Elsewhere, two-time runner-up Dave Chisnall begins his bid against debutant Luke Woodhouse, having warmed up for this year’s event by winning two ranking titles within the last week.

I remember that first time against Phil in 2008. I had a chance to beat him but before you can know how to win the worlds you have to learn how to lose it.” Smith, who defeated Nathan Aspinall to lift the Eric Bristow Trophy last year, averaged almost 99 to topple Scottish debutant Girvan and celebrate a 17th consecutive group stage victory at the Grand Slam. Players ranked in the world's top 32 join the competition at this point, along with the 32 who have come through the previous three rounds.Van Gerwen is the 10/3 pre-tournament favourite to retain his crown with title sponsor BoyleSports, just ahead of 2020 winner Price at 7/2, and top seed Smith at 7/1. Luke is a good player. I helped him qualify last week by beating Scott Williams [in Budapest], but I’m just going to relax and play the board, not the player.” Taylor remains his fiercest rival. “Definitely,” Van Gerwen says. “He’s always my main rival. But we both have a long way to go before this next final. They say the most difficult one to win is the first world title and I really hope it is because I’d like to become a three-time world champion in the next four or five years. But the aim now is to win the first round on Thursday, go to the horse racing at Ascot on Friday and home to Holland on Saturday.”

The Asp looks as though he's carved out a pressure-free dart at a double to break MVG until the Dutchman throws a 180 to leave himself 30 - but nevertheless he pins double 16 with his first attempt for a classy and nerveless 13 darter. Earlier, Peter Wright was well below his best in a 5-1 defeat to US qualifier Stowe Buntz, who averaged 102 – more than 20 points higher than his opponent. Aspinall misses two darts to force a deciding set having been 4-0 down before Van Gerwen finally, finally gets the job done on double 10 to end a remarkable final that could have finished an hour ago!That was a great win,” Van Gerwen says, “especially as all the pressure was on me as the new world champion. Phil was a bit off that day but I played really well. In the early days against Phil, I lost eight in a row. But the first time I played Phil on TV I beat him in Holland 3-0. In television matches he’s 9-7 up. That shows we’re close in the big matches. We have a great rivalry and we like to play each other.” I just turn up and play darts now, and I giggle when I win," quipped Anderson, a runner-up to Van Gerwen in the 2016 edition. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't feeling 100 per cent," said Van Gerwen. "If I thought I couldn't really compete at 100 per cent, there's no point being here."

Michael is a fantastic player and when he gets on the roll like that he's hard to contain," said Price. "It just didn't happen for me tonight. He's a deserved winner." I have to give credit to Beau - she was the player in pot four that nobody wanted," said Aspinall, who was runner-up to Smith last year.

Grand Slam of Darts results

Dimitri Van den Bergh made his major breakthough in Milton Keynes last year when he lifted the Phil Taylor Trophy (Image: Lawrence Lustig/PDC) All United Kingdom deliveries will be sent using Royal Mail with the exception of heavy items such as dartboards, these will be shipped using a reputable delivery service such as DPD or DHL. Mighty Mike flashes a gruesome summery smile. “We had a dart board at home and sometimes I’d throw three darts at it but nothing more. When I was 13 it was winter and we needed to do something inside. So we started a darts round robin. There were three of us. One of the guys was really bad but us other two had a real rivalry.”

Aspinall's third 180 - which came after dropping his third dart - puts him in pole position to hold his throw and although MVG puts on pressure with his second, the Asp pinds double eight with his last dart in hand after his opponent had spurned an effort at tops. Two-time winner James Wade – one of five former champions in the field – is also part of a stellar opening night line-up, as he takes on Poland’s premier player Krzysztof Ratajski. Buntz took out 137 for a 2-0 lead and then stole the third leg when Wright missed two darts at double, before the Scot reduced the arrears by at last getting on the board.

It’s still been a great tournament for Van Gerwen, who played his best darts in maybe five years, but in the end he met somebody who could live with his scoring and even surpass it. Smith wasn’t always at his best in this tournament – he was 3-1 down to Martin Schindler in the last 32 – but he peaked when it mattered. The draw for the fifth round was made live on the Main Stage at the conclusion of Friday night's action, with Van Gerwen pitted against in-form Australian Damon Heta. Good evening and welcome to our live blog of the Boylesports World Grand Prix final, as Michael van Gerwen bids to win this double-start major for the sixth time in his seventh final and Nathan Aspinall chases his first having never reached this stage before.