2025 World Grand Prix darts preview: Humphries to claim yet another major title

The first round of the 2025 World Grand Prix has thrown up a few shocks. Michael van Gerwen suffered a 2-0 defeat to Dirk van Duijvenbode on Tuesday evening.

Elsewhere, James Wade – who was seeded fifth for the tournament – was knocked out following an impressive performance by Joe Cullen, while eighth seed Chris Dobey was sub-par in his defeat to Cameron Menzies, hitting just 20% of his checkouts.

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As such, the lineup for the last 16 looks exciting and not one that many expected. Gerwyn Price takes on Josh Rock, who has certainly come of age throughout the previous few months.

An interesting tie between Luke Littler and the holder, Mike De Decker, awaits in round two. Furthermore, Stephen Bunting and Danny Noppert could serve up an enjoyable match.

With the World Grand Prix fully underway, darts fans can begin to look forward to the next few months in the schedule which culminates in the World Championships over the festive period.

Indeed, the European Championship takes place at the end of October, before the Grand Slam and Players Championship finals are held in November.

A good showing this week will certainly boost the confidence levels heading into the final few weeks of the season, that’s for sure.

Will De Decker retain his title? Can Littler win the Grand Prix for the very first time? is a shock winner on the cards? 

At FIRST, we take a look at a couple of outright selections, as well as a few longshots ahead of the second round of the tournament.

The favourites

As ever, Littler is the favourite to win the event after defeating Gian van Veen 2-0 in the first round. The Dutchman even registered the highest average in the history of the competition with 106.47, but it wasn’t enough to see off the teenager.

Littler was effective throughout the clash, however, and with that tricky first round tie out of the way, the Englishman is now just 6/4 with Ladbrokes to win the tournament for the first time.

He suffered a first round exit last year on his debut, but 12 months on, Littler is a different beast.

Luke Humphries has already tasted victory at the World Grand Prix. He defeated Price in the 2023 final and it was the catalyst for a run that saw him go on to win the Grand Slam, Players Championship Finals and finally the World Championship, all in the space of a few months.

READ: How to bet on darts - everything you need to know 

The 2024 world champion reached the final last year, but was shocked by De Decker 6-4 and he will be hoping to reclaim his title this week.

At odds of 7/2 with Ladbrokes, Humphries represents some excellent value, especially as he is in the more favourable side of the draw.

Price is third favourite to win the Grand Prix, an event he has won once and reached two further finals since 2020. 

Ladbrokes have the Welshman at an interesting price of 8/1 currently, due to the fact he faces a difficult second round clash against Rock.

If he wins that clash, Littler could await in the quarter-final, meaning Price has arguably the hardest route to the semi-final.

FIRST’s top tip for the World Grand Prix

Pick: Luke Humphries to win the World Series of Darts Finals – 7/2 (Ladbrokes)

Extra tips

Bunting finds himself in the top half of the draw and won't face a potential clash against Humphries until the semi-final.

He enjoyed a stress-free victory over Niko Springer in round one which secured him a match against Noppert in the last 16.

The Dutchman struggled initially against Jemaine Wattimena, losing the first set, before bouncing back to win the match 2-1.

Bunting has reached the semi-finals at this event twice in the past (2014 and 2021) but considering he has won six titles this year across the World Series, Players Championship and European Tour events, odds of 9/1 courtesy of Ladbrokes are appealing.

Pick: Stephen Bunting to win the World Grand Prix – 9/1 (Ladbrokes)

Jonny Clayton is in the bottom half of the draw and faces a clash against Luke Woodhouse in round two.

The Welshman has won all three of their previous matches and following a solid win over Andrew Gilding in round one, Clayton will be determined to reach the quarter-finals.

A winner of this tournament in 2021, the 51-year-old has reached a final and two semi-finals across the four majors this year so far.

It wouldn’t surprise me if he goes on to claim another victory at the World Grand Prix.

Pick: Jonny Clayton to win the World Grand Prix – 12/1 (Ladbrokes)

The value picks

In his first round match against Wade, Cullen was superb. He won the first set without dropping a leg, before coming back from 2-0 down in set two to defeat the fifth seed.

He faces Gary Anderson in round two, but this isn’t the Anderson of old. A win would see him face the winner of Bunting/Noppert and again, this is a winnable tie for the Englishman.

Over his previous two appearances at the World Grand Prix, Cullen has reached the quarter-final in 2024 and semi-final two years ago. 

Ladbrokes currently have Cullen at odds of 50/1 to win the tournament. Given his performance on Monday night and the fact he should improve going forward, he is well worth an each way bet.

Here’s more: Short priced value picks: Are they really worth it? 

Daryl Gurney is another who enjoyed an excellent opening victory, defeating 14th seed Ross Smith 2-0.

Gurney has often struggled to produce the goods when it mattered. But alongside Rock at the 2025 World Cup, the pair were wonderful as they became the first Northern Ireland pair to win the competition.

The 39-year-old claimed his one and only major title at this event back in 2017, therefore he knows what it takes to win the unique double in/double out tournament.

The Northern Irishman is dangerous when he is in the mood, just ask Smith, who won a solitary leg in their first round meeting.

FIRST’s value pick for the 2025 World Grand Prix

Pick: Daryl Gurney to win the World Grand Prix – 40/1 (Ladbrokes)

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Odds correct at the time of writing.