One of the biggest tournaments of the darts season is upon us, with the World Grand Prix 2024 beginning on 7th October. The action at the oche comes from Leicester’s Mattioli Arena and the popular tournament will draw to a conclusion on 13th October with the lion’s share of the £600,000 total prize pot on the line.
The World Grand Prix is different from the other tournaments on the PDC calendar, as players need a double to start and to finish, which adds a little extra jeopardy to proceedings.
Luke Humphries heads back to Leicester in an attempt to defend his title, but there are plenty of big names in the field lining up to stop him. Here, we celebrate this fantastic PDC Darts tournament by looking ahead to this year’s edition.
Who are the seeds for the 2024 World Grand Prix?
The top 16 players on the PDC Order of Merit as of 30th September automatically earned themselves a spot in the draw. Of those, the top eight players were given a seeding spot for the 2024 World Grand Prix darts. Topping the bill as the top seed for this year is the current reigning champion, Luke Humphries.
2024 World Grand Prix darts seedings
- Luke Humphries
- Michael Smith
- Michael van Gerwen
- Rob Cross
- Nathan Aspinall
- Dave Chisnall
- Gerwyn Price
- Jonny Clayton
Joining the top 16 players in the draw are 16 further players from the PDC Pro Tour Qualifiers. There are some big names in the draw who have entered via that route, including former world champion Gary Anderson, Raymond van Barneveld and the newest darts sensation, Luke Littler.
The seeding is important in terms of how the bracket shakes out. As the top two seeds, Luke Humphries and Michael Smith are on opposite sides of the draw, for example. The quarter-finals will be the first time in the competition that we could see a seeded player vs a seeded player go head-to-head.
Here is a look at some of the key players entering the draw.
Luke Littler – The Nuke – World #20
It’s hard to believe that Luke Littler is only 17 years old. He has already accomplished so much in his short time on the professional darts scene. After winning the 2023 World Youth Championship, he went into the main PDC World Championship draw for the first time in the 2024 edition and wowed the crowds by reaching the final.
Littler couldn’t get over the line against Luke Humphries, but he got revenge later in the year by beating him to win the Premier League Darts title, before adding the World Series of Darts Final title to his trophy cabinet. Littler qualified for the World Grand Prix behind Ryan Searle on the PDC ProTour Qualifiers list, but he has the confidence and ability to knock over all in his path.
Because Littler is unseeded for his debut in the World Grand Prix, he is going to have to do it the hard way and he has been given a tough draw. He is stuck in a quarter with former world champion Rob Cross and Nathan Aspinall, opening against the former. He could also have a huge meeting with the top seed Luke Humphries in the semi-finals. Despite all this, he’s in the leading pack of title contenders.
Luke Humphries – Cool Hand Luke – World #1
Luke Humphries has been the man to beat on the PDC for the last couple of years. The former PDC World Youth Champion scored his big breakthrough at the elite level by taking last year’s World Grand Prix in Leicester for his first success in a ranking tournament.
This opened the floodgates for him, as he went on to win the Grand Slam of Darts and the Players Championship Finals. In 2024, Humphries added his first PDC World Championship and World Matchplay titles. He has taken the title in five of his last seven ranking events and, unsurprisingly, is a leading player at the head of the outright market.
Humphries has been drawn in a comfortable quarter, opening against Stephen Bunting, and the top seed he can meet before the semi-finals is #8 Jonny Clayton.
Michael van Gerwen – Mighty Mike – World #3
Michael van Gerwen is a six-time World Grand Prix darts title winner, his most recent success in the tournament coming in 2022. However, the big Dutchman, who dominated darts for so long once legend Phil Taylor hung up his arrows, has found titles much harder to come by in the last couple of years.
He failed to get one at all in 2023, and so far, none have come his way in 2024 either, despite reaching the finals of the Masters and the World Matchplay. Van Gerwen can never be counted out, but his title defence in Leicester ended in a shambles last year, with a shock second-round exit.
Gary Anderson – The Flying Scotsman – World #24
Like Luke Littler, Gary Anderson is another fascinating unseeded player in the World Grand Prix darts 2024 draw. The Flying Scotsman has had his struggles with form and injuries, but the former World Champion, on his day, is still one of the best players in the world.
He hasn’t won a title since the 2019 PDC World Cup of Darts, so he is running as an outsider. Anderson hasn’t been past the second round in any of his last three appearances at the World Grand Prix, but the draw pits him against main contender Michael Smith in the first round. If Anderson were to overcome this huge hurdle, his confidence would be through the roof.
Gerwyn Price – The Iceman – World #7
Welshman Gerwyn Price is a brilliant darts player, in flashes. Since his very strong 2021 season, when he won the PDC World Championship and the Grand Slam of Darts, he hasn’t quite been the consistent force he can be.
However, Price poses a threat in Leicester because he has a fantastic record at the World Grand Prix, including winning the title in 2020. Since then, he has not failed to reach at least the semi-finals and has finished as runner-up twice in the last three editions.
His 2024 form (he hasn’t reached at least the quarters of any ranking event) doesn’t put him in the greatest of standings, however, so he will need to raise his levels again.
Michael Smith – Bully Boy – World #2
Michael Smith should be in the mix at the oche. He will first have to get past the tricky hurdle of Gary Anderson in the opening round, which isn’t the kindest of draws for him. However, Bully Boy on paper is a lot stronger in his current form than Anderson and will go into the match as the favourite.
The third quarter of the draw is quite a tricky one for Smith as he could meet either Gerwyn Price, Peter Wright or James Wade in the quarter-finals. He would expect to beat any of them, but it’s not the easiest of sections.
Smith can take heart from reaching last year’s World Grand Prix semi-finals, his best-ever result at the tournament. Now, the question is whether the 2023 world champion can kick on from there and take his journey even further this time around.
Who’s going to win the 2024 World Grand Prix darts?
Michael Smith is going to be an interesting player in Leicester. He is one of the top contenders, and because he’s going straight into action against a stronger opponent, he has no room for complacency. Smith is going to have to be straight into his game, and this means that he could get up some great momentum early on to help him power through the rest of the draw.
There’s little about the current form of Gerwyn Price to suggest that a big run is coming, but his tournament form hints otherwise. Because of his fantastic consistency in the World Grand Prix format, The Iceman could be a good dark horse to watch for.
However, there’s little doubt as to who is the man with the proven current form, and the ability to handle the pressure in the major finals. That’s Luke Humphries. He has the entire PDC gunning for him because he is the established elite player at the moment due to his consistent, outstanding form. He’s the one to beat.
If you’re gearing up for the top action at the oche from the 2024 World Grand Prix darts, then check out the latest betting odds at Tonybet. Not only do we have the outright markets for options such as the tournament winner and quarters, but there will also be live in-play betting for every match from Leicester.
Bet on the darts with Tonybet today!
