Reigning champion Michael van Gerwen leads the betting ahead of this year’s BoyleSports World Grand Prix, as the Dutch superstar bids to retain his crown in Leicester.
Van Gerwen is the 3/1 favourite to claim a seventh title in the double-start event, which will take place at the Morningside Arena from October 2-8.
The 34-year-old will begin his title defence against World Youth Champion Josh Rock in a fascinating first round tussle, after the draw and schedule of play was confirmed on Monday.
Van Gerwen is a hot 4/11 favourite to win his first round clash against Rock, who landed a nine-darter in his 10-8 defeat to Van Gerwen at last year’s Grand Slam of Darts – their only previous televised meeting.
However, Van Gerwen was beaten in the quarter-finals of last weekend’s Hungarian Darts Trophy by eventual champion Dave Chisnall, a two-time runner-up at the World Grand Prix.
Chisnall will open his challenge against debutant Luke Woodhouse, and the St Helens star has seen his odds slashed from 20/1 to 16/1 with title sponsor BoyleSports.
Despite this, Gerwyn Price is rated as Van Gerwen’s biggest threat at 7/2, as the Welshman eyes a second double-start crown in the East Midlands.
2020 champion Price faces a tough first round assignment against 2021 semi-finalist Danny Noppert, although he is a 1/3 favourite to come through his clash against the Dutch number two.
World Champion Michael Smith is the 6/1 third favourite to land a first BoyleSports World Grand Prix title, and the number one seed faces Newcastle's Callan Rydz for a place in the second round.
Luke Humphries – who kicks off his campaign against 2017 winner Daryl Gurney - is a 10/1 shot to lift his maiden TV ranking title, ahead of World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall at 12/1.
Lawrence Lyons, spokesperson for BoyleSports said: “Josh Rock is certainly no walkover, but Michael van Gerwen won a seventh Premier League title this year and if the early betting trends are on the money, it’ll be seven up at the BoyleSports World Grand Prix too.”
All the latest odds for the 2023 BoyleSports World Grand Prix can be found here.
2023 BoyleSports World Grand Prix
Tournament Odds
3/1 Michael Van Gerwen
7/2 Gerwyn Price
6/1 Michael Smith
10/1 Luke Humphries
12/1 Nathan Aspinall
16/1 Peter Wright
16/1 Dave Chisnall
20/1 Jonny Clayton
20/1 Rob Cross
25/1 Josh Rock
33/1 Dirk van Duijvenbode
33/1 Joe Cullen
50/1 Danny Noppert
50/1 Damon Heta
50/1 Dimitri Van den Bergh
50/1 Ross Smith
50/1 Gary Anderson
66/1 bar
First Round Odds (Seeds in brackets)
2/7 Michael Smith (1) v Callan Rydz 5/2
1/3 Dirk van Duijvenbode v Brendan Dolan 9/4
4/11 Rob Cross (8) v Andrew Gilding 2/1
11/10 Jose de Sousa v Gary Anderson 8/11
1/3 Gerwyn Price (4) v Danny Noppert 9/4
10/11 Krzysztof Ratajski v James Wade 10/11
4/11 Nathan Aspinall (5) v Stephen Bunting 2/1
10/11 Martin Schindler v Raymond van Barneveld 10/11
4/11 Michael van Gerwen (2) v Josh Rock 2/1
4/7 Dimitri Van den Bergh v Chris Dobey 11/8
8/13 Jonny Clayton (7) v Ross Smith 5/4
4/6 Joe Cullen v Mike De Decker 6/5
4/7 Peter Wright (3) v Gabriel Clemens 11/8
4/7 Damon Heta v Ryan Searle 11/8
4/9 Luke Humphries (6) v Daryl Gurney 7/4
2/5 Dave Chisnall v Luke Woodhouse 15/8
Odds courtesy BoyleSports Betting. Correct at time of writing. Subject to fluctuation.
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