World Grand Prix

The 27th edition of the World Grand Prix was held in Leicester from 7 to 13 October. It was a surprising edition, which was eventually won by the Belgian Mike de Decker, who thereby won his first ever major title.

The first round was dramatic for the Dutch players: all four of them lost in their first match. Michael van Gerwen lost 2-0 to Daryl Gurney, Danny Noppert narrowly lost to an irritated Gerwyn Price (2-1), Gian van Veen came up short against a strong Ross Smith (2-0) and Raymond van Barneveld was disappointing in his match against Ricardo Pietreczko (2-1). Title holder Luke Humphries lost the first five legs to Steohen Bunting, but still managed to turn the match into a 2-1 victory in sets. Mike de Decker and Damon Heta hardly missed any opening doubles and made it a great battle. De Decker eventually won 2-1 in sets.

In the second round, the Belgians are successful: Mike de Decker surprisingly beats Gary Anderson 3-0 and Dimitri van den Bergh wins 3-1 against Dave Chisnall. Luke Humphries beats Ricardo Pietreczko 3-1 and James Wade beats last year's runner-up, Gerwyn Price 3-0. Jonny Clayton, Rob Cross, Ryan Joyce and Joe Cullen also join the last eight.

The Belgians are on the warpath and continue to do well in Leicester. After a 3-0 win over Anderson, De Decker also wins 3-0 against Wade. Van den Bergh does not want to give up and beats Cullen 3-1. This gives us a Belgian semi-final during the World Grand Prix. The other semi-final will be an English affair, after Humphries wins 3-1 against Clayton and Joyce surprisingly proves too strong for Cross 3-2 in a match with many strange moments.

The semi-finals are not very exciting: De Decker plays the tournament of his life and beats his compatriot Van den Bergh 5-2 in sets. In the final he will face last year's winner: Humphries throws an average of over 100 and knocks Joyce out with a 5-0 victory.

Mike de Decker is in a major final for the first time and plays against the title holder Luke Humphries. The Belgian is the underdog, but has already had an excellent week of darts. He knows how to dominate in the final: he quickly takes the lead and does not give it away. With a final 6-4 victory in sets, 'The Real Deal' can call himself World Grand Prix champion for the first time and flies into the top 32 of the Order of Merit.