9 defeat to Rob Cross.
Brendan Dolan, the 2011 Grand Prix runner-up and nine-dart hero, looks to register his first win in this event since 2016 when he faces last year’s semi-finalist – Stephen Bunting.
The opening match of the tournament sees former World Masters champion and eight-time PDC ranking title winner Krzysztof Ratajski face World Championship quarter-finalist Callan Rydz – a player vying for his first Grand Prix win at the second time of asking.
The action gets under way from 7pm BST, with First Round matches to be 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 they can begin scoring in each leg.
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World Grand Prix 2022 Day One Schedule
Monday October 3
First Round
7pm-11pm
Callan Rydz v Krzysztof Ratajski
Brendan Dolan v Stephen Bunting
Chris Dobey v Luke Humphries
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Dave Chisnall
Jonny Clayton v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Peter Wright v Kim Huybrechts
Michael van Gerwen v Gary Anderson
Jose de Sousa v Adrian Lewis
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