Look to Nathan Aspinall to advance to the quarter-final stage of the World Grand Prix at the expense of Ryan Joyce on Wednesday night. ‘The Asp’ impressed on his return to the big stage on Monday night, edging out Ryan Searle 2-1. The Stockport star has been plagued by injuries this year but he was back in full flow to see off Searle. Aspinall averaged a shade under 93 and won the 180 count 4-2.

While Aspinall will have to guard against complacency in round two against ‘Relentless’, he will attack this clash with confidence following his round one success against Searle. Joyce played a steady game on Monday night to overcome an out-of-sorts Josh Rock, but Aspinall is unlikely to give him a free pass to the last-eight. ‘The Asp’ has won four of the overall seven meetings between the pair, including three of the last four.

Nathan Aspinall hit the most 180s in his round one win over Ryan Searle and he merits support to repeat the trick against Ryan Joyce. ‘The Asp’ managed four maximums on his return to a major televised event, not to mention he hit seven perfect darts when teasing a roof-raising nine-darter.

Despite his well-documented injury problems, Aspinall has still produced a very respectable 251 maximums this year, a figure that has him housed inside the top 40 for 180s hit across 2024.

In contrast, Joyce has amassed 157 maximums across the same period, a return that places him only just inside the top 100. ‘Relentless’ could only muster up two 180s in his round one win over Rock, with his opponent also managing two of his own. With it now being a best of five sets format, Aspinall looks well placed to ‘outmax’ his opponent for the second game running.