Van Barneveld, Anderson and Wright absent from a notable roll of honour: these darting greats never won the World Grand Prix

The World Grand Prix is around the corner again. From Monday 28.09.2026, Leicester hosts the battle for the prestigious Sid Waddell Trophy, as the world’s best go in search of a successor to Luke Littler. “The Nuke” claimed last year’s title with a commanding 6-1 win over Luke Humphries in the final.

Although the World Grand Prix has grown into one of the most prestigious majors on the PDC calendar, the roll of honour for this unique double-in, double-out event is strikingly short. In total, only twelve different players have managed to lift the coveted trophy.

That also means a remarkable number of big names in darts history have missed out on the World Grand Prix title. Some elite performers came close for years, while others, despite imposing careers, never managed to take the final step.

In the build-up to the new World Grand Prix, we look at some of the biggest names never to be crowned champion of this distinctive PDC major. Which world champions, former world number ones and other darts legends are conspicuously absent from the honours list?

Arguably the biggest name missing from the World Grand Prix roll of honour is Raymond van Barneveld. “Barney” produced several strong campaigns in Leicester and even reached the final twice. The coveted title, however, always eluded him.

In 2008, Van Barneveld contested his first World Grand Prix final. Waiting for him was the dominant force of the era: Phil Taylor. The Englishman proved a class apart, winning 6-2 to deny the Dutchman a maiden crown.

A year later, Van Barneveld earned another shot at adding this major to his résumé. Taylor again stood across the oche. The outcome was the same, with “The Power” prevailing 6-3. Two consecutive finals yielded two defeats to the same opponent.

Alongside the World Matchplay, the World Grand Prix ranks among the biggest PDC majors Van Barneveld never won. That is striking, especially given the qualities that defined the Dutchman at his peak. Van Barneveld boasted an exceptional checkout percentage, a crucial weapon in a tournament where every leg must be opened and closed on a double.

Even that strength proved insufficient to land the World Grand Prix. Time and again, Taylor blocked his path. “The Power” became the definitive specialist in the double-in, double-out format and lifted the World Grand Prix title an astonishing eleven times. For Van Barneveld, the prestigious crown remained one of the few major PDC prizes missing from an illustrious career.

John Part also features among the standout names who never added the World Grand Prix to their list of honours. The Canadian won the PDC World Championship twice, but the prestigious double-in, double-out major stayed out of reach. “Darth Maple” reached the final twice, and both times Phil Taylor stood in his way.

In 2002, Part and Taylor met in a final remembered above all for one statistic. Taylor won 7-3 and posted a 100.17 average. That was impressive at the time and remains unique. To this day, Taylor is the only player to record a ton-plus average in a World Grand Prix final. Against Taylor in that sort of form, Part had little joy to find.

A year later the Canadian got another shot. Once again Taylor stood across from him and once again “The Power” prevailed. This time it finished 7-2. As a result, Part had to settle for two lost finals and would ultimately never win the World Grand Prix.

Gary Anderson’s trophy cabinet is bulging, yet the World Grand Prix is a conspicuous omission for the Scot. Anderson is a two-time world champion and has collected numerous major titles, but he never quite went all the way at the World Grand Prix.

In 2016 it finally seemed on. Anderson was the reigning world champion and reached the World Grand Prix final. Waiting there was Michael van Gerwen. The Dutchman kept his composure and beat Anderson 5-2.

That leaves Anderson with a nuanced relationship with the event. The Scot has always made it clear he is desperate to add this major to his CV, but the double-in, double-out format has often troubled him. Known for phenomenal scoring, his doubles in Leicester have more often been his Achilles’ heel. In a tournament where every leg must both start and finish on a double, that makes a big difference.

Adrian Lewis also belongs to the select group of two-time world champions who never won the World Grand Prix. Jackpot enjoyed a formidable peak, lifting the world title in 2011 and 2012, but the big breakthrough in Leicester never came.

Lewis reached his only World Grand Prix final in 2010. He faced James Wade in that decider. The Englishman proved too strong and won 6-3. For Lewis it remained at that single final. He has long since slipped from the forefront, making another shot at the World Grand Prix increasingly unlikely.

To complete the list of two-time world champions who never won the World Grand Prix, we arrive at Peter Wright. Snakebite claimed the world crown in 2020 and 2022 and became one of the sport’s most recognisable figures. Yet the World Grand Prix also eludes his honours list.

Wright came particularly close in 2018. Like Gary Anderson, he met Michael van Gerwen in the battle for the trophy. For Wright, too, “Mighty Mike” proved a hurdle too high. Van Gerwen had the last word and left Wright empty-handed.

Two players who did win the world title but never reached the World Grand Prix final are Rob Cross and Michael Smith. It is especially striking in Cross’s case: the Englishman has never gone beyond the quarter-finals at the prestigious tournament.

Smith fared slightly better, but the two-time world champion has also found the Sid Waddell Trophy out of reach here. His best World Grand Prix result so far is a semi-final.

Dennis Priestley also became a PDC world champion, but at the World Grand Prix he went no further than three semi-finals.

Michael van Gerwen remains the only Dutchman to have won the World Grand Prix multiple times. “Mighty Mike” has lifted the prestigious double-in, double-out tournament on several occasions, but behind him the list of Dutch finalists is strikingly short. Besides Raymond van Barneveld, only two other Dutch players have reached the final: Roland Scholten and Dirk van Duijvenbode.

For Scholten, that came in a very different era. In 2001, when the number of Dutch players active in the PDC was still limited, “The Tripod” delivered a landmark performance by reaching the World Grand Prix final. It gave Scholten the chance to be the first Dutchman to etch his name onto the prestigious roll of honour.

It was not to be. In the final, Scholten had to bow to Alan Warriner-Little. The Englishman had the last say and prevented Scholten from becoming the first Dutch winner of the World Grand Prix. Even so, his run marked an important milestone for Dutch darts, which at that time was still on the rise within the PDC.

Nearly twenty years later, another Dutchman had the chance to follow in Scholten’s footsteps. In 2020, Dirk van Duijvenbode reached the World Grand Prix final. It was a unique edition, with the event staged behind closed doors in Coventry due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Van Duijvenbode impressed throughout the tournament and battled his way into the decider. There he ran into Gerwyn Price. The Welshman proved a class apart for “Aubergenius” and took the title with a 5-2 win.

Perhaps the most poignant tale of an elite player who never managed to win the World Grand Prix is that of Terry Jenkins. The Englishman, nicknamed “The Bull,” became a fixture at the very top of darts, but a major title always eluded him.

Jenkins reached no fewer than nine major finals in total. Nine times he stood on the brink of adding a big title to his résumé, but nine times it slipped away. Two of those lost finals came at the World Grand Prix, where Jenkins twice came agonisingly close to the title.

In 2006, Jenkins got his first shot. Waiting in the final, however, was Phil Taylor, the sport’s dominant force at the time. Jenkins put up a fight, but ultimately lost 7-4 to “The Power.”

A year later, Jenkins returned to the World Grand Prix final. This time James Wade was his opponent. Again, victory proved out of reach. Wade prevailed 6-3, handing Jenkins a second consecutive defeat in the World Grand Prix final.

Jenkins thus became the textbook example of a player whose level and honours list were strikingly far apart. He was one of the world’s best for years, reached nine major finals and was several times one match away from a prestigious title. Yet that one big trophy always remained out of reach.

It’s no surprise “The Bull” is often cited as one of the greatest players never to win a major.

The man with the unenviable task of following in Terry Jenkins’ footsteps is Mervyn King. The Englishman ranks among the most experienced and respected players of his generation. In the PDC, King reached five major finals, but he too never made the final step to claim a big PDC title.

One of his best chances came at the 2012 World Grand Prix. King reached the final of the prestigious double-in, double-out event and faced a young Van Gerwen. “Mighty Mike” proved too strong, winning 6-4, and King had to watch the coveted title slip away.

That left a PDC major as a conspicuously missing chapter in the Englishman’s career. That does not mean King went without major honours. Before moving to the PDC, he had already built an impressive résumé in the BDO.

King won two BDO majors and also captured the International Darts League in 2005. That event was highly prestigious at the time, as it featured players from both the BDO and the PDC. King proved there he could compete with the elite of both circuits.

One of the most dramatic World Grand Prix finals was played in 2017 at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin. Simon Whitlock and Daryl Gurney produced a thriller in which both players had to dig deep.

The final could not be settled within the regulation sets and went to a deciding set. There, Gurney held his nerve best. The Northern Irishman came out on top and was crowned World Grand Prix champion.

For Whitlock, it was a particularly painful defeat. The Australian had an excellent chance to finally add a second major to his impressive career. His first and, to that point, only major PDC title dated back to 2012, when he won the European Championship.

The World Grand Prix again remained out of reach for “The Wizard.” Despite his status as one of the most respected players of his generation and a distinguished career, Whitlock never managed to win the prestigious double-in, double-out major.

Another big name who never lifted the World Grand Prix is Rod Harrington. “The Prince of Style” won the World Matchplay twice in his career, but the World Grand Prix remained a missing trophy on his honours list. Harrington came close in 1998, but had to settle for a runner-up finish.

Nathan Aspinall also features among players who, despite major successes, never won the World Grand Prix. “The Asp” has captured two majors in his career, but a third big title slipped through his fingers in 2022. In the final, the Englishman had to bow to Van Gerwen.

Peter Manley, meanwhile, put together a strikingly consistent run at the World Grand Prix without ever making the final leap. “One Dart” reached the semi-finals of the tournament five times, but a place in the final always eluded him. Despite that impressive run of last-four appearances, the World Grand Prix remained one of the big titles Manley never managed to secure.

The World Grand Prix can rightly be considered one of the toughest majors to win. Its double-in, double-out format sets it apart from almost all other major PDC events and often makes matches highly unpredictable. A player can score heavily, but without a strong success rate on the doubles, going deep is extremely difficult.

That blend is what makes the World Grand Prix so demanding. Big scorers must pair that firepower with efficiency on the doubles, while one poor start can have immediate consequences. The long list of elite players who, despite their impressive résumés, never managed to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy underlines that success elsewhere is no guarantee in Leicester. The World Grand Prix simply demands a different skill set, and even the sport’s biggest names sometimes miss out on the main prize.