2026 World Grand Prix Wednesday Preview – JP
2026 World Grand Prix Wednesday Preview
James Punt kept the good times rolling on Tuesday with three more winners from four advised bets. Check out his 2026 World Grand Prix Wednesday preview and tips below.
R1 Reflections
Yesterday was another good night at the office with three more winners and a 3.28 point profit. The first round has been completed and it is the top 16 seeds who have largely prevailed. Only four of the Pro Tour qualifiers have made it through to the last 16 stage. There were a lot of matches that went to a deciding set and they could have gone either way.
The second round and quarter finals are played in a best of 5 set format, so there is a bit more time to recover from a poor start and the chances of the favourites should be a little better.
Over the previous forty second round matches, 27.5% ended 3-0, 37.5% 3-1 and 35% 3-2.
Danny Noppert vs. Ryan Joyce
Both players had 2-1 wins in round one. Joyce beating MVG and Noppert beating Niko Springer. Noppert has played in five previous second round matches and won three. Joyce has played two and won one.
Both players have won six of their last ten matches. Joyce is facing the same kind of test as he had when playing MVG. He is likely to get outscored, and it is a question of whether his doubling can cancel that disadvantage out.
It did against Van Gerwen, but he is a player who is very low on confidence, and once things started going against him, he was beaten. Noppert doesn’t suffer that problem, well not until he gets to quarter or semi-finals.
H2H
Their H2H record is interesting. 5-1 to Ryan Joyce. They haven’t played each other since the 2025 World Championship, which Joyce won 3-1. That was their only big stage TV match. Noppert hit eight 180s, Joyce one, but he was 48% on the doubles, to Noppert’s 29%. It was classic Joyce.
Noppert is the 1.57 favourite, Joyce 2.50. Given that H2H record, Joyce has to be considered the value bet. He has played two second round matches in this event and both required a deciding set. He is a hard player to beat in this format and he knows he can beat Noppert on the big stage.
2026 World Grand Prix Wednesday Tip: 1 point over 4.5 sets @ 2.88 with Betfair, Betvictor
2026 World Grand Prix Wednesday Tip: 0.5 point Ryan Joyce to win 3-2 @ 6.00 with Betfair, Betfred
Jonny Clayton vs. Wessel Nijman
I wouldn’t say that either player impressed in round one. Clayton beat Ratajski 2-1 but Ratajski blew his chances in the first set and Clayton sort of got away it, rather than impressed. He has won seven of his last ten matches and is playing OK.
His second-round record here is played five and won three. He was a semi-finalist last year, a quarter finalist in 2024 and won it in 2021. He is comfortable with the format. His three second round wins were are by a 3-1 scoreline.
Nijman took advantage of Cross blowing the first set and went on to win his first-round match 2-0. It wasn’t a great performance and Cross’ poor tournament record probably had something to do with it.
Lacks Experience
Nijman is not very experienced in the Major Championships. He has played 31 matches in ranking majors and won just 13. Taking a look at who he has beaten and it is not exactly a who’s who of darting greats. His biggest scalps are Cross, Rock and Aspinall. The rest have been journeymen, or women. One big name he lost to was Jonny Clayton, who was a 3-1 winner in this year’s Masters.
Their H2H record is 3-1 to Clayton, all played in the last 13 months. In terms of their game stats, Nijman is the better player in virtually all the measured metrics, but Clayton is vastly more experienced in these big TV matches.
Nijman is the 1.73 favourite, Clayton 2.20. Odd. I would have it the other way round. I am getting 3-1 to The Ferret vibes.
2026 World Grand Prix Wednesday Tip: 0.5 point Jonny Clayton to win 3-1 @ 5.50 with Betfred, BET365
Gerwyn Price vs. Ross Smith
We are on Smith to win the quarter and I was more than concerned when he turned up to the venue and told the press that he had been ill, hospitalised and hadn’t thrown a dart since winning the World Series finals. It was touch and go as to whether he was going to play.
But he did and played very well. He had to. Cameron Menzies was in top form and missed darts to win the match, but Smith dug deep and got the win, 2-1, averaging 99.54. Despite his health scare, he was playing just as well as he has been doing of late. Phew.
Big Averages
Smith’s 99.54 average was the second best of all the first round matches. Unfortunately for us, the best went to Gerwyn Price. He averaged 101.61 in his 2-0 demolition of Bialecki.
Price is playing with a new darts set up which he is enjoying, but he professes to not liking this tournament, format or even playing sets, but his record in it is good. He has played eight second round matches and won six. Only one of the eight went to a deciding set.
Price has won seven of his last ten matches, and in those ten he has played Ross Smith three times and lost two. Smith has won nine of his last ten matches.
H2H Even
Their H2H record is 7-7 and in 2026, 2-2. On TV, 2-1 to Smith. This has tricky written all over it. Who should be favourite? Price has excellent tournament form, Smith is in great form but has played four second round matches in this event and lost the lot.
Price is the 1.57 favourite, Smith 2.40. Given their recent H2H form, you can say Smith is the value pick. On tournament form, Price would be the choice. As we are on Smith to win the quarter, I am not going to have any more involvement in what is a very hard match to call. No bet.
2026 World Grand Prix Wednesday Tip: No bet
Luke Woodhouse vs. Nathan Aspinall
Aspinall will have been delighted to see Woodhouse beat Luke Littler in round one. Aspinall is 3-18 vs Littler, but 7-2 vs Woodhouse, and he has won their last seven in a row. They have only played three times in the last five years, however, and Woodhouse in in the form of his life in 2026.
Aspinall has won seven of his last ten matches and he has played three and won two second round matches in the Grand Prix. Woodhouse has won six of his last ten matches and lost both his previous second round matches here.
Trap
Woodhouse must make sure he doesn’t fall into the trap of having beaten the world number one player, and then playing poorly in his next match. You saw it a lot when players beat MVG in his prime and then got beaten in their next match. It is hard to come down off the big high of a huge win and play your best again. At least he has had a day off to get used to it, clear his head and clam down.
Aspinall is the 1.73 favourite, Woodhouse 2.25. Woodhouse is attracting the money and he is in good form. Aspinall has more experience at this sort of level, and when he gets his teeth into a match, he is hard to beat.
Rallying Asp
He was right up against it in the first round, losing the first set to Kevin Doets and went 0-2 down in the second set, but came from behind to win the set. He was 1-2 in the deciding set as well but rallied once more to win the match. I think that will have got him revved up for the rest of the tournament, while for Woodhouse, this could be a bit ‘after the Lord Majors Show’ kind of thing.
