2021 BoyleSports World Grand Prix preview

Gerwyn Price

The 2021 BoyleSports World Grand Prix begins on Sunday in Leicester as the iconic double-start event comes to the Morningside Arena for the first time.

Gerwyn Price will be defending the title he won for the first time behind closed doors in Coventry in 2020, with the Welshman joined by Peter Wright and Michael van Gerwen among the eight seeds in the 32-player field.

The 24th staging of the prestigious tournament will feature seven sessions of action from October 3-9, as players compete for the title and £450,000 in prize money.

The first round sees 16 matches take place across the opening two sessions, as Price begins the defence of his title on the opening night against Michael Smith in a tasty tie.

“I seem to do well in events when I’m defending champion, it seems to give me a kick up the backside and even more of an urge to win,” said Price, the 4/1 favourite to retain his title with BoyleSports.

“This year I’m looking forward to it with the crowds back.”
 
The World Champion also confirmed he has no concerns over his elbow injury which forced him to withdraw from the Nordic Darts Masters before bouncing back in style to win the Gibraltar Darts Trophy last weekend.
 
“I knew exactly what was wrong and what I had to do," Price continued.

"Unfortunately I had to pull out of the event to try and fix it in time for this weekend and the other big events that are coming up. But I’ve been throwing since last week and everything seems to be in good order, so hopefully it’s a good week for me.”

The opening night also features Price's rivals in the top half of the draw, including two-time World Grand Prix winner James Wade's meeting with Damon Heta and world number five Dimitri Van den Bergh's tie with Ryan Searle.

2017 World Grand Prix winner Daryl Gurney plays Stephen Bunting, and former finalists Dave Chisnall, Mervyn King and Dirk van Duijvenbode are also in action.

Monday sees five-time World Grand Prix champion Van Gerwen take to the stage to face Danny Noppert in an all-Dutch tie.

Having picked up his first title of the year at the Nordic Darts Masters two weeks ago, the Dutchman insists he has nothing to prove ahead of his bid to win the BoyleSports World Grand Prix for a sixth time.

"I had to wait nine months for a tournament victory, but I got to a few finals and was probably a bit unlucky," said Van Gerwen.

"I was struggling with my form a little bit, but I was glad to win in Copenhagen; it's nice to win a tournament again. 

"They all know what I'm capable of, I don't have to prove anything.

"I just need to do the right things for myself and keep trying to get better, that's the most important thing." 

World Matchplay champion Wright, the runner-up in the 2018 event, begins his quest for a first World Grand Prix title against Rob Cross.

Wright is currently ranked second on the PDC Order of Merit, but is targeting the world number one spot by the end of the year - with the World Grand Prix being the first of four televised ranking events during October and November.

"It's my chance to go and win these big tournaments to get to world number one before the World Championship," said Wright.

"I'm in with a shout of doing that if I do well, it's in my hands. I've just got to make sure I'm fully focused in each match.

"This is a totally different tournament to the World Matchplay, which is why I will be using a totally different set-up."

Monday's ties also feature Grand Slam champion Jose de Sousa against Glen Durrant, while Premier League winner Jonny Clayton plays Callan Rydz.

History-maker Brendan Dolan, two-time World Champion Gary Anderson and Premier League star Nathan Aspinall are all in action.

Tickets for the 2021 BoyleSports World Grand Prix are available, although some sessions have now sold out.

The tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, as well as through the PDC's international broadcast partners including DAZN and RTL7, and through PDCTV for Rest of the World Subscribers.

2021 BoyleSports World Grand Prix
Schedule of Play
Sunday October 3 (1800 BST)

8x First Round
Martijn Kleermaker v Mervyn King
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Luke Humphries
Stephen Bunting v Daryl Gurney
Joe Cullen v Ross Smith
Dave Chisnall v Mensur Suljovic
James Wade v Damon Heta
Gerwyn Price v Michael Smith
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Ryan Searle

Monday October 4 (1800 BST)
8x First Round
Darius Labanauskas v Brendan Dolan
Callan Rydz v Jonny Clayton
Vincent van der Voort v Gabriel Clemens
Nathan Aspinall v Krzysztof Ratajski
Gary Anderson v Ian White
Peter Wright v Rob Cross
Michael van Gerwen v Danny Noppert
Jose de Sousa v Glen Durrant 

Tuesday October 5 (1900 BST)
4x Second Round

Wednesday October 6 (1900 BST)
4x Second Round

Thursday October 7 (1900 BST)
Quarter-Finals

Friday October 8 (1900 BST)
Semi-Finals

Saturday October 9 (2030 BST)
Final 

Draw Bracket
(1) Gerwyn Price v Michael Smith
Martijn Kleermaker v Mervyn King
(8) Dave Chisnall v Mensur Suljovic
Joe Cullen v Ross Smith
(4) James Wade v Damon Heta
Stephen Bunting v Daryl Gurney
(5) Dimitri Van den Bergh v Ryan Searle
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Luke Humphries
(2) Peter Wright v Rob Cross
Nathan Aspinall v Krzysztof Ratajski
(7) Jose de Sousa v Glen Durrant
Callan Rydz v Jonny Clayton
(3) Michael van Gerwen v Danny Noppert
Vincent van der Voort v Gabriel Clemens
(6) Gary Anderson v Ian White
Darius Labanauskas v Brendan Dolan

Format
First Rounds - Best of 3 sets
Second Round - Best of 5 sets
Quarter-Finals - Best of 5 sets
Semi-Finals - Best of 7 sets
Final - Best of 9 sets

Prize Fund
Winner - £110,000
Runner-Up - £50,000
Semi-Finalists - £25,000
Quarter-Finalists - £16,000
Second Round Losers - £10,000
First Round Losers - £6,000
Total - £450,000

BoyleSports World Grand Prix Outright
4/1 Gerwyn Price
11/2 Michael Van Gerwen
6/1 Peter Wright
12/1 Jose de Sousa
16/1 Dimitri Van den Bergh
16/1 Jonny Clayton
25/1 Gary Anderson
28/1 James Wade
33/1 Nathan Aspinall
33/1 Dave Chisnall
33/1 Joe Cullen
40/1 bar
Odds correct at time of writing and courtesy www.boylesports.com. Subject to fluctuation.
+18 Bet Responsibly, BeGambleAware.org