Left arrow

Boylesports World Grand Prix 2024 Draw | Humphries to begin title defence against Bunting

Right arrow

Rob Cross ousts Luke Littler in World Grand Prix opener as Humphries completes epic comeback

Boylesports World Grand Prix 2024 | Day One Preview and Order of Play

Jamie Shaw in World Grand Prix 07 Oct 2024

Luke Littler and Rob Cross collide (Photo by PDC)

The 2024 World Grand Prix gets under way in Leicester on Monday as a host of star names aim to avoid an early exit.

The 27th staging of the sport’s prestigious double-start major sees the top 16 players from the main PDC Order of Merit joined by the next 16 highest ranked players from the ProTour Order of Merit.

The notoriously brutal First Round format has paved the way for a number of upsets down the years, and more darting drama beckons at the Mattioli Arena.

Luke Humphries launches the defence of his title with a showdown against Masters champion Stephen Bunting in one of the stand-out ties of the opening night.

Humphries defeated Gerwyn Price 5-2 in last year’s final to clinch his first major title, and the rest of history for the 29-year-old, who has gone on to claim a further four televised ranking titles, including the World Championship and World Matchplay.

The world number one is vying to become only the third player in the history of the tournament (behind Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen) to successfully defend the title.

Bunting has twice made the semi-finals of the World Grand Prix over the past decade and heads into this year’s event in a rich vein of form, having reached three consecutive ProTour event finals last week.

However, ‘The Bullet’ was forced to settle for second spot in each, including Players Championship 26 – where he was narrowly beaten 8=7 by Humphries in the final.

Meanwhile, another box office clash sees reigning Premier League champion Luke Littler take on former World Champion Rob Cross.

Littler is one of five debutants in this year’s competition and is chasing down a first major ranking title to add to his Premier League and World Series Finals triumphs in 2024.

The World Championship finalist has also claimed two European Tour titles and two World Series titles, as well as three Players Championship titles.

Cross is the number four seed in the draw and is looking to improve on a below-par record in this event by his standards, having failed to surpass the Second Round in seven previous appearances.

Raymond van Barneveld, World Grand Prix runner-up in 2008 and 2009, looks to continue his resurgent run of form when he faces German ace Ricardo Pietreczko.

Van Barneveld reached the semi-finals of Players Championship 26 last Thursday, defeating Littler along the way, and has already picked up a ProTour title this season.

Pietreczko withdrew from the Hungarian Darts Trophy a fortnight ago through injury after just one leg of his Third Round tie, and was beaten 6-5 by Van Barneveld on his European Tour return at the Swiss Darts Trophy a week later.

Nathan Aspinall, the 2022 World Grand Prix runner-up, faces recent Swiss Darts Trophy runner-up Ryan Searle.

Aspinall has recently returned to competitive action following a ten-week break due to an elbow injury and is looking to kick-start his season after finishing fifth in the Premier League and bowing out of the World Matchplay in Round Two.

Searle is making his fifth consecutive Grand Prix appearance and will feel he has a point to prove after spurning seven match darts and a 7-4 lead in an 8-7 defeat to Martin Schindler in the final Basel little over a week ago.

Schindler, who became the first German to win multiple European Tour titles courtesy of that dramatic comeback, begins his campaign against 2011 finalist Brendan Dolan.

Jonny Clayton, the 2021 World Grand Prix champion, starts out against debutant Ritchie Edhouse.

Clayton claimed a Players Championship title in July and was runner-up in the Dutch Darts Championship, while Edhouse has reached two ProTour semi-finals and two Euro Tour quarter-finals this year and notably averaged 120.2 in a 6-0 whitewash of Graham Hall at Players Championship 26 last week.

The opening match of the tournament sees Dutch Darts Championship winner Josh Rock take on Ryan Joyce – a player returning to this event for the first time since 2020.

Former European Champion Ross Smith, twice a runner-up on the European Tour this season, faces a tough opener against Dutch debutant Gian van Veen – runner-up in the recent Hungarian Darts Trophy.

The action gets under way from 6pm BST, with First Round matches to be contested over the best of three sets.

WATCH THE WORLD GRAND PRIX STREAMED LIVE HERE

18+ | Geo Restrictions Apply | Gamble Aware

World Grand Prix 2024 Day One Schedule

Monday October 7

First Round

6pm-11pm
Josh Rock v Ryan Joyce
Brendan Dolan v Martin Schindler
Jonny Clayton v Ritchie Edhouse
Nathan Aspinall v Ryan Searle
Raymond van Barneveld v Ricardo Pietreczko
Luke Humphries v Stephen Bunting
Rob Cross v Luke Littler
Gian van Veen v Ross Smith

Latest Darts Free Bets

Betfred Sign-up Offer | Bet £10 & Get £50 in Free Bets

Welcome Bonus

Bet £10 & Get £50 in Free Bets

In-Play Betting
Mobile App
Variety Of Sports

Excellent Review

10.0 Our Score

Claim Here

New customers only. Register, deposit with a Debit Card, and place a first bet of £10+ at Evens (2.0)+ on Sports, to be settled within 7 days, to get £30 in Sports Free Bets and £20 in Acca Free Bets within 24 hours of settlement. 7-day expiry. Eligibility & payment exclusions apply. Full T&Cs

BOYLE Sports Sign-Up Offer | Bet £10 Get £40 in Free Bets

Welcome Bonus

Bet £10 Get £40 in Free Bets

In-Play Betting
Live Streaming
Mobile App
Variety Of Sports

Excellent Review

10.0 Our Score

Boylesports World Grand Prix 2024 | Day One Preview and Order of Play

World Grand Prix 2024 Day One Schedule

Latest Darts Free Bets

Bookmaker Offers

Latest News

Luke Littler and Nathan Aspinall enjoy stellar starts at the World Matchplay as Bunting survives scare

Betfred World Matchplay 2026 | Draw, Live Scores, Results & Schedule of Play

William Hill World Cup Offer | Bet £10 Get £30 in Free Bets + EVS Epic Boost for France to score first

World Matchplay Darts 2026 live stream | How to watch all matches online

Ladbrokes World Cup Final Offer | Get 50/1 for Spain to win

Coral World Cup Final Offer | 50/1 for Spain v Argentina to go to penalties

World Matchplay 2026 Betting Tips and Accumulator Predictions

World Matchplay Darts 2026 | Day One Preview and Order of Play

Betsuna World Cup Sign-Up Offer | Bet £10 & Get £50 in Free Bets

Betfred World Matchplay 2026 Draw | Littler to launch title defence against Springer