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) | |
 Michael van Gerwen
|
|
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 the Citywest Hotel in Dublin. In 2009, the tournament moved from the hall at the main Citywest Hotel to the newly completed bigger venue on site, the Citywest Hotel Convention Centre. When the World Grand Prix was founded in 1998, it replaced the earlier World Pairs tournament which ran from 1995 to 1997.
The World Grand Prix was sponsored by bookmakers Paddy Power from 2001 to 2003, before Sky Bet took over in 2004. The subsidiary Sky Poker was the tournament's sponsor in 2008. In 2010, online gambling company Bodog became the event's title sponsor, while PartyPoker.com took over as sponsor in 2011. In 2016, Unibet 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 five 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, in 2015 by 2–0 in sets to Vincent van der Voort and in 2016 by 2–1 to Steve West.
The current champion is Michael van Gerwen of the Netherlands, who defeated Gary Anderson of Scotland 5–2 in the final on 8 October 2016.
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