Price starts defence of World Grand Prix title with win

Gerwyn Price defeated Michael Smith 2-0 with a fantastic darting display in the first night of the BoyleSports World Grand Prix.

Elsewhere on night one saw;

• Luke Humphries beats last years runner up Dirk van Duijvenbode
• Cullen & Gurney fell in round one to Ross Smith & Stephen Bunting
• Mervyn King kicked off the event with a solid win over Martijn Kleermaker

Iceman makes it into round two

Price was broken in the first leg with Smith taking out a 126. Price bounced straight back with a 116 and reeled off the next two legs to win the first set with a 104 average in the set.

Smith had opportunities to level things up missing three set darts. Sitting on 32,  he came inside with all three and Price won the match with a 81 checkout. The Iceman finished the game on a 100 average.

Mervyn King who has had plenty of success in this tournament reaching the final in 2012, controlled the game against Kleermaker to win this 2-0. Kleermaker needed to hold in set one to win the set and had chances to break in set 2.

King punished poor pressure darts from the German and will be pleased to be coming back to this stage on Tuesday.

Searle defeats Dimi in classic

Ryan Searle defeats Dimitri in a last leg shootout in the final game of the night.

The first set we saw two 12 dart legs and one 11 dart leg split between the players and it finish in style with a 150 checkout from Searle. The second set Searle found it hard to start legs and Dimi eased to level the game up.

Last set had all the drama with both players having match darts and after Dimi missed three at double 16, Searle stepped in and finished it on double 10.

Luke Humphries defeated last year’s runner up Dirk van Duijvenbode 2-0. Slow start to the game from both players however, Luke punished poor starts on throw from Dirk to break the throw and take the opening set.

In the second set all five legs went with throw and Cool Hand makes it into round two.

Wading from James to beat Heta

James Wade defeats Damon Heta in a last leg decider to progress through to a tie against the Bullet. Wadey punished plenty of missed set darts from Heta in the first set to take advantage.

Heta found another gear to make sure this game went to the third and final set. Wade with the throw made sure he held onto it and finished the game in style with a 121 finish on the bull.

Stephen Bunting put in one of the best performances we will see in round one this year to beat Daryl Gurney in straight sets. The Bullet who missed last year’s tournament due to being tested positive for Covid-19 put in a 99 match average and three ton plus checkouts to control this affair.

The Bullet will meet James Wade in a tasty second round tie.

What else happened on night one of the BoyleSports World Grand Prix?

Dave Chisnall continues his impressive World Grand Prix record with a 2-1 win against Mensur Suljovic. Chizzy took up the first four legs and Mensur had to up his game which he did to win the second set after he moved back to double 14 for his starting double.

In set three it was an early break which gave Mensur the advantage. He was unable to maintain that level and Chizzy showed his class to reel off the final three legs.

Ross Smith Defeats Joe Cullen 2-0 with ease. Joe Cullen really struggled with the double start and Smith controlled the majority of the legs without any real pressure.

A 90 plus average from Ross will give him a lot of confidence and if he can maintain that level he will fancy a long run this week. Ross Smith sets up a Tuesday night tie with Dave Chisnall.

BoyleSports World Grand Prix Day One Results

First Round

Mervyn King 2-0 Martijn Kleermaker

Luke Humphries 2-0 Dirk van Duijvenbode

Stephen Bunting 2-0 Daryl Gurney

Ross Smith 2-0 Joe Cullen

Dave Chisnall 2-1 Mensur Suljovic

James Wade 2-0 Damon Heta

Gerwyn Price 2-0 Michael Smith

Ryan Searle 2-1 Dimitri Van den Bergh

 

BoyleSports World Grand Prix Day Two Schedule of Play

First Round (18:00 BST)

Darius Labanauskas v Brendan Dolan

Callan Rydz v Jonny Clayton

Vincent van der Voort v Gabriel Clemens

Nathan Aspinall v Krzysztof Ratajski

Gary Anderson v Ian White

Peter Wright v Rob Cross

Michael van Gerwen v Danny Noppert

Jose de Sousa v Glen Durrant