The 2024 BoyleSport Word Grand Prix will start later this evening and reigning champion Luke Humphries will be looking to retain his title after the win last year kick-started his 12-month period of dominance.
The World Grand Prix, a unique double-start event, gets underway this evening with eight first round matches set to take place.
Most eyes are going to be on reigning World Grand Prix winner and current World Number 1, Luke Humprhies, as he looks to defend the first of many titles that he’s picked up over the last 12 months.
Since beating Gerwyn Price in the final of the 2023 World Grand Prix, Humphries has since gone on to claim the following titles:
- Grand Slam of Darts
- Players Championship Finals
- World Darts Championship
- World Matchplay
- World Cup of Darts
- New Zealand Darts Masters
He was also runner-up in the UK Open and Premier League of Darts, meaning that the European Championship was the only ranked televised event that he has not made it to the final in this past year.
It’s been a historic run for Humphries but he’s now managing expectations going forwards as he claims it’s going to be “almost impossible” to replicate what he has done this past year…
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Luke Humphries Wants to Retain His First Title at 2024 World Grand Prix
Speaking to the PDC ahead of this tournament, Humphries reflects on the past year and how the Grand Prix has ignited his period of dominance.
He said:
“The World Grand Prix will always hold great memories for me.
“The fact it was my first major tournament win makes it special, and it was the catalyst to allow me to go on and win everything else.
“If I didn’t win the World Grand Prix, the last 12 months could have been completely different for me, but it gave me the confidence to win a lot more, and I’ll always be grateful for that.”
“When I won the World Grand Prix, I thought: ‘That’s a great start to my career with my first major win, and I’d love to follow it up with another title in the next 12 months’.
“That would have been a realistic goal and a great achievement, but to follow it up with back-to-back titles and of course the World Championship was incredible.
“I always say my goal is to pick up a couple of major titles every year, and if you do that, you’ll be sat in the top four for a long time.
“I’m not going to get too ahead of myself, but to retain my first title and get the ball rolling early would be the perfect way to start a really important end to the year.”
“I want to play the best and be involved in these great games, and hopefully it’s a great World Grand Prix. I would love to retain this title.”
See more of Humphries discussing his title defence below:
Luke Humphries will have a difficult first round match tonight as he takes on an inform Stephen Bunting.
Humphries will be quietly confident though after beating Bunting in the Players Championship 26 final last week.
However, Bunting had gone to three consecutive finals over the duration of the week so is coming into the match in good form. He’d won 18 of his 21 matches played across the week!
See related – Bunting has best run & WORST results at Players Championship 24-26
The tournament gets underway at 6pm and will be broadcast on Sky Sports for UK audiences. Decent Darts will be producing results, news and opinion throughout the week.
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