AS day three rolls around in Leicester, it is time to kick off the second round of World Grand Prix darts, with players fighting it out for a spot in the Quarter-Finals. Danny Noppert kicks off the night against the defeater of MvG – Ryan Joyce – while Luke Woodhouse takes out Nathan Aspinall.
The obvious pick of the night would be the repeat of the World Series of Darts Final in Amsterdam last weekend, as Gerwyn Price takes on Ross Smith, with the pair hitting the two biggest averages in Round 1. However, I have gone elsewhere.
The second game of the night sees Welsh #2 Jonny Clayton take on Wessel Nijman, in what will be a very intriguing affair. The bookies have Clayton as the slight favourite, but it will certainly be a matchup that could result in some drama, and a lot of swaying performance levels from the pair.
Clayton comes into the matchup having squeezes past Krzysztof Ratajski, winning 2-1 averaging 85.52. Nijman came through a similar type of encounter, but doing so in straight sets, as he beat Rob Cross averaging 82.43.
The Welshman has reached at least the Quarter-Finals on both of the last two occasions at the Grand Prix, having moved into the Semi-Finals in 2025. He also comes to Leicester as a former championship, claiming the title in the year of the Ferret (2021).
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Wessel Nijman (above) still has the unfortunate record zero major Quarter-Finals in the PDC, having lost at the last 16 stage on five separate occasions so far. The most recent of these came at the World Series Finals last weekend in a 10-7 defeat to James Wade, as well as a 14-12 extra time defeat to Gian van Veen at the World Matchplay in July.
Best Darts Double Hitters Go Head to Head
The go to stat for the Grand Prix has to be the double percentages, a stat that will usually favour Clayton as one of the renowned best when it comes to finishing off a leg. However, on this occasion, he doesn’t lead the way, as Nijman comes out in front on 44.05%, the highest on the planet in 2026.
Clayton leads the relatively short head-to-head record 3-1, including a 3-1 win at the World Masters in January – their only meeting this year. Nijman’s only win came in a Players Championship Quarter-Final in October.
The winner will take on either Gerwyn Price or Ross Smith for a spot in the Semi-Finals on Saturday.
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Images: PDC
