Darts Weekly: Blockbuster World Grand Prix draw reaction as Luke Littler gets ‘toughest’ draw

In his latest Odds Now column, darts expert Connor Cain takes a look at the fallout from the draw for the 2025 World Grand Prix.

The road to Alexandra Palace starts to really heat up next week as the World Grand Prix returns to Leicester on Monday, October 6th.

The week-long tournament is the only event on the calendar that requires a player to hit a double to start the leg as well as finish, acting as a leveller against the game’s top dogs.

Defending champion Mike De Decker is the best evidence of this. The Belgian was a three-figure price heading into last year’s tournament and dumped out heavyweights Gary Anderson and James Wade before shocking former winner Luke Humphries in the final.

It’s De Decker’s only major to date and just his second title on his résumé in PDC darts. He has a favourable opening round draw against 15th seed Peter Wright, who has suffered a torrid year.

‘Snakebite’ has only won one game in majors this year and averaged just 78.77 in his most recent defeat against Cor Dekker.

It’s no surprise that the former two-time World Champion currently sits at 100/1 to lift the title.

Luke Littler wants redemption, but faces toughest possible opponent

Reigning World Champion Luke Littler suffered defeat in the first round last year to Rob Cross.

‘The Nuke’ faced a tough draw as his ranking meant that he wasn’t a seed, but this year, he may have an even tougher opponent.

Littler enters as the second seed and will clash with young Dutch prodigy Gian van Veen, who is in the midst of a breakout year.

‘The Giant’ captured his first title in senior PDC darts earlier this year and sits atop the Pro Tour Order of Merit qualifiers, meaning he was statistically the hardest draw for the seeded players.

What’s more, Littler has struggled against Van Veen as of late and has lost to him the last three times they’ve faced.

With the double-in format and best-of-three sets in round one, the world number two could be in serious danger of another early exit.

I recently predicted the next five first-time major winners, with Van Veen high on the list.

Both Humphries and De Decker captured their first major here in the last two tournaments, and there’s a real chance Van Veen could make it a hat-trick of maiden major winners.

The youngster can be found at 25/1 to lift the trophy at the end of the week, but will be much shorter if he were to defeat Littler, so now is the time to back him.

Pressure on Luke Humphries as the World Number One spot looks vulnerable

Luke Humphries has reigned as the World Number One since the 2024 World Championship, but his position at the summit of the rankings could be in jeopardy.

The PDC rankings work on a two-year rolling system, with each pound of ranking money equating to one ranking point, which drops off after two years.

Humphries lifted the title in October 2023 and trousered a cheque for £120k in the process, meaning he is defending that amount of money on his ranking.

An early defeat in Leicester could see him suffer a big loss with only £7.5k going to losers in the first round – a difference of £112.5k.

To make the situation more precarious, his nearest rival, Littler, has not yet held a Tour Card for two years, so is defending nothing between now and the World Championship.

On top of this, Humphries is defending the winner’s money at the Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals.

It’s impossible for Littler to overhaul Humphries at the World Grand Prix, but he could close the gap to just £30k, incidentally, the winner’s cheque for a Euro Tour title.

‘Cool Hand’ is another player with a difficult first-round tie in Leicester as former World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall awaits him.

The pair faced each other five times in this year’s Premier League, with Humphries winning four, though The Asp has enjoyed a healthy year with two Euro Tour titles and three major quarterfinals.

Aspinall heads in as world number 23 and is in desperate need of ranking money after an early defeat at the World Matchplay, but is only defending first-round prize money from two years ago.

Humphries hasn’t been at his scintillating best as of late, and speaking to Darts Now at the Australian Darts Masters, he admitted he’s had a couple of issues with his throw and neglected practice at times this year.

Still, he poses a massive danger and is expectedly the second favourite behind Littler to win the tournament at a best price of 6/1.

Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson also have standout opening ties

Michael van Gerwen rolled back the years in Amsterdam a few weeks ago by winning the World Series of Darts Finals on home soil, his first TV major in two years.

The win was littered with world-class performances, and he became the first man ever to defeat both Humphries and Littler en route to a TV title.

It was an encouraging victory for ‘Mighty Mike’, who has had a difficult year both professionally and personally and will hope it’s a sign of things to come in the coming months.

The six-time World Grand Prix champion has an all-Dutch affair with Dirk van Duijvenbode in the opening round, who has rediscovered some form after a near career-ending injury plagued him for a couple of years.

The ‘Aubergenius’ is a huge power scorer and a former finalist here, but appears to have a mental block against Van Gerwen.

The pair has clashed 15 times in the past, with Van Duijvenbode winning just three, though he was victorious in their most recent meeting, which may have banished some demons.

Two-time World Champion Gary Anderson has been drawn against five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld, with the latter securing qualification on the final day by whitewashing Ritchie Edhouse in Switzerland to book his spot.

Incidentally, Barney’s victory stopped Dave Chisnall from qualifying for the World Grand Prix for the first time in his career.

Despite trophy-laden careers, neither Van Barneveld nor Anderson have won this tournament, and neither are at the peak of their powers.

It is still a mouthwatering tie and though Anderson will deservedly enter as favourite, the Dutch legend has proven this year he’s still capable of world-class arrows.

Keep up to date with the World Grand Prix with Darts Now

Our Darts Now reporter, Connor Cain, will be in Leicester all week to bring you all the latest and instant post-match reactions from the players at the World Grand Prix.

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