What Happened: World Grand Prix Darts 2023
The 2023 the World Grand Prix Darts as the 26th edition and was held from 2-8 October 2023 at the Morningside Arena in Leicester, England.
Michael van Gerwen was looking to defend his title after beating Nathan Aspinall back in the 2022 final.
Did ‘Mighty Mike’ add to his impressive trophy haul or did a new challenger take the crown? Read the below to find out.
Who qualified for the World Grand Prix Darts in 2023?
The 2023 World Grand Prix consisted of 32 players and to qualify you needed to either be in the top 16 on the PDC Order of Merit or top 16 on the ProTour Order of Merit.
The top eight players from the PDC Order of Merit were seeded for the tournament. Nathan Aspinall and Rob Cross were seeded 5th and 8th respectively through the PDC Order of Merit.
Dimitri Van den Bergh was 16th in the PDC Order of Merit at the time. Stephen Bunting, Gabriel Clemens, Raymond van Barneveld and Chris Dobey make up the other Target Darts players who qualified by PDC ProTour Qualifiers.
Here are the 32 qualified participants for the 2023 World Grand Prix tournament.
PDC Order of Merit | PDC ProTour Qualifiers |
---|---|
Michael Smith | Josh Rock |
Michael van Gerwen | Krzysztof Ratajski |
Peter Wright | Martin Schindler |
Gerwyn Price | Stephen Bunting |
Nathan Aspinall | Ross Smith |
Luke Humphries | Andrew Gilding |
Jonny Clayton | Jose de Sousa |
Rob Cross | Gary Anderson |
Danny Noppert | Mike De Decker |
Dirk van Duijvenbode | Daryl Gurney |
Joe Cullen | Gabriel Clemens |
Dave Chisnall | Brendan Dolan |
Damon Heta | Raymond van Barneveld |
Dimitri Van den Bergh | Chris Dobey |
Ryan Searle | Callan Rydz |
James Wade | Luke Woodhouse |
Image by Ed Mullholland/PDC
What were the Results?
The opening round of the tournament saw a few big names leave the tournament earlier than expected, with the 2022 finalist Nathan Aspinall losing 2-1 in sets to Stephen Bunting & Rob Cross losing 2-1 to Andrew Gilding.
2017 winner Daryl Gurney and 2021 winner Jonny Clayton were both on the receiving ends of 2-0 defeats and were dumped out early in the tournament.
Michael Smith had the highest average in round one, averaging 96.14 against Callan Rydz and beating Rydz 2-0.
Round 2 saw the 2022 champion Michael van Gerwen fall to Chris Dobey. MvG was 2-1 up in sets but Chris Dobey thought his way back to win the contest 3-2. Van Gerwen has won this major five times, but ‘Hollywood’ really put on a show to win 3-2.
Round 1 Results
Player One | Score | Player Two |
---|---|---|
Dirk van Duijvenbode | 1-2 | Brendan Dolan |
Jose de Sousa | 1-2 | Gary Anderson |
Krzysztof Ratajski | 2-1 | James Wade |
Martin Schindler | 2-1 | Raymond van Barneveld |
Nathan Aspinall | 1-2 | Stephen Bunting |
Gerwyn Price | 2-0 | Danny Noppert |
Michael Smith | 2-0 | Callan Rydz |
Rob Cross | 1-2 | Andrew Gilding |
Joe Cullen | 2-0 | Mike De Decker |
Dave Chisnall | 0-2 | Luke Woodhouse |
Damon Heta | 1-2 | Ryan Searle |
Dimitri Van den Bergh | 0-2 | Chris Dobey |
Peter Wright | 2-0 | Gabriel Clemens |
Michael van Gerwen | 2-0 | Josh Rock |
Jonny Clayton | 0-2 | Ross Smith |
Luke Humphries | 2-0 | Daryl Gurney |
Round 2 Results
Player One | Score | Player Two |
---|---|---|
Andrew Gilding | 3-2 | Gary Anderson |
Stephen Bunting | 2-3 | Martin Schindler |
Gerwyn Price | 3-0 | Krzysztof Ratajski |
Michael Smith | 3-0 | Brendan Dolan |
Luke Humphries | 3-0 | Luke Woodhouse |
Peter Wright | 3-1 | Ryan Searle |
Michael van Gerwen | 2-3 | Chris Dobey |
Ross Smith | 1-3 | Joe Cullen |
Quarter and Semi-Final Results?
Michael Smith and Gerwyn Price continued their impressive form in the quarterfinals winning 3-0 against Andrew Gilding & Martin Schindler respectively.
‘Bully Boy’ and ‘Ice Man’ didn’t drop a single set until the semi-finals when the 2020 winner Gerwyn Price beat ‘Bully Boy’ 4-2 in the semi-finals.
Luke Humphries had a scare when facing Peter Wright. Wright was 2-1 up in the quarter-final but Humphries pulled his way back into the contest to win 3-2. Joe Cullen beat Chris Dobey 3-2 in the quarterfinals and then went on to face ‘Cool Hand’ who convincingly beat Joe Cullen 4-0.
Quarter-final Results
Player One | Score | Player Two |
---|---|---|
Gerwyn Price | 3-0 | Martin Schindler |
Michael Smith | 3-0 | Andrew Gilding |
Peter Wright | 2-3 | Luke Humphries |
Chris Dobey | 2-3 | Joe Cullen |
Semi-final Results
Player One | Score | Player Two |
---|---|---|
Michael Smith | 2-4 | Gerwyn Price |
Joe Cullen | 0-4 | Luke Humphries |
A closer look at the winner: Luke Humphries claims his first major title
The last time Luke Humphries made a major final was back in 2021 in the UK Open and was getting the reputation of a bridesmaid with five semi-finals in his last seven televised events before the 2023 World Grand Prix.
The sixth seed, Humphries conceded just two sets in reaching his maiden double-start final, overcoming the likes of 2017 winner Daryl Gurney and two-time World Champion Peter Wright en route.
‘Cool Hand’ then confidently removed Joe Cullen 4-0 making it to the final, where he would face the 2020 champion Gerwyn Price.
What happened in the final?
The final was set with the 2020 champion Gerwyn Price facing off against Luke Humphries, who was looking to claim his maiden major title.
The 2020 champion struck first winning the first set 3-0 and taking a 1-0 lead but it was the former World Youth Champion Humphries, who took the game away from Price with ‘Cool Hand’ taking nine of the next 11 legs in a three-set surge which turned the completion of the game on its head.
The fifth set saw Price fight back to win it 3-2 on a deciding leg despite ‘Cool Hand’ opening the fifth set with a 170 checkout, making the game 3-2 in favour of Luke Humphries.
Price led 1-0 and 2-1 in the seventh set, but Humphries levelled and then took out an unforgettable 138 checkout to seal the title.
Learn more about the 2024 World Grand Prix.
After his maiden win, Luke Humphries has taken over the game of darts but will he be able to defend his maiden title? Read our preview on the 2024 World Grand Prix.