2025 World Grand Prix Tuesday Preview – JP
2025 World Grand Prix Tuesday Preview
James Punt is back in action this evening. We landed one winner from two bets yesterday, his 2025 World Grand Prix Tuesday tips are below.
Intro
Last night’s batch of first round matches saw three of the top seeds go out, including James Wade, who we had backed to win the 2nd Quarter. Rob Cross survived a match dart other wise the honours between the top 16 and the pro tour qualifiers would have been even.
Our number 1 outright bet, Luke Humphries, had little trouble beating Nathan Aspinall, but it was only an OK performance. It was a reminder of just how tricky these first round matches are.
We broke even on the night and for this evening I may be being too ambitious by going for five bets, but all are decent odds and hopefully we can manage a profit.
Damon Heta vs. Luke Woodhouse
Heta is 0-4 in his four Grand Prix first round matches, but he comes here having played some good stuff in the Players Championships last week. He was runner up in PC30 on Thursday and he hit a couple of big ton plus averages on Wednesday. There is still some inconsistency in his game but he seems to have picked his form up somewhat.
Woodhouse is having a very good season, at least by his standards. He has won six of his last ten matches, but he wasn’t playing great last week, hitting four sub 90 averages in his seven Players Championship matches. Before that he was runner up in the Swiss Darts Trophy, so it is hard to say exactly where his game is right now.
Their H2H record is 8-4 to Heta and the Aussie has won six of their last eight matches. One of Woodhouse’s wins was in the World Championship last December, which he won 4-3.
Heta is the 1.57 favourite, Woodhouse 2.60.
Heta may have a thing about this event. He has played four and lost four, and he lost them all 1-2. That will have been extremely frustrating. I wonder if Woodhouse can get a set on the board, will Heta have an attack of ‘oh no, not again’?
2025 World Grand Prix Tuesday tip: 0.5 point Woodhouse to win 2-1 @ 4.80 with Boylesports
Ross Smith vs. Daryl Gurney
Ross Smith was in great form in PC29 last Wednesday. He won the title, hit four ton plus averages and hit eight maximums in the final, an 8-7 win over Josh Rock. He had hit a couple of ton plus averages on Tuesday on the way to the fourth round.
Smudger also beat MVG on Tuesday and Wednesday, so he was in cracking form and was motivated by a recent family bereavement. He has played in four previous Grand Prix and won all four first round matches.
Daryl Gurney has lost five of his last ten matches and isn’t in great form. He is beating the journeymen but struggling against the better players. He is very inconsistent and blows hot and cold, which doesn’t make his matches great for betting on.
Superchin is a past Grand Prix Champion and also reached a quarter final and semi-final, but that was in his golden period in 2016 – 2018. Since his semi-final in 2018, his Grand Prix form figures read 1/1/1/2/1/2.
Their H2H record is 6-5 to Gurney and he won their only match in 2025, 6-5, in August on the Euro Tour.
Ross Smith is the 1.62 favourite with Gurney 2.63. We are on Smith outright and that is enough interest in this match for me. No bet.
2025 World Grand Prix Tuesday tip: No Bet
Jonny Clayton vs. Andrew Gilding
Clayton is in good form, winning seven of his last ten matches and reaching two quarter finals in last week’s Players Championships. His last match was in PC30 and he lost that 0-6 to Andrew Gilding. That was his second 0-6 defeat of the week, so we can see that The Ferret is lacking some consistency.
Andrew Gilding qualified in the last available spot on the pro tour OOM. He has not been in great form and has lost six of his last ten matches, but he did play some good stuff in last week’s Players Championships, hitting three ton plus averages, but he only won three matches.
H2H
Their H2H record is 8-3 to Gilding, including that very recent 6-0 drubbing. He has won their last six matches in a row and clearly Clayton struggles with the unique playing style of Goldfinger.
Clayton has played in seven Grand Prix and won the title in 2021 and was a quarter finalist in 2024. He has lost three first round matches.
Andrew Gilding has played in four Grand Prix, lost two first round matches, but he had his best run in 2023, reaching the quarter final. He is defending the prizemoney won in that.
Jonny Clayton is the 1.40 favourite, but not surprisingly, Gilding is being backed and is now a best priced 3.25.
2025 World Grand Prix Tuesday tip: 1 point Andrew Gilding to win @ 3.25 with Betfair, Skybet, Betvictor
Gerwyn Price vs. Ryan Searle
This could be a good match. Ryan Searle won PC28 last Tuesday and was a semi-finalist in PC30 on Thursday. He has won twelve of his last fourteen matches. I would say that he wasn’t at his absolute best, but his confidence will be high.
Gerwyn Price has had a bumpy ride in recent weeks. He was forced to withdraw from the Hungarian Darts Trophy mid-event due to illness and he was still not right for the Swiss Darts Trophy the following weekend.
He returned to action in last week’s Players Championship events, where he played for the first two days and won three matches, but not with any great style, with the exception of a 101.84 average in a 6-3 win over Cor Dekker in PC29. It is hard to say what kind of form he is in.
Price A WGP Veteran
Ryan Searle has played in five Grand Prix, with a best result of a quarter final in 2021. He lost three first round matches. Gerwyn Price is a veteran of ten Grand Prix. He won it in 2020 and has reached two other finals and a further semi-final. He has not lost a first-round match since 2019.
Their H2H record is 11-2 to Price and he has won their last six matches.
Price is the 1.50 favourite, Searle 2.75. Given their H2H record, the odds are fair enough, but it is hard to pin down Price’s form after his recent illness, and he also had to miss an event due to a hand infection before that.
Searle was winning a lot of matches last week and will be feeling good, but he will have been disappointed to have drawn Price. A close match would not be a surprise.
2025 World Grand Prix Tuesday tip: 1 point over 2.50 sets @ 2.10 with Betfair
Luke Littler vs. Gian van Veen
Another tough draw for Van Veen but he will have been buoyed by his 6-4 win over littler last month in the Czech Darts Open. Van Veen’s recent form sees seven wins from his last ten matches and he has hit six ton plus averages. He is playing a lot of very good darts and he is ranked 1st for checkout % over the last twelve months (Littler is 8th). He made his debut in 2024 and lost his first-round match 0-2 to Ross Smith.
Luke Littler also made his debut in 2024 and he lost his first-round match 1-2 to Rob Cross. He has won seven of his last ten matches but he has been playing a very light schedule with just ten matches played in the last five weeks. He didn’t play in the Players Championships last week.
Their H2H record is 4-3 to Van Veen and he has won their last three matches and at senior level it is 3-1 to Van Veen. That will surprise some people.
Littler is the 1.50 favourite with Van Veen 2.75. I have to give Van Veen a decent chance here.
2025 World Grand Prix Tuesday tip: 1 point Gian van Veen to win @ 2.75 generally available
Michael van Gerwen vs. Dirk van Duijvenbode
MVG is enduring his worst ever season. His win rate is a career low of 54.84%. Most recently he has won seven of his last ten matches and shown some better form.
He played in last week’s Players Championship events but after losing to Ross Smith on Tuesday and Wednesday, he didn’t play on Thursday. MVG won the World Series Finals last month and we are seeing many more ton plus averages from him. Has he turned a corner? Hard to say, but his game is looking stronger.
Dirk van Duijvenbode has won six of his last ten matches but he is struggling for consistency. His last ten matches have seen four ton plus averages but three sub-90s, and he lost those three matches. He reached the final on debut in 2020 but has lost in the first round for the last three years. Van Gerwen is a six-time Grand Prix champion but he has only won one match in the last two.
H2H
Their H2H record is important. Some of the Dutch players are still in awe of Van Gerwen and he can intimidate the ones that are. Van Gerwen is 12-3 vs. Dirk overall but in 2025, just 2-1, but this has been a bad year for MVG.
Van Gerwen is the 1.50 favourite, Van Duijvenbode 2.90. A few weeks ago I would have been all over Van Duijvenbode’s odds, but with MVG looking to be finding some form, I will leave this one alone.
2025 World Grand Prix Tuesday tip: No Bet
Peter Wright vs. Mike de Decker
Wright is right back in the darting wilderness. He was slowly getting back to a modest level of form, but he has gone a crash diet, lost three stone and it is affecting his throw. Wright has lost eight of his last ten matches and one of those defeats was a 2-6 loss vs Mike de Decker just last week.
De Decker is the defending champion and he has landed on his feet with this first round draw. He has won seven of his last ten matches and he should get this done fairly quickly.
2025 World Grand Prix Tuesday tip: 1 point Mike de Decker to win 2-0 @ 2.10 with Skybet
Josh Rock vs. Ryan Joyce
This is a repeat of last year’s first round match which Joyce won 2-0.
Josh Rock had a strange three days at the Players Championships played here last week. He lost in the first round of PC28 and PC30 but was runner up in PC29 and played some very good stuff. A strong performance, bookended by two sub 90 averages. Rock has won six of his last ten matches, but five have been sub 92 averages. He is not Rock solid, but can be very good.
Ryan Joyce was a player I imagine nobody wanted to draw. He is regarded as one of the best double hitters in the game and as such, this should be an ideal format for him. He has played in just two Grand Prix, reaching the second round in 2020 and the semi-final last year. His recent form sees seven wins from his last ten matches and he is playing OK, but he could do with a bit more consistency.
H2H
Their H2H record is 2-1 to Joyce and none of their three matches have been close with scores of 1-6, 6-1 and 2-0. Rock has the firepower to blow Joyce away, but if he doesn’t fire, and he has been very hit or miss recently, Joyce can just pick Rock off.
Rock is the 1.33 favourite, Joyce 3.50. We have backed Joyce at big odds to win this quarter of the draw and that is enough for me. No bet, but Joyce does look to be the value pick.
