Favorites for Grand Slam of Darts 2025: battle between the two Lukes or a surprise winner?

Starting Saturday, Nov. 8, we will begin the nineteenth edition of the Grand Slam of Darts. Over the years, nine different players managed to secure a spot on the cup, which was renamed the Eric Bristow Trophy in 2018.

Although an ultra-short format of best of 9 legs is played in the group stage, the format goes up considerably in the knockout stage. In the final, 16 legs will have to be won to take the title. Because of the long format in the final stage of the tournament, it is actually always the established names who manage to take the title. In this article you will find the five biggest favorites for the final victory at the Grand Slam of Darts 2025.
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The big favorite for the overall victory is and remains Luke Littler, the man who has dominated this season's major majors. 'The Nuke,' also defending champion in Wolverhampton, became world champion in January, and was also the best at the UK Open, World Matchplay and World Grand Prix thereafter. It ensures that at the upcoming Grand Slam of Darts, Littler can make an assault on Luke Humphries' number-one position on the PDC Order of Merit. If Humphries does not win the tournament, Littler will be the new number one in the world rankings after the Grand Slam of Darts anyway.

With Daryl Gurney, Connor Scutt and Karel Sedlacek in the pool, Littler simply owes it to his standing to win the group. Next up is a showdown with a player from the pool of Gian van Veen, Josh Rock, Wessel Nijman and Lisa Ashton. In this round, Littler will presumably be really tested for the first time.

Littler's biggest challenger is still Humphries, who managed to win this tournament two years ago. 'Cool Hand Luke' also managed two majors this year at the World Masters and the Premier League Darts, while Humphries finished second at the World Grand Prix and the European Darts Championship. In top form, Humphries can keep up with his young compatriot, but it has been a while since the current world number one was able to hold his peak form over an entire tournament.

With Nathan Aspinall, Michael Smith and Alex Spellman, Humphries has a tough draw in the group stage. However, the 30-year-old Englishman is in the favorable half of the tournament schedule. The biggest rivals in his side of the schedule are Stephen Bunting, James Wade and Gerwyn Price, in addition to possibly Aspinall whom he will already face in the pool stage.

The last time Gerwyn Price managed to win a ranking major was at the Grand Slam of Darts, but that has also been four years in the meantime. Between 2018 and 2021, 'The Iceman' did manage to win this tournament three times in four years. The Welshman has actually been throwing pretty well for a while now, but results have not been enough. Price should have won the World Grand Prix from Littler, but three missed match darts cost him the lead.

With James Wade, Price has a formidable opponent in the pool, but both Britons should be able to keep Ricky Evans and Stefan Bellmont under him in the group stage.

The 23-year-old Gian van Veen, meanwhile, is starting to become quite the dangerman on the tour. 'GVV The Giant' already had a status as a dangerous customer, but may now be counted among the favorites on the majors after his European Championship title. No one doubts that his final victory in Dortmund was an outlier, and with a few more solid performances at the upcoming majors, Van Veen can increasingly put himself in the spotlight for an invitation to the Premier League Darts in 2026.

Van Veen does get to work immediately in the group stage, in a pool that is strikingly similar to last year. Just like in 2024, he is joined by Wessel Nijman and Josh Rock. Lisa Ashton completes the group, making it very likely that three players will compete for the top two spots.

Several players were eligible for the fifth nomination, yet in this case we choose Josh Rock. Although it is fair to say that Rock's top form flattened somewhat over the summer. 'Rocky' was the supporting player of the Northern Irish team that managed to win the World Cup of Darts in June and at the World Matchplay Rock also made quite an impression. Subsequently, the Northern Irishman also reached two Euro Tour finals and a floor final, but all these finals were lost.

The Grand Slam of Darts is where Rock really made his presence felt three years ago. On his debut in 2022, he survived the pool stage, then Rock managed to throw a nine-darter in a spectacular second round against Michael van Gerwen. As mentioned above, Rock faces a tough group with Van Veen and Nijman as his main competitors, but after that everything is possible for 'Rocky'.