Preview Thursday World Grand Prix: Littler-De Decker and Price-Rock headline

The World Grand Prix 2025 continues Thursday night with the continuation of the second round with the latter stage line-up set to conclude in Leicester.

The format is slightly higher than the first round. The matches are about best of 5 sets, which means a player must win three sets to secure a spot in the quarterfinals.
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The World Grand Prix is one of the most unique tournaments on the calendar at the PDC. This is because the legs not only end with a double, but must also be started with it. Also, the tournament is finished with a set system.

The event was first introduced in 1998 and back then it was Phil Taylor who won the World Grand Prix to his name. The English darts legend would eventually win the tournament 11 times. Of the active players, Michael van Gerwen won the double-in double-out tournament the most often. Indeed, 'Mighty Mike' got to lift the cup six times. Mike de Decker is the defending champion at the World Grand Prix, after finishing off Luke Humphries in the final at the 2024 edition.

After his handsome victory over Michael van Gerwen, Dirk van Duijvenbode will take on Daryl Gurney, Van Gerwen's conqueror in the first round of the 2024 edition, in the last sixteen. It was a welcome victory in more ways than one for Van Duijvenbode, who has been searching for the right form in recent months. Moreover, it was Van Duijvenbode's first win at the double-in double-out tournament since his final appearance at the 2020 World Grand Prix. He played a solid match against Van Gerwen and was open in 50 percent of the legs even with his first dart. In addition, the scoring and finishes were also fine what 'Aubergenius' showed.

His opponent Gurney was also once in the final of the World Grand Prix and even managed to win the tournament in 2017. A year later, "Superchin" made it to the semifinals, but then he failed four times in the first round and twice in the second round. The Northern Irishman triumphed 2-0 in sets against Ross Smith in the first round, conceding just one leg. Scoring, however, was not great what Gurney showed, although he impressed on the doubles. Especially at the end of the legs, as Gurney achieved a 67 percent finishing percentage.

The head-to-head is well in Gurney's favor. Indeed, the two-time major winner won eight of the previous 12 duels against Van Duijvenbode. Yet there is also a bright spot for the Dutchman. Twice before they played each other on a ranking major and both those encounters were won by Van Duijvenbode.

Finally Jonny Clayton managed to win another match against Andrew Gilding. He had become a real opponent to fear for "The Ferret" in recent years and won the last six duels between them, including one 6-0 a week before the start of this tournament. This time, however, Clayton left no doubt and won decisively 2-0 in sets. The Welshman's performance at this tournament has been quite volatile. He won the title there in 2021, but otherwise only made it to the last eight in 2024.

Against Luke Woodhouse, Clayton is the favorite to advance to the last eight for the second consecutive year. The Shed' caused a surprise in the first round by sending Damon Heta home 2-1 in sets, but it is an exaggeration to say that Woodhouse left an indelible impression. He did eclipse his 2023 performance in doing so, which at least does not make Woodhouse worse in the rankings.

Woodhouse does go into the duel against Clayton with the knowledge that he has never managed to win an official match from "The Ferret. The previous three clashes were all won by Clayton, although they have never met outside the Players Championship circuit.

For six matches already, Mike De Decker is undefeated at the World Grand Prix. After all, 'The Real Deal' won the title there last year by successively defeating Damon Heta (2-1), Gary Anderson (3-0), James Wade (3-0), Dimitri van den Bergh (5-2) and Luke Humphries (6-4). At this edition, De Decker extended his winning streak by winning 2-1 in sets over Peter Wright in the opening round. The Belgian did not play a good first set, but from behind showed his best game and eliminated his Scottish opponent in three sets.

De Decker faces a tremendously tough task to extend his winning streak, however, as a duel with Luke Littler awaits for the defending champion in Leicester. The teenage phenom won his first match at the World Grand Prix on Tuesday night, and how.... His opponent Gian van Veen threw the highest average ever at this tournament (106.47), yet the win went 2-0 in sets to Luke Littler. 'The Nuke' struck mercilessly in the fifth leg of the first set with an 86 finish and then impressed with two 12-darters in the second set. Littler's average eventually ended at 105.58.

After all, De Decker has already had a few close encounters with Littler's capabilities. The 18-year-old Englishman managed to win all six of his duels with De Decker. Littler single-handedly ensured this year that Decker's trophy cabinet is not already a little more filled. The reigning world champion defeated his Belgian rival in the final of both the Belgian Darts Open and the Australian Darts Masters.

Perhaps the cracker of the second round will be the clash between former world champion Gerwyn Price and former junior world champion Josh Rock. 'The Iceman' recorded a 2-1 victory over Ryan Searle on Tuesday, a match in which he was able to make up a set deficit. As a result, Price has already come as far as he did last year, when the second round was the final stage. Before that, the Welshman had some excellent years at the double-in double-out tournament with a title and two more finals between 2020 and 2023.

Like Price, Josh Rock also had to make up ground. 'Rocky' lost the first set of his match against Ryan Joyce, the man who managed to beat Rock at last year's World Grand Prix. However, the Northern Irishman showed resilience and triumphed 2-1 in sets against 'Relentless'. After two defeats, Rock's third appearance marked his first victory at the World Grand Prix.

It will be the tenth time Price and Rock have faced each other at the PDC. The head-to-head is now narrowly in favor of "The Iceman," who managed to win five of the previous nine duels. The last showdown was at the New Zealand Darts Masters in August, where Price prevailed 6-5. A month earlier, Rock did prevail 16-11 against Price at the World Matchplay.