Schedule Grand Slam of Darts 2023: Five years after heated final, Price and Anderson face each other again Wednesday night

Wednesday, 15 November 2023 at 08:00

Sixteen players remain in the race for overall victory at the Grand Slam of Darts. The past four days were set aside for the group stage, with the top two players from each group advancing to the knockout stage.

Wednesday night, the first four matches from the second round will be played. That will be without defending champion Michael Smith. The world number one was the biggest name not to survive the group stage.

Krzysztof Ratajski was partly responsible for Michael Smith's elimination. The Pole had lost 5-4 to Smith on Sunday, but stepped up the pressure on Monday night with a big 5-1 victory over Nathan Girvan. James Wade then gave 'Bullyboy' the final push by beating the world champion 5-1. Wade also became group winner as a result, while Ratajski finished second in Group A.

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'The Polish Eagle' will face Josh Rock in the last sixteen. The Northern Irishman won Group B without playing well. All his averages were lower than 92, but 'Rocky' won big against Chris Dobey (5-2), Jonny Clayton (5-1) and Berry van Peer (5-1). It will be the eighth meeting between Ratajski and Rock. The latter won five of the previous seven duels.

Wade will meet the number two seed from Rock's group, namely Chris Dobey. The two Englishmen also met during Dobey's big break at the Grand Slam of Darts in 2016. Then 'Hollywood' surprisingly managed to reach the quarter-finals. Wade then put a brutal end to his tournament by beating Dobey 16-5. In the head-to-head, 'The Machine' leads 6-4, but at this year's World Matchplay, Dobey prevailed 10-8 against his compatriot.

Wednesday night's top event is the clash between Gerwyn Price and Gary Anderson, a repeat of the infamous Grand Slam final in 2018. After a heated match, Price took his first major title by beating Anderson 16-12. 'The Iceman' earned £110,000 from that final victory but had to pay an £11,500 fine for bringing the sport into disrepute, according to the disciplinary committee. Anderson got off with a warning, despite having given Price a shove on stage.

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Meanwhile, the relationship between the Welshman and the Scot has normalized a bit more. Moreover, both players are also in top form. Price posted averages of 110 and 112 in the group stage, while Anderson delivered a strong third group match and took three Players Championship titles to his name this year. Moreover, Anderson won all of his clashes with Price this year, and 'The Flying Scotsman' leads 12-11 in the overall Head to Head.

The final match of the evening is between Luke Humphries and Ryan Searle, who are known as two good friends. They often travel to tournaments together.

Also telling was Humphries' reaction after Searle managed to throw a nine-darter Monday night to qualify for the knockout stage. 'Cool Hand Luke' crashed his way into Searle's interview at Viaplay to give him a quick hug. Humphries had a carefree group stage. 'Cool Hand Luke' conceded only four legs against Steve Lennon (2), Gary Anderson (1), and Dirk van Duijvenbode (1) and also recorded three averages above 100.

In the head-to-head, Humphries and Searle are close. Humphries leads 8-7 against 'Heavy Metal,' with the momentum also appearing to be with 'Cool Hand Luke.' He has won four of the last five encounters.