World Grand Prix proves darts can thrive without Luke Littler despite dose of blind ignorance as Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price lead 'refreshing' week in Leicester

The World Grand Prix showed that darts can thrive without the sports leading the light, Luke Littler, who lost early to Luke Woodhouse...or is that Luke Waterhouse, as it shed a light on a blind ignorance in our latest discussion.

But Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price showed that darts is in a great spot and that with Littler or without him, it can thrive, and going into the back end of the season, it is only a good thing that we are getting different winners and a high standard.

Samuel Gill, Head Editor for DartsNews.com, was delighted to see Luke Humphries reign supreme in Leicester.

"Luke Humphries winning was the story of the week, of course, on paper. A player who has often had his progress thwarted not for the want of trying by a certain Luke Littler.

"Littler going out showed that amid the echo chamber that is certain sections of the press that even called Luke Woodhouse as Luke Waterhouse, there is a lot of strength in depth that goes above calling every defeat for the sports leading light the biggest upset in the history of the sport, as was semi-dropped when Woodhouse won.

"Woodhouse winning, considering he is the top Pro Tour player, should never even be in the same realm as Andy Callaby or Adrian Gray against Phil Taylor. I'm afraid, and it shows a bit of blind ignorance, and one that Littler then suffers with as the pressure gets ramped up.

"It gave the chance to others to shine, as many of the others will go on about, and in reality it was the two players as well as James Wade who perhaps would have more majors if it wasn't for Littler, who shone the most in Humphries, and Price, who served up a delight of a final.

"Wade too for me is Premier League certainty, and he has been utterly fantastic. Nathan Aspinall, too, albeit suffering a soul-crushing loss, left Leicester thankfully with his car windows back and a sense of solace that he is still very much a hot property.

"Also a word on Niels Zonneveld, who for me has been one of the best players for most of the year and showed that again in this format. A tournament that often lends itself to shocks and upsets producing again."

Nicolas Gayer, Editor for DartsNews. DE called the latest major tournament 'refreshing' and said that for once it wasn't just a foregone conclusion.

"Refreshing. That is the word I would use to describe the 2026 World Grand Prix. It was refreshing to actually experience a genuine battle for a major title. And this needs to be said: that is no disrespect to Luke Littler—if anything, it is yet another testament to his incredible level. But after the World Champion crashed out in the opening round on Monday, I repeatedly found myself having to remember throughout the week in Leicester that every single result actually mattered—because, for once, the winner had not already felt like a foregone conclusion.

"And that title race certainly delivered. In one of the best PDC major finals in recent memory, Luke Humphries finally crowned himself a major champion again for the first time in more than a year and a half. There has been plenty of discussion in recent weeks about where Humphries stands heading into the most important part of the darts season. Is he really still the second-best player in the world? Is he still the man capable of challenging Luke Littler? The answer could hardly have been more emphatic than winning the first major of the business end of the darts season.

"On the other side stands Gerwyn Price, who once again has to settle for second place. “The Iceman” has now been waiting more than four years for another major PDC title. And if you watched the Welshman in Leicester this week—particularly during spells of that final—you have to wonder how on earth that can be the case. Even if we have been repeating the same line like a broken record for the past four years, if Price continues to play at this level, surely it can only be a matter of time before he adds another major crown to his collection.

"I was also hugely impressed by Nathan Aspinall once again this week. It is clear to see just how much “The Asp” is currently battling with his dartitis and the constant interruptions to his throwing action. That only makes it more impressive to watch Aspinall deal with those difficulties and still produce absolute world-class darts, even more so in this tricky format. There are not many players on this planet who would be capable of doing that. Hats off to him.

"Away from the biggest names, the Grand Prix once again showed exactly why its unique double-in, double-out format really is as special as players, pundits, the media, and fans make it out to be in the build-up to the tournament. Ryan Joyce, widely regarded as one of the finest players in world darts, once again proved that all those pre-tournament theories surrounding the Grand Prix are based on more than just reputation. Heading into the event, Joyce was not even inside the world's top 128 in some key scoring metrics. And yet “Relentless” lived up to his nickname once again in Leicester, knocking out the likes of Michael van Gerwen and Danny Noppert while dropping just a single set along the way. His run to the quarter-finals earned him £35,000 and lifted him to number 24 in the world rankings.

"But where there are winners, there are inevitably losers. And once again, it is impossible to look beyond Michael van Gerwen in that category. As strange—and somehow wrong—as it still feels to see the number nine seed next to the three-time World Champion's name at a major, perhaps it is something we slowly have to get used to. Van Gerwen made it clear before the season just how important the ranking events would be for him, particularly with an enormous task awaiting him at Alexandra Palace at the end of the year, when he has to defend the prize money from his run to the World Championship final two years ago.

"That makes what van Gerwen has produced at those very ranking events all the more disappointing. While he has shown flashes of his old brilliance, particularly earlier in the season at events without ranking implications—including a World Series title and a nightly win in the Premier League—he has consistently fallen short when ranking money has been on the line. Van Gerwen went out in the opening round of the Masters, reached only the last 16 at the UK Open, and made it no further than the second round at the World Matchplay. And now, at the World Grand Prix? Another disappointment. Another first-round exit. His practice streams and recent comments certainly give the impression that Michael van Gerwen is working hard on a comeback, perhaps more so than we have seen for some time. But so far, the results simply are not there to back it up.

Lucas Michael, editor for DartsNews.com, also levied an exciting tone at this past week's action.

"If the World Grand Prix is a sign of things to come, darts fans should be very excited! A full week of enthralling and dramatic darts culminating in Luke Humphries finally winning another major crown.

"To have made a fourth consecutive final in any tournament is some going, but to do it in the double-in, double-out format is utterly bonkers. It was deja-vu from 2023, when he defeated Gerwyn Price to commence a flourishing period. Who can say that will not happen again? A huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders. You get the feel with Humphries that once he makes it past the early stages of events, he moves up the gears and becomes very tough to defeat. His form at the major level fully indicates that. Finally, he is back in the winning enclosure, and it is about time.

"As for Price, it is a weird one. A third major final in a row, but another defeat. There was nothing he could do against Luke Littler in Blackpool, but the recent two defeats are real sucker blows. It felt like Littler was the only stumbling block for ‘The Iceman,’ but that may not be the case. He did not seem too bothered, judging from that post-match interview. As he stated, he has a good life and is enjoying darts. That is really all you can ask for, but it would be interesting if Price replaced some of that fulfilment with a more competitive and cutthroat perspective. Maybe then he would have won a major title in the last four years. Nevertheless, Price is a blockbuster, and the sport needs him to be among the elite.

"The one thing the World Grand Prix is good at is causing huge upsets. Littler and Michael van Gerwen both exited on the same night within the space of two matches. That is the beauty of the double-in, double-format. With there so much change on the PDC calendar, I am very surprised that they have not introduced a different format into any of the other tournaments, specifically the new European Open. I feel like they missed a trick there with a different format, possibly gaining more engagement and drama. Legs could start from 301, 701, or 1001 points, a longer set format going higher than the standard three legs. It would be nice to experiment with this more. If it is rubbish, scrap it, but it is worth a try.

"The World Grand Prix was once synonymous with Dublin, but since COVID-19 it has found a new home in England, in recent years Leicester. The Mattioli Arena is a fine venue to host the event, but it does not leave much to the imagination. There are still no PDC ranking events in Ireland, a bitter blow for the country. The crowds and atmospheres would go up a notch with that part of the world starved of any consistent darting action. With London, Milton Keynes, Minehead, Blackpool, and Wolverhampton all hosting major tournaments, it is time to branch into different areas of the UK.

"The World Grand Prix has always been the beginning of a special period in darts. The European Championship, Grand Slam of Darts, and Players Championship Finals all lead up to the PDC World Darts Championship, with other events sandwiched in between. This tournament has proved that anything can happen. No one is unbeatable. You cannot take anything for granted with the depth at the top of the sport ridiculously strong. While the two Lucks are the ones to beat, the rest of 2026 is set to be a great one."

Mats Leering, editor for DartsNieuws.com, summed it up as a tournament that very much literally had everything to it.

"I seriously enjoyed the World Grand Prix this year. Luke Littler’s early exit, Gerwyn Price unfortunately falling just short of another major title yet again, and Luke Humphries finally getting his hands on another big trophy. This tournament pretty much had everything.

"I don’t think many people would have predicted Littler going out in the first round beforehand, although it wasn’t a complete shock after the problems he had at the World Series of Darts Finals. As much as I love watching Littler play, I actually found it quite refreshing for once to know right from the start of the tournament that he definitely wasn’t going to win it. Somehow, it immediately made the whole event feel a little more exciting and unpredictable to me.

"In the end, Gerwyn Price and Luke Humphries made it through to the final. And I have to admit, I was a little disappointed with the outcome. I’m a Price fan and, looking back at the tournament as a whole, I thought ‘The Iceman’ was the best player in the competition, except against Jonny Clayton. He has been knocking on the door of another major title for years now and, in my opinion, he definitely deserved one this weekend. Unfortunately for him, he let a commanding lead slip in the final. But fair play to Luke Humphries as well. He produced a brilliant comeback and, once he made it 3-3, I felt he really took control of the match and wrestled the initiative away from the Welshman.

"As for the Dutch players, it was a fairly underwhelming tournament. With Michael van Gerwen, I’m becoming increasingly concerned about whether he still truly has that hunger to win. I keep seeing photos and videos of him at festivals, doing collaborations with singers and all sorts of other things, while what could be one of the most important autumn periods of his career is approaching. And then there was another first-round defeat.

"I’m starting to fear that he could be outside the top 16 by the end of the year and, as a result, miss out on the Premier League as well. But perhaps that would also be exactly the reality check he needs. Maybe it would give him that extra push and make him realise that he really has to do everything possible if he wants to fight his way back towards the top.

"Gian van Veen also seems unable to really get going this year. He started the tournament as the world number two, but his recent performances simply haven’t reflected that ranking. Of course, I know that the prize money from his World Championship final plays a huge part in his position on the Order of Merit, but his performance against James Wade in the quarter-finals was genuinely alarming. Especially considering I didn’t read anything afterwards suggesting that he was ill or not fully fit.

"Wessel Nijman, meanwhile, once again failed to reach a major quarter-final. I genuinely believe a breakthrough is coming sooner rather than later, but at some point it has to happen. We all talk him up, and rightly so, because the talent is clearly there. But eventually you have to start showing it on the biggest stages as well. Hopefully, he can finally break through that barrier somewhere this autumn.

"For me, the one real Dutch highlight came from Niels Zonneveld. He enjoyed a fantastic debut and managed to beat both Josh Rock and Gary Anderson. Even against Humphries, he had his chances, but unfortunately he couldn’t quite take them.

"All things considered, Zonneveld is probably the only Dutch player who can look back on this World Grand Prix with real satisfaction. For everyone else, there is plenty to think about heading into the rest of the season."

Pieter Verbeek, Editor for DartsNieuws.com struck a tone when it came more towards disappointment for the Dutch names.

"The World Grand Prix showed, in my opinion, that a tournament does not become any less interesting when Luke Littler suffers an early exit. His first-round defeat immediately opened up the draw and gave plenty of other players the belief that they could make a deep run. That only made the tournament more interesting.

"From a Dutch perspective, however, there was still a slight sense of disappointment. Dutch players have regularly featured in the latter stages of European Tour events and Players Championships this season, but they were unable to replicate that success in Leicester. Gian van Veen and debutant Niels Zonneveld reached the quarter-finals, with Zonneveld's run in particular deserving plenty of credit. The other Dutch players were eliminated earlier.

"James Wade, meanwhile, once again showed that he is in excellent form. The Englishman reached the semi-finals and produced another strong result, putting himself increasingly in contention for a place in the play-offs.

"Gerwyn Price will look back on the final with huge disappointment. The Welshman led Luke Humphries 3-0 and appeared to be on course to win his first ranking major since 2021. His level then dropped significantly, allowing Humphries to turn the match around completely. For Humphries, the title came at the perfect time. It had been a while since his previous individual major triumph, and this victory underlined that he remains one of the very best players in the world.

"If this World Grand Prix is a sign of what is to come in the remaining majors, we could be in for a fascinating end to the season."