World Grand Prix Darts 2022 | Day Two Preview and Order of Play
The First Round action continues at the 2022 World Grand Prix in Leicester on Tuesday with a further eight quick-fire ties.
The opening day of the prestigious double-start major saw two former Grand Prix champions and two former runners-up among those to book a place in the Last 16 at the Morningside Arena.
Day Two plays host to the remaining ties from the top half of the draw, including a stand-out show-down between World Championship and UK Open finalist Michael Smith and former UK Open winner Nathan Aspinall.
Smith has picked up the US Masters title this year as well as a European Tour crown, but has failed to progress beyond the Second Round stage of this event in nine previous attempts.
Aspinall, meanwhile, has claimed two Players Championship titles in a superb resurgence in 2022 after battling injury but is looking to avert a third consecutive First Round exit at the Grand Prix.
Daryl Gurney, the 2017 World Grand Prix champion, kicks off his latest campaign with a clash against reigning European Champion Rob Cross.
Gurney has dropped to 25th in the PDC Order of Merit after a barren spell in televised ranking tournaments and will be determined to end a three-year wait for a win in this competition.
Cross, who famously defeated Gurney en route to the 2019 World Matchplay title, as well as in lats year’s World Championship, has three Euro Tour finals to his name this season but has never been beyond the Last 16 stage of this event in five appearances.
Gerwyn Price gets his quest for a second World Grand Prix crown under way with a tie against German debutant Martin Schindler.
Price is defending his title winning prize money from 2020 against his Order of Merit total, meaning Peter Wright has provisionally regained the world number one spot.
The Welshman, who was beaten by Jonny Clayton in last year’s final, recently claimed the World Series Finals title and was runner-up in July’s World Matchplay – defeating Schindler along the way.
Schindler will get his first taste of double-start action after a superb breakthrough season which has seen him move to the verge of the world’s top 32, and the 26-year-old will look to catch ‘The Ice Man’ cold over the quick-fire format.
James Wade, the 2007 and 2010 champion, is one of only three players to have claimed this trophy on more than one occasion, and the decorated left-hander starts out against debutant Martin Lukeman.
Lukeman, runner-up on the European Tour this season, is out to avenge his heavy defeat to Wade in this summer’s World Matchplay and continue his meteoric rise up the world rankings.
Masters champion and Premier League finalist Joe Cullen faces a tough opener against World Cup winner Damon Heta, with both eyeing a rare win in this event.
Cullen, who has also claimed Hungarian Trophy glory and two ProTour titles this year, has suffered First Round exits in three of his last four Grand Prix outings, while Heta is eyeing his first win on this stage at the second time of asking.
The Aussie ace was a quarter-finalist at the UK Open back in March and has also reached two European Tour Semi-Finals this term.
UK Open champion Danny Noppert aims to continue his terrific run in TV majors when he comes up against German number one Gabriel Clemens.
Noppert was a semi-finalist at the World Matchplay in Blackpool and also reached the semis of this event 12 months ago, defeating MVG along the way.
Clemens is making his third consecutive appearance in this event and enjoyed a welcome return to form at the recent Belgian Darts Open – where he reached the Quarter-Finals.
Man of the moment Andrew Gilding looks to transfer his red hot run of form onto the televised stage when he faces Ross Smith.
Gilding enjoyed a sensational run to the final of the recent Belgian Darts Open and has stormed back into the world’s top 50 after a spell of strong runs on the ProTour.
Smith secured the 16th and final ProTour qualification spot for this event, having made his debut last year – defeating Joe Cullen before bowing out to Dave Chisnall in a fifth set decider.
The opening match of the night sees three-time ranking event winner Ryan Searle take on Latvian ace Madars Razma.
Searle reached the Last Eight of this event last year with wins over Dimitri van den Bergh and Luke Humphries, while Razma is making his debut after recently reaching the Semi-Finals of a European Tour event.
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 Two Schedule
Tuesday October 4
First Round
7pm-11pm
Madars Razma v Ryan Searle
Ross Smith v Andrew Gilding
Danny Noppert v Gabriel Clemens
Joe Cullen v Damon Heta
Rob Cross v Daryl Gurney
James Wade v Martin Lukeman
Gerwyn Price v Martin Schindler
Michael Smith v Nathan Aspinall
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