2026 World Grand Prix Friday Preview – JP
2026 World Grand Prix Friday Preview
Thursday was a struggle for us with no winners from three bets but at least they were only for small stakes. Check out his 2026 World Grand Prix Friday preview and tips below.
Thursday Reflections
No winners from last night’s bets, but we remain +5.75 points up from the match bets so far. We have James Wade still in the running. Our 26.00 ante post selection is into 8.50, but we lost a point on Ross Smith to win his quarter.
We are into the business end of the tournament now. Tonight we the have four quarter finals and it is still a best of five set format. The second-round matches were largely one sided affairs. Only the Van Veen vs. Searle match required a deciding set, and four were 3-0 results.
The player who played their second matches on Wednesday night have had a day off, while those that played last night, Van Veen, Wade, Humphries and Zonneveld, are straight back on the horse. Who that favours, is hard to say. The matches certainly have not been long ones, so tiredness shouldn’t be a problem for these fine athletes.
Nathan Aspinall vs. Ryan Joyce
A real clash of styles here. The Jack in the Box style of Aspinall and the more languid Ryan Joyce.
Aspinall has beaten Kevin Doets and Luke Woodhouse do far. Two good wins. The difference between The Asp and Doets was experience. You can see that Doets will be a top player, but he needs to get more experience of these big events. There wasn’t much between them, but Aspinall kept on going to the end. Luke Woodhouse was disappointing. It was more like the old Woodhouse. Too much head shaking and beating himself up.
Dutch Destroyer
Ryan Joyce beat MVG in round 1 and Danny Noppert in round 2. The match with MVG was classic Joyce. He just out finished Van Gerwen. Hitting big checkouts and stealing legs from under MVG’s nose.
Against Noppert, Joyce didn’t have to do much. Noppert became fixated by the stage floor. He thought he could hear noises, or was seeing ghosts, but he was paying little attention to the board and lost 0-2.
Aspinall has averaged 92.74 across his first two averages, Joyce 85.63. No surprise there. Aspinall is a heavy scorer, Joyce wins matches with his finishing. This format suits him, and he knows it suits him. He is a former semi-finalist, so he knows he is right in this match.
Averages
Joyce has won seven of his last ten matches but he hasn’t hit any scores that catch the eye. His A game right now is a 95 average, and in this format, his 85 average so far is about right. His 12-month average is not even in the top 50.
Aspinall’s 12-month average is 95.83, which is top 10 ranked. He has won eight of his last ten matches and is in good form, if still lacking a bit of consistency. If it was a straightforward matchplay event, Aspinall would be close to a stick on, but in a double in, set play format, not so much.
He has played two quarter finals and won one and lost one. He beat Martin Lukeman in 2022 quarter final and despite averaging 10 points more, it went to a deciding set.
Mid 80s
For Joyce, he played his quarter final in 2023, and having beaten Aspinall 3-2 in the second round, Joyce beat Rob Cross in the quarters. In all three of his matches won, he averaged mid-80s. He went on to average 94.42 in the semi-final with Humphries and lost 0-5.
Their H2H record is 7-4 to Aspinall and in 2026 1-1. They have only played one TV match, and that was the 2023 2nd round match in this, which Joyce won.
Aspinall is the better player, with better statistics, apart from checkout % and functional doubles, and those are two parts of the game that are very important in this format.
Aspinall is the 1.33 favourite, Joyce 3.50. Joyce is the unfashionable player, but he is the value bet.
2026 World Grand Prix Friday Tip: 1 point Ryan Joyce to win @ 3.50 with SpreadEx, Skybet
Gerwyn Price vs. Jonny Clayton
Two friends and rivals. They have met in plenty of big matches over the years and it is usually Price who comes out on top. He has won 31 of their matches, Clayton 15. They have played nine times in 2026 and Price has won five.
The last was just a couple of weeks ago, in the semi-final of the World Series finals, which Price won 11-7. He averaged 104.07 in that match and both hit eight 180s. They played each other in the final of this in 2021 and it was Clayton who prevailed, 5-1.
Both players have won seven of their last ten matches, but Price is scoring better on the whole. Price has played six Grand Prix quarter finals and won four. Clayton has played three and won two. So, both are experienced and have good memories to draw upon.
Iceman Fav
Gerwyn Price is the 1.50 favourite, Clayton 2.75. Fair enough, given their H2H record. Price has won all three of his ranking major quarter in 2026. Clayton has lost both of his. In this format, Clayton could be the value bet, but I am going to have a play on the 180s market.
Their last eight matches have seen an average of 0.67 per leg. In their only set based match in 2026, they hit sixteen 180s in seven sets. There can only be a maximum of five sets tonight, but the potential is there for a bit of a 180 fest. Clayton hit eight in his 3-1 win over Nijman, and while Price hasn’t kicked off yet, his 12-month average is 0.31per leg.
2026 World Grand Prix Friday Tip: 1 point over 7.5 180s @ 1.95 with Unibet, Ladbrokes, Betvictor
Gian Van Veen vs. James Wade
Van Veen is ranked 9th for checkout % in the last 12 months, just behind James Wade in 7th place. He has won eight of his last ten matches but he hasn’t really hit his stride yet. His tournament average is 85.84 and while he has been getting in well, his getting out hasn’t been great. He needed a deciding set to beat Ryan Searle 3-2 last night and that may have taken a bit out of him.
James Wade was poor in his first-round match with Joe Cullen. He missed a lot of doubles, but he was better last night, beating Stephen Bunting 3-1. Wade has won thirteen of his last fourteen matches and is in top form. He has played seven Grand Prix quarter finals and won five.
Their H2H record is 9-5 to Wade, but in 2026 it is 2-0 to Van Veen. On TV, it is 2-2. Since 2023, they have played seven quarter final matches in various events, Wade winning four.
Wade is the 1.80 favourite, Van Veen 2.10. The odds look to be spot on to me. It’s a tough one to call, but as we are on Wade outright, I am invested enough in the match. No bet.
2026 World Grand Prix Friday Tip: No Bet
Luke Humphries vs. Niels Zonneveld
This is as deep in a ranking major that Zonneveld has ever got. This will be Humphries’ fourth consecutive Grand Prix quarter final.
Zonneveld is averaging 88.65 across his wins over Rock and Anderson. He was good vs. Rock, but only OK against a disappointing Anderson. The Scotsman was slow to get going and Zonneveld was good enough to take advantage and keep his opponent at arm’s length.
It is likely Zonneveld will need to up his game tonight. He has won eight of his last ten matches and will be feeling good. He will win at least £35k and has moved up to 29th in the PDC O.O.M.
Much Improved
Humphries has won seven of his last ten matches and he was much improved in his 3-0 win over Jermaine Wattimena last night. He was getting into the legs very well and piling the pressure onto The Machine Gun, and it paid off.
Humphries will have been pleased with his performance after a poor match with Chisnall in round 1. He is massively experienced in major quarter finals and has won fourteen of his last eighteen, and three in a row here.
Their H2H record is 10-2 to Humphries. This will be their first match on TV. Humphries is the 1.22 favourite, Zonneveld 4.50.
Humphries has conceded at least one set in his previous three quarter finals here. Wattimena missed set darts in set 1 against Humphries last night and maybe Zonneveld will be able to go one better than his fellow Dutchman did and nick a set.
