Luke Humphries continued his bid for a second Boylesports World Grand Prix title with victory over Krzysztof Ratajski on Wednesday evening, as Gary Anderson stormed through to the quarter-finals in Leicester.
The third day of the double-start showpiece saw Humphries maintain his title charge at the Mattioli Arena, courtesy of a 3-1 success against Poland’s number one Ratajski.
2023 champion Humphries pinned each of his opening six darts at a starting double, and his sustained brilliance on the outer ring catapulted him into a commanding two-set lead.
Ratajski had squandered four darts to level the contest at one apiece in a dramatic second stanza, although the Polish number one responded superbly in the third to halve the deficit.
However, Humphries found his range in the latter stages, following up an imperious 134 checkout with a match-winning 104 combination to set up a quarter-final clash against Cameron Menzies.
“I was really frustrated with my scoring, because they just weren’t dropping in,” admitted Humphries, also the World Grand Prix runner-up in 2024. I got a little bit lucky in that second set, but then I started to slow my throw down and I started to hit those trebles.
“Credit to Krzysztof. He played really well tonight. He’s such a solid player and he puts you under pressure in every single leg.”
Humphries will now take on Menzies in the last eight, after the emerging Scottish ace progressed to his second televised quarter-final with a dramatic 3-1 win against Rob Cross.
Despite squandering five darts at double for a straight-sets success, the enigmatic Scot regained his poise in the closing stages to back up his impressive opening round win over Chris Dobey with victory over another big-name scalp.
“I just kept trying to believe,” reflected Menzies, who provisionally moves into the world’s top 30 for the first time in his career. The missed match darts weren’t really badly thrown. They were all on the wire.
“Sometimes you just have to fight, be positive and believe in yourself, and I’m so buzzing to win.”
Elsewhere, Anderson and Danny Noppert will lock horns in Friday’s quarter-finals, after overcoming Joe Cullen and Stephen Bunting in their respective round two tussles.
Anderson raced through with an emphatic straight-sets win over 2023 semi-finalist Cullen, who was unable to replicate the performance that saw him dump out two-time champion James Wade in round one.
“My scoring wasn’t great tonight, but my finishing was good when it needed to be,” admitted Anderson, after advancing into his first World Grand Prix quarter-final in five years.
“It’s been a while - I was almost 50 years old the last time I made the quarter-finals here! It’s getting harder and harder [to compete], but we aren’t going to give up, and I still want to win.”
Noppert, meanwhile, produced a brilliant display of power-scoring to account for world number four Bunting, firing in nine maximums as he wrapped up a hard-fought 3-1 win.
The Dutch number two punished Bunting’s profligacy to establish early daylight, before defying a skin-saving 125 checkout from the battling Liverpudlian to prevail with a clinical two-dart 100 finish.
“I am really happy with this win. Stephen came back well, but I managed to stay focused on my own game,” insisted Noppert, a World Grand Prix semi-finalist in 2021.
“I started well tonight. My starting doubles were better than my first game. The double top worked today and it saved me a lot!”
2025 World Grand Prix Draw & Results
ROUND TWO
- (1) Luke Humphries 3-1 Krzysztof Ratajski
- Cameron Menzies 3-1 Rob Cross (9)
- (4) Stephen Bunting 1-3 Danny Noppert (13)
- Joe Cullen 0-3 Gary Anderson (12)
- (2) Luke Littler v Mike De Decker
- (7) Gerwyn Price v Josh Rock (10)
- Dirk van Duijvenbode v Daryl Gurney
- (6) Jonny Clayton v Luke Woodhouse
ROUND ONE
- (1) Luke Humphries 2-0 Nathan Aspinall
- (16) Martin Schindler 0-2 Krzysztof Ratajski
- (8) Chris Dobey 0-2 Cameron Menzies
- (9) Rob Cross 2-1 Wessel Nijman
- (4) Stephen Bunting 2-0 Niko Springer
- (13) Danny Noppert 2-1 Jermaine Wattimena
- (5) James Wade 0-2 Joe Cullen
- (12) Gary Anderson 2-1 Raymond van Barneveld
- (2) Luke Littler 2-0 Gian van Veen
- (15) Peter Wright 1-2 Mike De Decker
- (7) Gerwyn Price 2-1 Ryan Searle
- (10) Josh Rock 2-1 Ryan Joyce
- (3) Michael van Gerwen 0-2 Dirk van Duijvenbode
- (14) Ross Smith 0-2 Daryl Gurney
- (6) Jonny Clayton 2-0 Andrew Gilding
- (11) Damon Heta 1-2 Luke Woodhouse
2025 World Grand Prix Schedule
Monday October 6 (1800 BST)
TV Channel: Sky Sports
First Round (Best of 3 sets)
- Rob Cross 2-1 Wessel Nijman
- Martin Schindler 0-2 Krzysztof Ratajski
- Chris Dobey 0-2 Cameron Menzies
- James Wade 0-2 Joe Cullen
- Danny Noppert 2-1 Jermaine Wattimena
- Luke Humphries 2-0 Nathan Aspinall
- Gary Anderson 2-1 Raymond van Barneveld
- Stephen Bunting 2-0 Niko Springer
Tuesday October 7 (1800 BST)
TV Channel: Sky Sports
First Round (Best of 3 sets)
- Damon Heta 1-2 Luke Woodhouse
- Ross Smith 0-2 Daryl Gurney
- Jonny Clayton 2-0 Andrew Gilding
- Gerwyn Price 2-1 Ryan Searle
- Luke Littler 2-0 Gian van Veen
- Michael van Gerwen 0-2 Dirk van Duijvenbode
- Peter Wright 1-2 Mike De Decker
- Josh Rock 2-1 Ryan Joyce
Wednesday October 8 (1900 BST)
TV Channel: Sky Sports
Second Round matches (Best of 5 sets)
- Cameron Menzies 3-1 Rob Cross
- Stephen Bunting 1-3 Danny Noppert
- Luke Humphries 3-1 Krzysztof Ratajski
- Gary Anderson 3-0 Joe Cullen
Thursday October 9 (1900 BST)
TV Channel: Sky Sports
Second Round matches (Best of 5 sets)
- Dirk van Duijvenbode v Daryl Gurney
- Jonny Clayton v Luke Woodhouse
- Luke Littler v Mike De Decker
- Gerwyn Price v Josh Rock
Friday October 10 (1900 BST)
TV Channel: Sky Sports
Quarter-Finals (Best of seven sets)
- Danny Noppert v Gary Anderson
- Cameron Menzies v Luke Humphries
Saturday October 11 (2030 BST)
TV Channel: Sky Sports
Semi-Finals (Best of seven sets)
- Two matches
Sunday October 13 (2000 BST)
TV Channel: Sky Sports
Final (Best of nine sets)
- Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2
What TV channel is the World Grand Prix on?
The World Grand Prix will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on (excluding UK, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
World Grand Prix Prize Money
- Winner - £120,000
- Runner-up - £60,000
- Semi-finalists - £40,000
- Quarter-finalists - £25,000
- Second round - £15,000
- First round - £7,500
Tournament Format
- All Sets are the best of five legs. There will be no tie-break in any set.
- All legs must begin and end with a double, meaning that a player must hit a double before he can begin scoring in each leg.
- First Round - Best of three sets
- Second Round - Best of five sets
- Quarter-Finals - Best of five sets
- Semi-Finals - Best of seven sets
- Final - Best of nine sets
World Grand Prix History
- Final scores in sets
- 1998 - Phil Taylor 13-8 Rod Harrington
- 1999 - Phil Taylor 6-1 Shayne Burgess
- 2000 - Phil Taylor 6-1 Shayne Burgess
- 2001 - Alan Warriner 8-2 Roland Scholten
- 2002 - Phil Taylor 7-3 John Part
- 2003 - Phil Taylor 7-2 John Part
- 2004 - Colin Lloyd 7-3 Alan Warriner
- 2005 - Phil Taylor 7-1 Colin Lloyd
- 2006 - Phil Taylor 7-4 Terry Jenkins
- 2007 - James Wade 6-3 Terry Jenkins
- 2008 - Phil Taylor 6-2 Raymond van Barneveld
- 2009 - Phil Taylor 6-3 Raymond van Barneveld
- 2010 - James Wade 6-3 Adrian Lewis
- 2011 - Phil Taylor 6-3 Brendan Dolan
- 2012 - Michael van Gerwen 6-4 Mervyn King
- 2013 - Phil Taylor 6-0 Dave Chisnall
- 2014 - Michael van Gerwen 5-3 James Wade
- 2015 -
- 2016 -
- 2017 - Daryl Gurney 5-4 Simon Whitlock
- 2018 - Michael van Gerwen 5-2 Peter Wright
- 2019 - Michael van Gerwen 5-1 Dave Chisnall
- 2020 - Gerwyn Price 5-2 Dirk van Duijvenbode
- 2021 - Jonny Clayton 5-1 Gerwyn Price
- 2022 - Michael van Gerwen 5-3 Nathan Aspinall
- 2023 - Luke Humphries 5-2 Gerwyn Price
- 2024 - Mike de Decker 6-4 Luke Humphries
World Grand Prix Most Titles
- Phil Taylor - 11
- Michael van Gerwen - 6
- James Wade - 2
- Mike de Decker - 1
- Luke Humphries - 1
- Jonny Clayton - 1
- Gerwyn Price - 1
- Daryl Gurney - 1
- Colin Lloyd - 1
- Alan Warriner - 1
- Robert Thornton - 1
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