Luke Littler makes his darts World Grand Prix debut tonight

LUKE 'The Nuke' Littler makes his World Grand Prix debut tonight.

The Warrington 17-year-old's first hurdle at Leicester's Mattioli Arena will be Premier League rival and fourth seed Rob Cross.

They are due on stage in the penultimate game of the first night's action for a 9.15pm start.

Littler has already claimed nine titles in 2024 – three more than any other player in this year’s field - and is now chasing another £120,000 first prize.

Cross, meanwhile, has not progressed beyond the second round in seven previous World Grand Prix appearances, although he has picked up a brace of titles this year.

The winner will go on to face Brendan Dolan or Martin Schindler in the last 16 on Wednesday.

This will be a change of format for 'The Nuke' to get used to.

The 2024 BoyleSports World Grand Prix is a unique double-start event, meaning a thrower has to hit a double to start their scoring in each leg - no points are accumulated until a double is hit in this £600,000 event.

This 27th staging of the World Grand Prix from today until Sunday will see reigning champion Luke Humphries headline the star-studded 32-player field, which also includes six-time champion Michael van Gerwen.

Humphries returns to the scene of his maiden televised ranking triumph in the East Midlands, having defeated Gerwyn Price in a memorable final 12 months ago.

The 29-year-old has since enjoyed a sustained spell of dominance – lifting five televised titles, including the World Darts Championship and World Matchplay – to underline his status as the sport’s premier player.

The world number one will begin his title defence tonight with a blockbuster clash against Masters champion Stephen Bunting, a two-time World Grand Prix semi-finalist.

“I would love to retain this title,” declared Humphries, who defeated Bunting 8-7 to win his first Players Championship title of 2024 on Thursday.

“I know I’ve got a really tough game against Stephen because he’s usually so strong on his doubles, but these are the moments I live for now.

“I want to play the best and be involved in these great games, and hopefully it’s a great World Grand Prix.

“This tournament will always hold great memories for me. The fact it was my first major tournament win makes it special, and it was the catalyst to allow me to go on and win everything else.

“Sitting here now, I’ve made eight or nine major finals in 12 months which is something quite incredible, and something I may not be able to do again!”

Tonight’s play will also see 2021 champion Jonny Clayton kick off his title bid against debutant Ritchie Edhouse, who landed an astonishing 120.24 average on the ProTour last week.

2022 runner-up Nathan Aspinall will also be in opening night action against Ryan Searle, as former finalists Raymond van Barneveld and Brendan Dolan face German duo Ricardo Pietreczko and Martin Schindler.

Northern Ireland’s Josh Rock will play the returning Ryan Joyce in the tournament’s curtain-raiser, before Dutch debutant Gian van Veen takes on world number ten Ross Smith in the evening’s finale.

Van Gerwen will open his challenge for a seventh World Grand Prix success against 2017 champion Daryl Gurney on Tuesday night, as the first round action draws to a close.

World number two Michael Smith and two-time World Champion Gary Anderson also go head-to-head for a place in round two, and 2020 champion Price plays Dutch number two Danny Noppert.

Two-time champion James Wade plays 2018 runner-up Peter Wright in a battle of the veterans, while Chris Dobey and Joe Cullen collide in a repeat of their quarter-final tussle back in 2023.

Dobey has scooped a hat-trick of Players Championship titles in 2024 to close in on a place in the world's top ten.

Two-time finalist Dave Chisnall opens Tuesday’s proceedings against newcomer Cameron Menzies, UK Open champion Dimitri Van den Bergh meets Luke Woodhouse, and Australian number one Damon Heta takes on Mike De Decker.

Following the conclusion of the first round, the last 16 will take place across Wednesday and Thursday before the quarter-finals are staged on Friday.

However, in a change to last year’s format, Saturday’s semi-finals will be contested over the best of nine sets, with the final set to be played over the best of 11 sets on Sunday.

The BoyleSports World Grand Prix will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).

2024 BoyleSports World Grand Prix Schedule of Play

Tonight, first round:
Josh Rock v Ryan Joyce, 6.10pm
Brendan Dolan v Martin Schindler, 6.45pm
Jonny Clayton v Ritchie Edhouse, 7.15pm
Nathan Aspinall v Ryan Searle, 7.45pm
Raymond van Barneveld v Ricardo Pietreczko, 8.15pm
Luke Humphries v Stephen Bunting, 8.45pm
Rob Cross v Luke Littler, 9.15pm
Gian van Veen v Ross Smith, 9.45pm

Tuesday, first round:
Dave Chisnall v Cameron Menzies, 6.15pm
Luke Woodhouse v Dimitri Van den Bergh, 6.45pm
Mike De Decker v Damon Heta, 7.15pm
Peter Wright v James Wade, 7.45pm
Gerwyn Price v Danny Noppert, 8.15pm
Michael Smith v Gary Anderson, 8.45pm
Michael van Gerwen v Daryl Gurney, 9.15pm
Chris Dobey v Joe Cullen, 9.45pm

Wednesday, second round, hourly from 7pm, order of games to be confirmed:
Humphries/Bunting v Van Barneveld/Pietreczko
Clayton/Edhouse v Van Veen/R Smith
Cross/Littler v Dolan/Schindler
Aspinall/Searle v Rock/Joyce

Thursday, second round, hourly from 7pm, order of games to be confirmed:
M Smith/Anderson v De Decker/Heta
Price/Noppert v Wright/Wade
Van Gerwen/Gurney v Dobey/Cullen
Chisnall/Menzies v Woodhouse/Van den Bergh

Friday, hourly from 7pm:
Quarter-finals

Saturday, from 8.30pm:
Semi-finals

Sunday, from 8pm:
Final

2024 BoyleSports World Grand Prix Format:

First Round - Best of Three Sets
Second Round - Best of Five Sets
Quarter-Finals - Best of Five Sets
Semi-Finals - Best of Nine Sets
Final - Best of 11 Sets

All sets are best of five legs.

All games will be double start and double finish, meaning players must first hit a double before they can begin scoring in each leg.

There will be no tie-break employed in any match; the ‘deciding set’ would end 3-2, with the fifth leg being the deciding leg.

2024 BoyleSports World Grand Prix Prize Fund:

Winner: £120,000
Runner-Up: £60,000
Semi-Finalists: £40,000
Quarter-Finalists: £25,000
Second Round Losers: £15,000
First Round Losers: £7,500
Total: £600,000

World Grand Prix Roll of Honour

1998      Phil Taylor defeated Rod Harrington 13-8

1999      Phil Taylor def Shayne Burgess 6-1

2000      Phil Taylor def Shayne Burgess 6-1

2001      Alan Warriner def Roland Scholten 8-2

2002      Phil Taylor def John Part 7-3

2003      Phil Taylor def John Part 7-2

2004      Colin Lloyd def Alan Warriner 7-3

2005      Phil Taylor def Colin Lloyd 7-1

2006      Phil Taylor def Terry Jenkins 7-4

2007      James Wade def Terry Jenkins 6-3

2008      Phil Taylor def Raymond van Barneveld 6-2

2009      Phil Taylor def Raymond van Barneveld 6-3

2010      James Wade def Adrian Lewis 6-2

2011      Phil Taylor def Brendan Dolan 6-3

2012      Michael van Gerwen def Mervyn King 6-4

2013      Phil Taylor def Dave Chisnall 6-0

2014      Michael van Gerwen def James Wade 5-3

2015      Robert Thornton def Michael van Gerwen 5-4

2016      Michael van Gerwen def Gary Anderson 5-2

2017      Daryl Gurney def Simon Whitlock 5-4

2018      Michael van Gerwen def Peter Wright 5-2

2019      Michael van Gerwen def Dave Chisnall 5-2

2020      Gerwyn Price def Dirk van Duijvenbode 5-2

2021      Jonny Clayton def Gerwyn Price 5-1

2022      Michael van Gerwen def Nathan Aspinall 5-3

2023      Luke Humphries def Gerwyn Price 5-2

Nine-Darters achieved in World Grand Prix:

2011      Brendan Dolan                v James Wade                 Semi-Finals

2014      James Wade                     v Robert Thornton          Second Round

2014      Robert Thornton             v James Wade                  Second Round

BoyleSports Odds for 2024 World Grand Prix:

Outright Winner Odds

11/4      Luke Littler

3/1        Luke Humphries

9/2        Michael Van Gerwen

8/1        Gerwyn Price

10/1      Michael Smith

16/1      Rob Cross, Peter Wright, Gary Anderson

25/1      Nathan Aspinall

28/1      Dave Chisnall, Ross Smith, Ryan Searle

33/1      Damon Heta, Chris Dobey

40/1      Jonny Clayton, Dimitri van de Bergh, Stephen Bunting, James Wade

50/1      Danny Noppert, Josh Rock, Martin Schindler, Joe Cullen

66/1      Daryl Gurney, Gian van Veen

100/1    Cameron Menzies, Brendan Dolan, Mike De Decker

125/1    Raymond van Barneveld

150/1    Ricardo Pietreczko, Ryan Joyce, Luke Woodhouse

200/1    Ritchie Edhouse

First Round Match Odds

2/5 Luke Humphries                     v Stephen Bunting 15/8

2/5 Raymond van Barneveld       v Ricardo Pietreczko 15/8

1/2 Jonny Clayton                          v Ritchie Edhouse 13/8

EVS Gian van Veen                        v Ross Smith 4/5

15/8 Rob Cross                               v Luke Littler 2/5

5/4 Brendan Dolan                        v Martin Schindler 8/13

6/5 Nathan Aspinall                      v Ryan Searle 4/6

4/9 Josh Rock                                 v Ryan Joyce 17/10

EVS Michael Smith                        v Gary Anderson 4/5

5/4 Mike De Decker                      v Damon Heta 8/13

4/9 Gerwyn Price                           v Danny Noppert 13/8

8/11 Peter Wright                          v James Wade 11/10

1/3 Michael van Gerwen              v Daryl Gurney 9/4

8/13 Chris Dobey                           v Joe Cullen 5/4

8/13 Dave Chisnall                         v Cameron Menzies 5/4

17/10 Luke Woodhouse               v Dimitri Van den Bergh 4/9

Odds correct at time of writing and courtesy BoyleSports

2024 PDC Event Winners

Televised Events

Luke Humphries              World Darts Championship

Stephen Bunting              The Masters

Dimitri Van den Bergh    UK Open

Luke Littler                        Premier League

England                             World Cup of Darts

Luke Humphries              World Matchplay

Luke Littler                        World Series of Darts Finals

World Series of Darts Global Events

Luke Littler                        Bahrain Darts Masters

Michael van Gerwen      Dutch Darts Masters

Rob Cross                         US Darts Masters

Gerwyn Price                   Nordic Darts Masters

Luke Littler                        Poland Darts Masters

Gerwyn Price                   Australian Darts Masters

Luke Humphries              New Zealand Darts Masters

European Tour Events

Luke Littler                       Belgian Darts Open

Luke Humphries              German Darts Grand Prix

Martin Schindler             International Darts Open

Gary Anderson                European Darts Grand Prix

Luke Littler                       Austrian Darts Open

Rob Cross                         Baltic Sea Darts Open

Josh Rock                          Dutch Darts Championship

Dave Chisnall                   European Darts Open

Peter Wright                    German Darts Championship

Dave Chisnall                   Flanders Darts Trophy

Michael van Gerwen      Hungarian Darts Trophy

Martin Schindler             Swiss Darts Trophy

Players Championship Events

Luke Littler                                      Players Championship 1

Gary Anderson                               PC2

Ryan Searle                                     PC3

Damon Heta                                   PC4

Raymond van Barneveld              PC5

Dave Chisnall                                  PC6

Chris Dobey                                    PC7

Danny Noppert                              PC8

Michael Smith                                PC9

Brendan Dolan                               PC10

Alan Soutar                                     PC11

Dimitri Van den Bergh                  PC12

Ross Smith                                     PC13

Jonny Clayton                                 PC14

Luke Littler                                      PC15

Mike De Decker                              PC16

Josh Rock                                        PC17

Damon Heta                                   PC18

Chris Dobey                                    PC19

Luke Littler                                      PC20

Michael van Gerwen                     PC21

Gary Anderson                               PC22

Dave Chisnall                                  PC23

Wessel Nijman                               PC24

Chris Dobey                                    PC25

Luke Humphries                            PC26