2017 World Grand Prix

Darts tournamentTemplate:SHORTDESC:Darts tournament
The **2017 Unibet World Grand Prix** was the 20th staging of the World Grand Prix darts tournament held by the Professional Darts Corporation. It was played from 1–7 October 2017 at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin, Republic of Ireland.

Michael van Gerwen was the defending champion after defeating Gary Anderson 5–2 in the 2016 final, but he lost 2–1 to John Henderson 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 player.

## Format

All matches were played as double in, double out; requiring the players to score 501 points to win a leg, beginning with as well as finishing on either a double or the bullseye. Matches were played to set format, with each set being the best of five legs (first to three).

This is the only "double in" tournament on the PDC circuit, and along with the World Championship the only tournament which uses the set format.

The matches got longer as the tournament progressed:

 Second
 Semi-finals
 Final

## Prize money

The total prize money remained at £400,000.

The following is the breakdown of the fund:

 **First round losers** | (16) | £5,000

## Qualification

The field of 32 players were made up from the top 16 in the PDC Order of Merit on 27 September, with the top 8 from these rankings being seeded, with the remaining 16 places awarded to the highest 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 and Northern Ireland now no longer get an automatic qualification spot.

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.

The following players qualified for the tournament:

2. ~~Gary Anderson  *(Withdrew)*~~
3. Peter Wright  *(Quarter-finals)*
4. Adrian Lewis  *(First round)*
5. Dave Chisnall  *(Second round)*
6. Mensur Suljović  *(Semi-finals)*
7. Michael Smith  *(First round)*
8. Raymond van Barneveld  *(Quarter-finals)*
9. Jelle Klaasen  *(First round)*
10. James Wade  *(First round)*
11. **Daryl Gurney**  **(Champion)**
12. Kim Huybrechts  *(First round)*
13. Ian White  *(First round)*
14. Benito van de Pas  *(Quarter-finals)*
15. Simon Whitlock  *(Runner-up)*
16. Robert Thornton  *(Quarter-finals)*

24. Mark Webster  *(First round)*
1. Rob Cross  *(First round)*
2. Alan Norris  *(Second round)*
3. Joe Cullen  *(Second round)*
4. Mervyn King  *(Second round)*
5. Gerwyn Price  *(Second round)*
6. Steve Beaton  *(Second round)*
7. Kyle Anderson  *(First round)*
8. Cristo Reyes  *(First round)*
9. Darren Webster  *(First round)*
10. Stephen Bunting  *(First round)*
11. Christian Kist  *(First round)*
12. John Henderson  *(Semi-finals)*
13. Justin Pipe  *(First round)*
14. Steve West  *(Second round)*
15. Richard North  *(Second round)*
16. Ronny Huybrechts  *(First round)*

## References

1. ↑ Brilliant van Gerwen's Dublin Treble!. PDC.
2. ↑ Gutsy Gurney's World Grand Prix Glory. PDC.
3. ↑ 2017 Unibet World Grand Prix Field. PDC. Retrieved on September 25, 2023.
4. ↑ Anderson Misses Unibet World Grand Prix. PDC. Retrieved on September 25, 2023.
5. ↑ 2017 Unibet World Grand Prix Draw. PDC.