Michael van Gerwen May Surge to Victory at the World Grand Prix in October

World number one Michael van Gerwen has been installed as the clear favourite to surge to victory at the World Grand Prix in October. The world’s finest players will descend upon Dublin to battle it out for glory and a share of the £450,000 prize money, which is up from £400,000 last year.

Mighty Mike is the defending champion after he defeated Peter Wright 5-2 in the 2018 final. He is the 5/4 favourite among the most highly rated sportsbooks to triumph again this year and his record in the tournament suggests he has a great chance of success.

The event will boast a field of the top 16 players on the PDC Order of Merit and the top non-seeded players from the Pro Tour Order of Merit. Van Gerwen has earned nearly $1.6 million this year, leaving him more than £600,000 ahead of his nearest rival, Rob Cross, in the Order of Merit. Third placed Darryl Gurney is on just £536,000, illustrating how dominant van Gerwen has been of late. The Green Machine has shown no mercy to his rivals this year, surging to victory at the World Darts Championship, clinching a fifth consecutive Masters title and then winning the Premier League for the fourth year in a row.

He overcame a post-Premier League slump by beating Gary Anderson, Peter Wright and then Gurney in the final to win the 2019 Melbourne Darts Masters. “Form is temporary and class is permanent,” he said after the event. “Nobody should doubt my talent.” Yet he proved once again that he is fallible by slumping to an 8-7 defeat at the hands of Mensur Suljovic at the start of September. 

Cross is expected to lead the charge after enjoying a fine season, although former champions Gurney and James Wade could also be in the mix. Yet van Gerwen is clearly the man to beat and will have plenty of time to return to his best form before the World Grand Prix begins on October 6 at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin. He is guaranteed to be the top seed and he will be on the opposite side of the draw to second seed Cross, so we could be in for a pulsating final showdown between them.

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