World Grand Prix 2026 Preview: Does Double-In Really Change Everything?

The World Grand Prix is one of the tournaments I always find interesting because it asks the players to do something they simply do not have to do anywhere else on the PDC circuit.

Every leg is double-in, double-out.

Before a player can start scoring, they have to hit a double. They then have to finish on one in the usual way.

It sounds like a relatively small change, but we all know what can happen. Miss a few darts trying to get away and your opponent can already be well into the leg before you have scored a point.

The obvious question, though, is how much difference does it really make at this level?

My feeling going into the tournament is perhaps not as much as we sometimes think.

These are elite double hitters

The theory is that the World Grand Prix should favour the better double hitters.

That makes perfect sense.

But we also have to remember who we are talking about. This is a 32-player field made up of elite professionals. There will obviously be differences between their doubling percentages, but every player in this tournament is capable of hitting doubles consistently.

For me, the format probably creates more volatility rather than completely changing who the strongest players are.

If someone misses six darts getting away, suddenly a leg can disappear very quickly. Over a short match, a couple of legs like that can decide everything.

Over the course of a whole tournament, though, I still expect the better players to come towards the top.

We will find out.

Littler and Humphries set the standard again

It is difficult to start anywhere other than Luke Littler and Luke Humphries.

They are currently the top two players in the Q4QS rankings and their recent numbers back that up.

Littler has been producing some extraordinary averages and has won nine of his last ten matches in the database. His World Matchplay run included an event average above 111, which tells you the level he can reach when everything is working.

Humphries remains number one in the Q4QS rankings and continues to produce deep runs and tournament victories.

The double-start format gives everyone another problem to solve, but it is difficult to imagine either player being particularly fazed by it.

Gerwyn Price remains right in the picture

Gerwyn Price is another player coming into the tournament with plenty of strong form behind him.

He is third in the current Q4QS rankings with an average just under 99 and has recently reached a World Matchplay final as well as another televised semi-final.

His opening match against Sebastian Bialecki is one I am particularly interested in.

Bialecki is much further down the established PDC pecking order, but the Q4QS numbers are very positive. He has already won a Players Championship event this season and sits surprisingly high in our current rankings.

If Price starts quickly, his scoring power should give him the advantage.

But this is exactly the sort of tournament where an outsider getting away cleanly while the favourite struggles on the starting doubles can suddenly change everything.

Ross Smith arrives as a recent champion

Ross Smith certainly deserves a mention after winning the recent World Series of Darts Finals.

That is a serious piece of form to bring into another televised tournament.

Smith has also won on the Players Championship circuit this season, so this isn't simply one good weekend appearing from nowhere.

He is capable of producing big averages, he scores heavily and he has just shown that he can put together a complete run against top-class opposition on a major stage.

His opening match against Cameron Menzies isn't straightforward, but Smith comes into the tournament with genuine momentum.

Chris Dobey is one I will be watching

Chris Dobey's recent numbers have been particularly strong.

He sits fifth in the current Q4QS rankings, has won eight of his last ten recorded matches and recently averaged over 105 across a Players Championship run.

He has also produced individual match averages comfortably above 110.

Dobey faces Jermaine Wattimena, who is hardly short of form himself.

Wattimena recently won a Players Championship event and has also won eight of his last ten matches in the database.

That could be one of the best matches of the opening round.

Nijman continues to climb

Wessel Nijman is another player whose numbers keep catching my attention.

He is currently fourth in the Q4QS rankings and has been regularly producing averages around or above the 100 mark.

His opening match against Rob Cross should tell us plenty.

Cross has obviously been there and done it on the biggest stages and has also won on the Players Championship circuit this season.

But Nijman increasingly looks comfortable alongside this level of player rather than simply being someone trying to break into it.

That makes this a particularly interesting first-round match.

Plenty of danger throughout the field

There are a number of other players who could easily have a big week.

Michael van Gerwen remains capable of beating anyone when his game clicks.

Gary Anderson's best performances are still extremely strong.

James Wade has spent a career finding ways of winning matches in formats where pressure and doubling matter.

Kevin Doets has been producing good results and recently reached a Players Championship final.

Danny Noppert continues to put together solid numbers, while players such as Gian van Veen, Nathan Aspinall, Stephen Bunting and Damon Heta make this a very strong field throughout.

There really aren't many comfortable matches.

So how much will double-in actually matter?

This is probably the thing I want to follow most closely throughout the tournament.

My starting position is simple:

It matters, but I don't think it completely changes the hierarchy.

At lower levels of darts, differences in doubling ability can be enormous.

At this level, those differences are much smaller.

The really interesting part may therefore be what the format does psychologically.

One missed dart at double 16 means very little.

Three misses becomes frustrating.

Six misses while your opponent is already halfway down the board becomes pressure.

And once that happens in a short set format, strange things can happen very quickly.

That is probably why the World Grand Prix feels different even if, by the end of the week, many of the familiar names are still standing.

I'll be interested to look back when the tournament is finished and see whether the double-in format genuinely produced more surprises than we would normally expect.

Because there are really two different questions.

Does double-in change individual legs and matches?

Almost certainly.

Does it actually change who the best players are?

I'm not so sure.

This week should give us a pretty good opportunity to find out.