THE most unique event in the darts calendar gets underway TODAY as the World Grand Prix arrives in Leicester!
The tournament requires players to begin and finish every leg on a double or the bullseye.
is the defending champion after he smashed rival 6-1 to win the TV major for the first time last year.
The world No1 heads to Leicester looking to bounce back after Jonny Clayton at the
, , and are amongst the top throwers in the 32-player field, looking to dethrone Littler.
Players will battle for the newly-boosted £150,000 jackpot and one of the most iconic titles in the .
When is the World Grand Prix Darts 2026?
- The World Grand Prix will got underway on September 28.
- The tournament runs until Sunday, October 4.
- Leicester’s Mattioli Arena will host once again.
What TV channel is the World Grand Prix Darts on and can it be live streamed?
- The World Grand Prix will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
- You can live stream all the action via the Sky Sports app / NOW.
- Alternatively, SunSport’s live blog will bring you leg-by-leg coverage of the seven-day event.
World Grand Prix Darts schedule
*Subject to change
Monday, September 28 – From 6pm BST
Round One
- Danny Noppert v Niko Springer
- Ross Smith v Cameron Menzies
- Nathan Aspinall v Kevin Doets
- Jonny Clayton v Krzysztof Ratajski
- Gerwyn Price v Sebastian Bialecki
- Michael van Gerwen v Ryan Joyce
- Luke Littler v Luke Woodhouse
- Wessel Nijman v Rob Cross
Tuesday, September 29 – From 6pm
Round One
- Chris Dobey v Jermaine Wattimena
- Ryan Searle v William O’Connor
- Josh Rock v Niels Zonneveld
- James Wade v Joe Cullen
- Gary Anderson v Damon Heta
- Gian van Veen v Dirk van Duijvenbode
- Luke Humphries v Dave Chisnall
- Stephen Bunting v Andrew Gilding
Wednesday, September 30 – From 7pm
Round Two – Order of Play TBC
- Littler/Woodhouse v Aspinall/Doets
- Noppert/Springer v Van Gerwen/Joyce
- Price/Bialecki v Smith/Menzies
- Clayton/Ratajski v Nijman/Cross
Thursday, October 1 – From 7pm
Round Two – Order of Play TBC
- Humphries/Chisnall v Dobey/Wattimena
- Rock/Zonneveld v Anderson/Heta
- Van Veen/Van Duijvenbode v Searle/O’Connor
- Wade/Cullen v Bunting/Gilding
Friday, October 2 – From 7pm
Quarter-Finals
Saturday, October 3 – From 8pm
Semi-Finals
Sunday, October 4 – From 8pm
Final
World Grand Prix Darts format
The 32-player field for the World Grand Prix is made up of the top 16 players on the PDC’s Order of Merit and the top 16 non-qualified players from the Pro Tour Order of Merit as of September 14.
The tournament adopts a unique double-in, double-out format, which requires players to begin and finish on the outer ring or the bullseye.
Unlike the and the World Matchplay, games are won in sets, rather than legs, at the World Grand Prix.
Each set is best-of-five legs, meaning whoever wins three legs first will win the set.
In the first round, matches are played in a best-of-three sets format, while in the second round and quarter-finals, that increases to a best-of-five showdown.
In the semi-finals, it is a best-of-nine sets contest, before Sunday’s final is played over a best-of-11 sets.
