Mike De Decker is aiming to emulate two of the sport’s biggest names when he opens his BOYLE Sports World Grand Prix title defence on Tuesday evening.
De Decker will play two-time World Champion Peter Wright in his opening round tie at Leicester’s Mattioli Arena, with Luke Littler or Gian van Veen awaiting the winner in round two.
The Belgian toppled Luke Humphries to cap off a fairy-tale triumph 12 months ago, having also dumped out Damon Heta, Gary Anderson, James Wade and Dimitri Van den Bergh on his way to a breakthrough success.
De Decker is now bidding to become the third player to retain the coveted double-start crown, a feat only accomplished by Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen.
“I still get goosebumps thinking about last year,” reflected De Decker, who ran out a 6-4 winner against world number one Humphries to take the title.
“Luke was the player to beat throughout the tournament, so to go and lift the title – it was an emotional rollercoaster.
“Of course winning the World Grand Prix really boosted my career.
“A lot of people were expecting more from me and so was I, but the World Grand Prix was the first tournament that really showed I can play on the big stage as well.”
De Decker has shown glimpses of the form that catapulted him to World Grand Prix glory over recent months, progressing to the Australian Darts Masters final on his World Series of Darts debut in August.
The 29-year-old also made the quarter-finals of last month’s World Series of Darts Finals, before producing some superb displays on the PDC ProTour last week.
“I’m feeling quite confident,” insisted De Decker, one of six World Grand Prix champions left in this year's field.
“I played pretty well on the ProTour this week, and I’m finally finding some consistency again.
“I did not play well in the first couple of majors this year, but I made a tweak in my set-up and now it feels more comfortable, like the set I used last year.
“I know what Peter can do. He didn’t win two World Championship titles by luck, so I’m going in with the mindset that I have to play my A-game, like I do in every tournament."
The BOYLE Sports World Grand Prix is being broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
2025 BOYLE Sports World Grand Prix
Tuesday October 7 (1800 BST)
8x Round One matches
Damon Heta v Luke Woodhouse
Ross Smith v Daryl Gurney
Jonny Clayton v Andrew Gilding
Gerwyn Price v Ryan Searle
Luke Littler v Gian van Veen
Michael van Gerwen v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Peter Wright v Mike De Decker
Josh Rock v Ryan Joyce