Double Trouble and the World Grand Prix
One of the World’s most exciting darts majors kicks off on Tuesday 6th October albeit not from CityWest, Dublin but from the Ricoh Arena, Coventry which could have a massive effect on the outcome of the entire tournament.
With qualification wrapped up after last weekend’s German Darts Championship, Jonny Clayton showed just what he can bring to the main stage, reaching the final and comfortably securing his Grand Prix qualification.
The Grand Prix is always eagerly anticipated as the unique format involves a double-start which has thrown up countless upsets and surprises over the years. Without the hugely passionate Irish crowd this year it’s very hard, neigh-on impossible, to gauge what may happen even in the first round, with so many unbelievable match-ups that could go either way.
The Grand Prix requires the champion to display huge quality from the get-go and maintain their doubling momentum throughout the entire week, which is not always the case in other TV majors, where players are able to get through tight games using power scoring instead.
We asked World Champion and former Grand Prix finalist Peter “Snakebite” Wright his thoughts ahead of the tournament and Peter said “I can’t lie, I absolutely loved playing darts at the CityWest in Dublin as the crowd has always been fantastic, but we all have to get used to playing in a different environment, which has taken me a bit of getting used to.”
“My form has been excellent on the practice board but only in patches during games, so my focus this week has totally changed ahead of the double-start and I’ll be looking to put my Mambas or Euro 11’s into action on Wednesday”
Gezzy “The Iceman” Price echoed Peter’s thoughts as to how different the major will be both without crowds and with double-start and Gezzy said, “We’ve had a taste of having the crowds return to events in Europe and it was fantastic to witness the traditional darts atmosphere once again"
"We're back behind closed doors at the Grand Prix, so the tough double-in format has just got tougher.”
Jamie Hughes joins the elite 32 for this week by virtue of some phenomenal form has seen him hitting several averages over 100.
Jamie said, “PDC majors are just what I dream about playing in and I’m so looking forward to getting to grips with the Grand Prix, but having lost in the first-round last year I know how scarily fast that first round can disappear.”
Jonny Clayton enters the Grand Prix in arguably his best form for a while but even Jonny was apprehensive about the week ahead and the challenges the double-start can bring, saying “When you’re stood at home practicing it’s almost harder to not hit one or the other doubles that you’re aiming at, but boy does it change when you really need to get going in the Grand Prix”
“Personally, I’m just looking to take the lovely rhythm that I had last week into the Grand Prix with some better finishing and see how far it takes me”
The World Grand Prix takes place across 6th – 12th October from the Ricoh Arena Coventry, with all the action live on Sky Sports in the UK and via the PDC’s global broadcast partners Worldwide.
2020 BoyleSports World Grand Prix
Schedule of Play
Tuesday October 6 (1800 BST)
8x First Round
Adrian Lewis v Chris Dobey
Danny Noppert v Ryan Searle
Mensur Suljovic v Dirk van Duijvenbode
Jose De Sousa v Devon Petersen
James Wade v Mervyn King
Rob Cross v Gary Anderson
Michael van Gerwen v Krzysztof Ratajski
Michael Smith v Dimitri Van den Bergh
Wednesday October 7 (1800 BST)
8x First Round
Brendan Dolan v Kim Huybrechts
Jamie Hughes v Stephen Bunting
Jonny Clayton v Ian White
Dave Chisnall v Glen Durrant
Daryl Gurney v Joe Cullen
Peter Wright v Ryan Joyce
Gerwyn Price v Jermaine Wattimena
Nathan Aspinall v Gabriel Clemens
Thursday October 8 (1900 BST)
4x Second Round
Friday October 9 (1900 BST)
4x Second Round
Saturday October 10 (1900 BST)
Quarter-Finals
Sunday October 11 (1900 BST)
Semi-Finals
Monday October 12 (2000 BST)
Final