World Grand Prix (darts)
| World Grand Prix | |
|---|---|
| Tournament information | |
| Venue | Citywest Hotel |
| Location | Dublin |
| Country | Republic of Ireland |
| Established | 1998 |
| Organisation(s) | PDC |
| Format | Sets "double in, double out" |
| Prize fund | £400,000 (2014) |
| Month(s) Played | October |
| Current champion(s) | |
 Robert Thornton |
|
The World Grand Prix is a PDC darts tournament held in Dublin each October. Its original venue was the Casino Rooms in Rochester, Kent in 1998 and 1999 and then for one year only in 2000 at the Crosbie Cedars Hotel in Rosslare, County Wexford. In 2001 the tournament moved further north to its current home at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin. The event replaced the earlier World Pairs tournament which ran from 1995 to 1997.
The Grand Prix was originally sponsored by bookmakers Paddy Power before Sky Bet took over in 2004. The subsidiary Sky Poker followed as the tournament's sponsor in 2008 and 2009. In 2010, online gambling company Bodog became the event's title sponsor and in 2011 PartyPoker.com took over as sponsor.
Although he has dominated the event with eleven title wins, Phil Taylor has been knocked out of the World Grand Prix four times in the first round. In 2001, he lost 2–1 to qualifier Kevin Painter, in 2004 by 2 sets to 0 to Andy Callaby, in 2007 by 2–0 in sets to Adrian Gray, and in 2015 by 2-0 in sets to Vincent van der Voort.
The current champion is Robert Thornton of Scotland, who defeated Michael van Gerwen of the Netherlands 5–4 in the final on 10 October 2015.
Contents
Tournament format
The tournament is unusual in that it is the only televised event in which players must commence and finish each leg on a double including the bullseye.
There have been several different formats for the tournament. The first event in 1998 event was a straight knock-out tournament played in a setplay format with each set being contested over the best of three legs. The following year this changed to the best of five legs per set. Furthermore, a group stage was introduced in 1999, with there only being four seeded players for the event, all of whom reached the semi-finals. In 2000, the tournament reverted to being a straight knock-out and has remained so ever since.
World Grand Prix Finals
The list of finals:[1]
| Year | Champion (average in final) | Score | Runner-Up (average in final) | Prize Money | Sponsor | Venue | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Champion | Runner-Up | ||||||
| 1998 |  Phil Taylor |
13–8 | Rod Harrington |
£38,000 | £9,000 | £5,000 | None | Casino Rooms, Rochester, Kent |
| 1999 | Phil Taylor (92.59) |
6–1 | Shayne Burgess (81.26) |
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| 2000 | Phil Taylor (91.32) |
6–1 | Shayne Burgess (81.48) |
£70,000 | £15,000 | £7,500 | Crosbie Cedars Hotel, Rosslare | |
| 2001 | Alan Warriner (83.52) |
8–2 |  Roland Scholten (81.84) |
£78,000 | £15,000 | £7,500 | Citywest Hotel, Dublin | |
| 2002 | Phil Taylor (100.17) |
7–3 |  John Part (88.62) |
£70,000 | £14,000 | £7,000 | Paddy Power | |
| 2003 | Phil Taylor (94.80) |
7–2 | John Part (83.25) |
£76,000 | £15,000 | £7,500 | ||
| 2004 | Colin Lloyd (85.29) |
7–3 | Alan Warriner (77.91) |
£100,000 | £20,000 | £10,000 | Sky Bet | |
| 2005 | Phil Taylor (90.74) |
7–1 | Colin Lloyd (82.05) |
£100,000 | £20,000 | £10,000 | ||
| 2006 | Phil Taylor (88.24) |
7–4 | Terry Jenkins (82.51) |
£130,000 | £25,000 | £12,500 | ||
| 2007 | James Wade (86.03) |
6–3 | Terry Jenkins (84.58) |
£200,000 | £50,000 | £20,000 | ||
| 2008 | Phil Taylor (97.81) |
6–2 | Raymond van Barneveld (90.42) |
£250,000 | £50,000 | £25,000 | Sky Poker | |
| 2009 | Phil Taylor (97.07) |
6–3 | Raymond van Barneveld (86.62) |
£350,000 | £100,000 | £40,000 | ||
| 2010 | James Wade (88.92) |
6–3 | Adrian Lewis (89.33) |
Bodog | ||||
| 2011 | Phil Taylor (90.29) |
6–3 |  Brendan Dolan (84.68) |
PartyPoker.com | ||||
| 2012 | Michael van Gerwen (87.53) |
6–4 | Mervyn King (81.96) |
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| 2013 | Phil Taylor (97.67) |
6–0 | Dave Chisnall (81.29) |
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| 2014 | Michael van Gerwen (90.81) |
5–3 | James Wade (89.26) |
£400,000 | £100,000 | £45,000 | ||
| 2015 | Robert Thornton (90.79) |
5–4 | Michael van Gerwen (96.79) |
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World Pairs winners
The World Pairs event which preceded the introduction of this event was held between 1995 and 1997.[2]
| Year | Winners | Score | Runners Up | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Eric Bristow Dennis Priestley |
14–9 (legs) | Keith Deller Jamie Harvey |
unknown, Ayr |
| 1996 | Bob Anderson Phil Taylor |
18–15 (legs) | Chris Mason Steve Raw |
Willows Variety Centre, Salford |
| 1997 | Raymond van Barneveld Roland Scholten |
18–15 (legs) |  Richie Burnett Rod Harrington |
Butlin's South Coast World, Bognor Regis |
Media coverage
The World Grand Prix has been broadcast in the UK by Sky Sports since the first tournament.
