Darts World Grand Prix preview: Humphries to get the better of Chisnall on way to title

As the winter draws closer, the darts circuit begins to heat up again and there is a grand slam week coming up as the World Grand Prix gets underway on Monday 2nd October. All of the big names will be on show, and we have a few that we fancy to reach the latter stages.

We preview the key contenders below.

Michael van Gerwen 7/2

It is almost impossible to look at the line-up for any darts tournament that MVG is involved in and not instantly make him favourite to win it, and the formidable Dutchman is the 7/2 frontrunner to take home his seventh World Grand Prix title this year.

Round one puts up an interesting prospect for van Gerwen as he will begin his title defence against a Grand Prix debutant in Josh Rock, the talented Northern Irishman who was World Youth Champion only last year. Rock heads into the tournament at respectable odds of 25/1, but van Gerwen will not expect this to be a stumbling block.

Should van Gerwen make a successful start to his title defence he will face the winner of Dimitri Van den Bergh v Chris Dobey in the second round. With neither of those ranking inside the top 10, MVG will like the look of his route to the latter stages and pressure is a word that almost certainly won’t apply to such a serial winner should he reach that stage.

Michael Smith 6/1

Michael Smith hit the top of the mountain when he won the World Championships at the start of the year and the current world number one will be very keen to get his hands on a first Grand Prix title having struggled in this competition throughout his career.

Smith has only ever gone as far as the last 16 at the World Grand Prix, but as the 6/1 third favourite he will be hoping to make this year his deepest run in the tournament to date.

Smith will face off against fellow Englishman Callan Rydz in the first round, a respectable opponent but one that Smith will hope wont cause him too much trouble. The second round would see Smith play the winner of Dirk van Duijvenbode v Brendan Dolan. These two shouldn’t be a stumbling block for Smith but Dolan has caused upsets before so it will not be a walk in the park as Smith looks to stroll further than the last 16 for the first time.

Luke Humphries 10/1

Luke Humphries is our value pick for this one as he heads into the tournament with a good chance as fourth favourite, but his double-figure odds of 10/1 stand out to us.

Humphries is an extremely talented player and he can be a problem for anyone on his day, and he appears to be hitting his stride right in time for the Grand Prix having reached the final of the Hungarian Darts Trophy just a few days ago.

Should he get the better of world number 26 Daryl Gurney in the first round, Humphries will face the winner of Dave Chisnall v Luke Woodhouse. Chisnall could yet again halt Humphries’ progress, having defeated him in the final despite Humphries pulling of a 170 checkout and a nine-darter. If Humphries can overcome Chisnall in the second round then we make him a good bet to reach the final, so that will be the match to watch.