The 2017 Unibet World Grand Prix was the 20th staging of the
World Grand Prix. It was held from 1–7 October 2017 at the
Citywest Hotel
Citywest ( ga, Iarthar na Cathrach) is a suburban development on the southwestern periphery of Dublin, originally developed as a "business campus." It contains a large hotel, with a convention centre, a small shopping centre and a small but ex ...
in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, Ireland.
Michael van Gerwen was the defending champion after defeating
Gary Anderson 5–2 in the
2016 final, but lost to
John Henderson 2–1 in the first round. This was the first time since
December 2011 that van Gerwen lost in the first round of a major ranking tournament.
Daryl Gurney won his first major televised title after beating
Simon Whitlock 5–4 in the final.
For the first time in PDC history, no English player made the quarter-final stages of a televised tournament. Gurney's success also marked the first time that a televised darts tournament was won by a
Northern Irish
Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...
player.
Prize money
The total prize money remained at £400,000. The following is the breakdown of the fund:
Qualification
The field of 32 players was made up from the top 16 on the
PDC Order of Merit on September 11 and the top 16 non-qualified players from the
ProTour Order of Merit. In a change to qualification from recent years, the top two non-qualified residents of the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
and
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
now no longer get an automatic qualification spot. The top eight players were seeded in the tournament.
Phil Taylor (who would have been the #4 seed) opted not to enter the tournament, moving the rest of the top 16 up a place, thus meaning 17th placed
Robert Thornton (the
2015 champion who would not have qualified otherwise) took his place. Number two seed
Gary Anderson withdrew shortly before the tournament began due to the impending birth of his child, with
Mark Webster, the highest-ranked player from the PDC Order of Merit not to have qualified, replacing him in the draw, with the seedings not being adjusted. Four players,
Rob Cross,
Ronny Huybrechts,
Christian Kist and
Richard North made their
World Grand Prix debuts.
The following players qualified for the tournament:
PDC Order of Merit (1–16) ''(Top 8 seeded)''
#
Michael van Gerwen ''(first round)''
#
Gary Anderson (''Withdrew'')
#
Peter Wright ''(quarter-finals)''
#
Adrian Lewis ''(first round)''
#
Dave Chisnall ''(second round)''
#
Mensur Suljović ''(semi-finals)''
#
Michael Smith ''(first round)''
#
Raymond van Barneveld
Raymond van Barneveld (born 20 April 1967) is a Dutch professional darts player. Nicknamed Barney, although originally known as The Man, he is one of the most successful darts players in history. Van Barneveld is a five-time World Darts Champ ...
''(quarter-finals)''
#
Jelle Klaasen
Jelle Klaasen (born 17 October 1984), nicknamed The Cobra, is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and World Darts Federation (WDF) events. In 2006, he became the youngest darts player to win the ...
''(first round)''
#
James Wade
James Martin Wade (born 6 April 1983) is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He became the youngest player to win a major PDC title, when he won the 2007 World Matchplay at the ...
''(first round)''
#
Daryl Gurney (winner)
#
Kim Huybrechts ''(first round)''
#
Ian White ''(first round)''
#
Benito van de Pas ''(quarter-finals)''
#
Simon Whitlock ''(runner-up)''
#
Robert Thornton ''(quarter-finals)''
Pro Tour
#
Rob Cross ''(first round)''
#
Alan Norris ''(second round)''
#
Joe Cullen ''(second round)''
#
Mervyn King ''(second round)''
#
Gerwyn Price ''(second round)''
#
Steve Beaton ''(second round)''
#
Kyle Anderson ''(first round)''
#
Cristo Reyes ''(first round)''
#
Darren Webster ''(first round)''
#
Stephen Bunting ''(first round)''
#
Christian Kist ''(first round)''
#
John Henderson ''(semi-finals)''
#
Justin Pipe ''(first round)''
#
Steve West ''(second round)''
#
Richard North ''(second round)''
#
Ronny Huybrechts ''(first round)''
Draw
References
External links
Tournament website
{{2017 in PDC darts
World Grand Prix (darts)
World Grand Prix
World Grand Prix (darts)
World Grand Prix (darts)
World Grand Prix (darts), 2017