Schedule Saturday night at World Grand Prix 2024 including Humphries v Joyce in semi-finals

A historic semifinal awaits us Saturday night in the semifinals of the World Grand Prix. Furthermore, the defending champion is in the last four, as well as one of the best finishers in darts. Read our preview here.

This tournament is a unique event on the PDC calendar. The World Grand Prix is the only tournament where the legs are started and ended with a double. Because of this format, the World Grand Prix is known for its surprises, with often early eliminations of big names.

The World Grand Prix is, for now, the tournament of Mike de Decker's big breakthrough. After he already eliminated Damon Heta in the first round, darts legend Gary Anderson was floored in the last sixteen. The two-time world champion was dismissed 3-0 in sets by 'The Real Deal'. Then De Decker also proved too strong for James Wade 3-0 in sets. It is the first time in his career for De Decker to be in the last four at a major.

But there is another uniqueness. For the first time there are two Belgians in the semifinals of a PDC major. What's more, they will also cross swords with each other, making a Belgian finalist anyway.

Dimitri van den Bergh proved the better in a high-class first-round match against Luke Woodhouse (2-1) and was responsible for eliminating Dave Chisnall (3-1) in the second round. In the last eight, Van den Bergh drew with 3-1 in sets against Joe Cullen. It is already his eighth semifinal at a ranking major for Van den Bergh. In 2020, the Belgian managed to take the World Matchplay title, while earlier this season he won the UK Open.

Although it will be the first stage encounter between De Decker and Van den Bergh, they have already met twelve times at the other PDC tournaments. The mutual balance is well in favor of 'The Dreammaker', who won ten of the previous twelve duels.

Luke Humphries is the last title favorite still in the tournament. 'Cool Hand Luke' already saw rivals Michael Smith, Michael van Gerwen, Dave Chisnall, Gerwyn Price, Luke Littler and Gary Anderson fall away. Humphries was not far off either, as the Englishman survived a matchdart in his first round match against Stephen Bunting (2-1). In the second round, Humphries dealt with Ricardo Pietreczko (3-1). Humphries did not have an easy time in the quarterfinals either, beating Jonny Clayton 3-1 in sets.

Ryan Joyce proved once again this week that he is a threat to all the top players. 'Relentless' is razor sharp on the doubles and so this tournament is tailor-made for him. In the first two rounds he sent Josh Rock (2-0) and Nathan Aspinall (3-2) home. A third stunt followed Friday night in the quarterfinals. After a decisive set, he defeated former world champion Rob Cross (3-2). For Joyce it will be his second semifinal at a major tournament, after he already reached the semifinals at the Players Championship Finals in 2023;

So to reach his first major final, Joyce will also have to floor his compatriot Humphries. However, it has been more than four years since Joyce last won from "Cool Hand Luke. Joyce won the first two clashes with Humphries in 2018 and 2020, but the current world champion then managed to win all six subsequent duels between them.

In the UK, the event will be broadcast by Sky Sports. On Oct. 7 and 8, broadcasts begin at 6 p.m.. The start times advance to 7 p.m. on Oct. 9, 10 and 11. On Saturday, Oct. 12, the semi-finals begin at 7:30 p.m. and the finals on Sunday, Oct. 13, start from 8:00 p.m.

All participating players are guaranteed £7500 in starting money. Second-round losers receive £15,000. The quarter-finalists go home with at least £25,000, the semi-finalists almost one and a half times as much (£40,000). The losing finalist receives a check for £60,000 and the winner receives the grand prize of £120,000.

First round: Best of 3 sets

Second round: Best of 5 sets

Quarterfinals: Best of 5 sets

Semifinals: Best of 9 sets

Final: Best of 11 sets

Mike De Decker v Dimitri Van den Bergh

Luke Humphries v Ryan Joyce