Luke Littler goes for a third Grand Slam title in a row, but the new 48-player format leaves little room for a bad night: only the winner of each three-player group goes through.
At a glance
14 to 22 November 2026Dates
WV Active AldersleyVenue, Wolverhampton
£1,000,000Prize fund
£200,000Winner's prize
Luke LittlerDefending champion
48 playersThe field
16 groups of 3Only the winner goes through
Sky SportsLive on TV
The Grand Slam of Darts has always been the odd one out: the week when a world champion can share a group with a youth finalist and a regional champion. The field grows to 48, the eight groups of four become 16 groups of three, and two bad sessions can finish a campaign before the weekend is over.
Luke Littler arrives as world number one, chasing a third title in a row in Wolverhampton. His group holds two players who have beaten him, and one of them, Beau Greaves, is his first opponent on Saturday night. That is the match the hall will wait for. Behind it come three of the seeds Littler has beaten in finals this year, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen and Gerwyn Price, and Ross Smith, the European Champion.
Every one of the 48 has a profile below. Tap a name in the draw to jump straight to it.
How to watch and when
Every session is live on Sky Sports, and NOW is the way in for anyone without a Sky subscription. Play starts at 1pm on Saturday 14 November; the final is the last match of the week, at 7.30pm on Sunday 22 November.
The groups take the first four days. Saturday and Sunday have an afternoon and an evening session each; Monday and Tuesday have one evening session apiece, and those two nights settle the groups. From Wednesday every night is a single evening session until the double header on the final Sunday.
Every session, UK time
Date
Session
Round
Broadcaster
Matches
Saturday 14 November
1pm
Group stage
Sky Sports
Luke Woodhouse v Tom Sykes (J), Jermaine Wattimena v Lisa Ashton (B), Stephen Bunting v Raymond Smith (D), Ryan Searle v Charlie Manby (F), Josh Rock v Tommy Morris (C), Wessel Nijman v Adam Sevada (H), Nathan Aspinall v Maik Kuivenhoven (P), Jonny Clayton v Anton Östlund (G)
Saturday 14 November
7pm
Group stage
Sky Sports
Gerwyn Price v Joe Hunt (E), James Wade v Cam Crabtree (K), Ross Smith v Rusty-Jake Rodriguez (O), Michael van Gerwen v Henry Coates (L), Luke Humphries v Paolo Nebrida (I), Luke Littler v Beau Greaves (A), Gian van Veen v Carl Sneyd (M), Chris Dobey v Jan Schmidt (N)
Sunday 15 November
1pm
Group stage
Sky Sports
Groups B, C, D, F, G, H, J and P: the second-listed player v Saturday afternoon's loser
Sunday 15 November
7pm
Group stage
Sky Sports
Groups A, E, I, K, L, M, N and O: the second-listed player v Saturday evening's loser
Monday 16 November
7pm
Group stage
Sky Sports
Groups A to H: the second-listed player v Saturday's winner
Tuesday 17 November
7pm
Group stage
Sky Sports
Groups I to P: the second-listed player v Saturday's winner
Each group has one seed and two others, and every player meets the other two once. A win is worth two points, a defeat nothing, and only the player on top after the group's three matches goes into the last 16. The times in this guide are session start times; each Saturday session has eight matches.
The order matters. On Saturday the seed plays the third player listed in the group. On Sunday the second-listed player meets Saturday's loser, and on Monday (groups A to H) or Tuesday (groups I to P) the same player meets Saturday's winner. A Saturday winner takes the group with one more win; a Saturday loser must win on Sunday and then needs Saturday's winner to lose, which leaves three players on one win each and the tie-breaks to decide it.
Group A has history in every pairing. Beau Greaves beat Luke Littler 6-5 in the semi-finals of the 2025 World Youth Championship and Littler beat her 6-5 at Players Championship 24 this year; Niels Zonneveld beat Littler 6-5 in a European Tour quarter-final in March, and Greaves beat Zonneveld 6-3 at Players Championship 31.
The tie-breaks matter more than they used to, because a group of three can end with everyone on one win. If it does, the order is total leg difference, then total legs won, then legs won against the throw, then the highest tournament average and the highest winning match average, both to two decimal places. If that still fails, the players meet in a nine-dart shootout at the end of the session.
I have not seen the 2026 match lengths confirmed. Last year's group games were best of 9 legs, the second round best of 19 and every match from the quarter-finals on best of 31.
The prize fund rises from £650,000 to £1,000,000 with the bigger field.
Each round, its format and its prize
Round
Dates
Match format
Prize
Group stage
14 to 17 November
Round robin in groups of three, two points a win, the group winner goes through
Second in a group £12,500, third £5,000
Round two (last 16)
18 and 19 November
Knockout: the group winners meet in pairs, A v B and so on
The bigger field changed how the Grand Slam fills itself. Up to 40 places go, in order, to the finalists of PDC televised events from the previous twelve months, then to up to 12 additional qualifiers from the youth, development, challenge, women's and regional tours, then to European Tour winners and then to Players Championship winners. The rest came from a Tour Card holder qualifier in Leicester on 6 November, which sent ten players through.
The top 16 qualifiers on the Order of Merit are seeded, one to a group. The other 32 were split into two pools by ranking, so every group has a seed and one player from each pool.
Every European Tour winner of 2026 is in this field, and the table below lists them all.
The case for. In the qualifying window alone he won the World Championship, the Premier League, the World Matchplay, the World Masters and the UK Open. On that record he is the benchmark the rest of the field is measured against.
The case against. He meets each of his group rivals once, and a bad night on Saturday would leave the champion needing someone else to do him a favour.
The case for. The 2023 champion and last year's runner-up has won the World Grand Prix, the Belgian Darts Open and four Players Championship titles this season.
The case against. In Basel he averaged 101.75 to Jonny Clayton's 101.68 and still lost the Swiss Darts Trophy final 8-4, and Luke Littler beat him 8-6 in the Czech Darts Open final in Prague.
The case for. The World Championship runner-up is third in the world rankings, and his 114.71 against Stephen Bunting in 2024 is among the ten highest winning averages the event has seen.
The case against. His Poland Darts Open final in February is the warning: Luke Littler beat him 8-4 and averaged 108.06.
The case for. A three-time winner of this event, the European Darts Grand Prix champion this year and a finalist in three televised events in the qualifying window.
The case against. He lost all three of those finals.
The case for. Six Players Championship titles and two European Tour wins this year, and the highest tournament average in the event's history, 107.67 in 2024.
The case against. He also holds the highest losing average in the event's records, 111.10 against Gian van Veen in 2024: proof that even a brilliant average guarantees nothing in the group stage.
The case for. The European Champion and the World Series Finals winner, with the International Darts Open and the Hungarian Darts Trophy on top. On that record I would rate him with anyone outside the top three seeds.
The case against. Two of his European Tour finals went to players in this field: Gerwyn Price beat him at the European Darts Grand Prix and James Wade at the Flanders Darts Trophy.
Storylines to watch
Three in a row would put Littler beside Taylor and van Gerwen
Phil Taylor won the Grand Slam three years running from 2007 to 2009, and Michael van Gerwen did the same from 2015 to 2017. Luke Littler can join them on Sunday 22 November.
Greaves arrives with a ranking title, not just a women's place
Beau Greaves could have come in on a women's place alone, but she also brings a main-tour ranking title, Players Championship 11, and I think that makes her a real opponent in Group A, not a guest in it.
The regional champions start against seeds
Four regional champions are thrown in against the seeds on Saturday: Paolo Nebrida, the Asian champion, gets Luke Humphries; Adam Sevada, the North American champion, gets Wessel Nijman; Anton Östlund, the Nordic & Baltic champion, gets Jonny Clayton; and Raymond Smith, the ANZ Premier League winner, gets Stephen Bunting.
Tommy Morris won his way in on the floor
Tommy Morris won Players Championship 34 in Leicester on 5 November, and his reward is Josh Rock on Saturday afternoon.
What is at stake
Grand Slam prize money counts towards the PDC Order of Merit, the two-year money list that decides qualification and seeding for the televised ranking events. On the rankings of 5 November, Luke Littler leads on £3,141,000, with Luke Humphries second on £1,062,500 and Gian van Veen third on £1,058,750.
The money from Wolverhampton is banked before the Players Championship Finals, from 27 to 29 November, and the World Championship, which starts on 11 December.
The players
The field at a glance
Player
Seed
Ranking
From
Group
How they qualified
Luke Littler
1
1
England
A
2026 World Champion
Luke Humphries
2
2
England
I
World Grand Prix champion
Gian van Veen
3
3
Netherlands
M
World Championship runner-up, World Cup of Darts runner-up (with Michael van Gerwen) and 2025 World Youth champion
Gerwyn Price
4
4
Wales
E
Televised finalist (World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and World Series Finals runner-up)
Jonny Clayton
5
5
Wales
G
European Tour winner (Swiss Darts Trophy)
Ross Smith
6
6
England
O
European Championship and World Series Finals winner
James Wade
7
7
England
K
UK Open runner-up
Josh Rock
8
8
Northern Ireland
C
European Tour winner (Austrian Darts Open)
Stephen Bunting
9
9
England
D
Tour Card holder qualifier
Michael van Gerwen
10
11
Netherlands
L
World Cup of Darts runner-up (with Gian van Veen)
Nathan Aspinall
11
11
England
P
Players Championship Finals runner-up and German Darts Grand Prix winner
Wessel Nijman
12
13
Netherlands
H
European Tour winner (European Darts Trophy, Slovak Darts Open)
Ryan Searle
13
15
England
F
Players Championship 7 winner
Chris Dobey
14
16
England
N
Players Championship 3, 9 and 32 winner
Luke Woodhouse
15
17
England
J
European Tour winner (Baltic Sea Darts Open)
Jermaine Wattimena
16
18
Netherlands
B
Players Championship 27 winner
Adam Sevada
United States
H
North American Championship winner
Alan Soutar
61
Scotland
B
Tour Card holder qualifier
Andrew Gilding
27
England
F
Players Championship 16 winner
Anton Östlund
157
Sweden
G
Nordic & Baltic Championship winner
Beau Greaves
74
England
A
World Youth runner-up and Women's World Matchplay champion
Bradley Brooks
59
England
M
Tour Card holder qualifier
Cam Crabtree
69
England
K
World Youth Championship finalist
Cameron Menzies
26
Scotland
D
Players Championship 23 and 29 winner
Carl Sneyd
129
England
M
Tour Card holder qualifier
Charlie Manby
77
England
F
Players Championship 31 winner
Gabriel Clemens
53
Germany
O
Players Championship 24 winner
Henry Coates
96
England
L
Players Championship 25 winner
Jan Schmidt
146
Germany
N
World Youth Championship finalist
Jeffrey de Graaf
39
Sweden
L
Players Championship 19 winner
Joe Cullen
32
England
I
Tour Card holder qualifier
Joe Hunt
86
England
E
Challenge Tour Order of Merit winner
Karel Sedláček
42
Czech Republic
P
Players Championship 30 winner
Kevin Doets
23
Netherlands
C
Players Championship 13 winner
Krzysztof Ratajski
19
Poland
J
European Tour winner (European Darts Open)
Lisa Ashton
England
B
Women's Series Order of Merit runner-up
Maik Kuivenhoven
71
Netherlands
P
Tour Card holder qualifier
Martin Schindler
20
Germany
N
European Championship runner-up
Niels Zonneveld
28
Netherlands
A
European Tour winner (Dutch Darts Championship)
Niko Springer
34
Germany
H
Tour Card holder qualifier
Paolo Nebrida
Philippines
I
PDC Asian Championship winner
Raymond Smith
Australia
D
ANZ Premier League winner
Ricky Evans
52
England
K
Tour Card holder qualifier
Rob Cross
24
England
G
Players Championship 22 winner
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
141
Austria
O
Tour Card holder qualifier
Sebastian Białecki
51
Poland
E
Development Tour Order of Merit winner
Tom Sykes
81
England
J
Tour Card holder qualifier
Tommy Morris
82
England
C
Players Championship 34 winner
Every player in the field has a profile below, in draw order. Seeded players are open; tap a group to read the rest.
Group A
Luke Littler (1)
Ranking 1
From England
Nickname The Nuke
Qualified 2026 World Champion
First match v Beau Greaves, Saturday 14 November, 7pm
Fourteen matches at the Grand Slam, fourteen wins: Luke Littler has never lost at this event. He took the 2024 title with a 16-3 rout of Martin Lukeman on a 107.08 average, and last November he retained it, joining Gerwyn Price, Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor as the only players to defend this trophy.
His 2026 has added weight to that record. He retained the world title, only the fourth man in the PDC to do so, then took the World Masters, the UK Open and a second Premier League, and kept the World Matchplay with a 111.04 tournament average, the highest in that event's history. The World Grand Prix was the one major he left in the first round.
Also in Group A: Niels Zonneveld and Beau Greaves
Niels Zonneveld
Ranking 28
From Netherlands
Nickname Triple Z
Qualified European Tour winner (Dutch Darts Championship)
First match v the loser of Luke Littler v Beau Greaves, Sunday 15 November, 7pm
March was when Niels Zonneveld's year turned. Successive European Tour weekends ended in the last four, first in Göttingen and then at the Belgian Darts Open, where a 6-5 win over Luke Littler came along the way. The trophy followed in Maastricht at the Dutch Darts Championship, where he beat Danny Noppert 8-5 for his first title at that level.
At the World Championship he beat Michael Smith 3-1 and got as far as the third round at last. He then made the World Grand Prix quarter-finals and, on 4 November, a Players Championship 33 final, knocking out Michael van Gerwen 7-5 before Luke Humphries beat him 8-4. I would call it the best season of his career.
Beau Greaves
Ranking 74
From England
Nickname Beau 'n' Arrow
Qualified World Youth runner-up and Women's World Matchplay champion
First match v Luke Littler, Saturday 14 November, 7pm
No woman had won a PDC ranking title until April, when Beau Greaves took Players Championship 11, and Michael Smith was the man she edged, 8-7, in the final. She had already become the first woman to throw a nine-darter on the Pro Tour, against Mensur Suljović at Players Championship 6, and in July a 6-5 final against Fallon Sherrock brought her a third Women's World Matchplay title and yet another way into this field.
She has yet to get past the group stage here, though last year she averaged 102.46 in a 5-4 defeat by Gary Anderson, the highest by a woman on a televised PDC stage. She also carries a win over Luke Littler: their 2025 World Youth Championship semi-final went her way 6-5.
Group B
Jermaine Wattimena (16)
Ranking 18
From Netherlands
Nickname The Machine Gun
Qualified Players Championship 27 winner
First match v Lisa Ashton, Saturday 14 November, 1pm
Jermaine Wattimena lost five ranking finals before he won one, in 2025, and this year the old pattern held at first. Wessel Nijman and then Luke Humphries beat him in Players Championship finals, and his first European Tour final, in Leverkusen in July, also got away.
August put it right. At Players Championship 27 he knocked out Luke Littler in the last eight, then won an 8-6 final against Kevin Doets for his third ranking title. His best Grand Slam is the 2024 quarter-final, which Littler closed out 16-2.
Also in Group B: Alan Soutar and Lisa Ashton
Alan Soutar
Ranking 61
From Scotland
Nickname Soots
Qualified Tour Card holder qualifier
First match v the loser of Jermaine Wattimena v Lisa Ashton, Sunday 15 November, 1pm
In 2022 Alan Soutar arrived as a qualifier and left as a quarter-finalist. He finished above Peter Wright, then the world champion, in his group, with wins over Nathan Aspinall and Fallon Sherrock, removed Jonny Clayton in the last 16 and was stopped in the last eight by Aspinall, that year's beaten finalist.
The Scot in the saltire shirt and tartan trousers had not been back since. His best day of 2026 came at Players Championship 7 in March: Peter Wright beaten 6-1 in the quarter-finals, Keane Barry edged 7-6 in the last four, then a final that Ryan Searle won 8-3.
Lisa Ashton
From England
Nickname The Lancashire Rose
Qualified Women's Series Order of Merit runner-up
First match v Jermaine Wattimena, Saturday 14 November, 1pm
Four BDO women's world titles and the first Tour Card a woman ever won at Q-School stand behind Lisa Ashton, and the Grand Slam knows her: she played the group stage in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2025.
Her 2026 held a 5-1 win over Beau Greaves in the Women's Series 15 final and a 5-1 semi-final defeat by Fallon Sherrock that ended her Women's World Matchplay defence. Last year here she led Gian van Veen 4-3 in her opening match before he took it in a deciding leg. That night showed she can still stretch a seed on this stage.
Group C
Josh Rock (8)
Ranking 8
From Northern Ireland
Nickname Rocky
Qualified European Tour winner (Austrian Darts Open)
First match v Tommy Morris, Saturday 14 November, 1pm
Josh Rock leaves marks on this event. In 2022 he threw a nine-darter here in a last-16 defeat by Michael van Gerwen, and in 2023 James Wade edged him 16-15 in a quarter-final. Last year he averaged 109.23 in a group match and still lost it, then led Luke Littler 9-6 in their quarter-final before going down 16-12. He is a better player than his quarter-final best here suggests.
The Austrian Darts Open was his in May, Kevin Doets beaten 8-6 in the Graz final. His first Premier League season ended bottom of the table on eight points, though Belfast saw him land a nine-darter in a 6-2 defeat by Gian van Veen.
Also in Group C: Kevin Doets and Tommy Morris
Kevin Doets
Ranking 23
From Netherlands
Nickname Hawkeye
Qualified Players Championship 13 winner
First match v the loser of Josh Rock v Tommy Morris, Sunday 15 November, 1pm
May showed Kevin Doets how little separates a final from a title. Players Championship 13 brought his first ranking title, an 8-5 final against Luke Woodhouse, and six days later Josh Rock beat him 8-6 in the Austrian Darts Open final, his first on the European Tour.
The ceiling is high. In March he whitewashed Jonas Masalin in Göttingen on a 117.12 average, the highest the European Darts Trophy has seen, and at the World Championship he won six straight legs to beat Nathan Aspinall 4-3 on his way to a second straight last 16. He also has a win over Rock to remember: 5-3 in a 2022 Development Tour final.
Tommy Morris
Ranking 82
From England
Qualified Players Championship 34 winner
First match v Josh Rock, Saturday 14 November, 1pm
Tommy Morris's 2026 took in the Challenge Tour, the circuit for Q-School players who missed out on a Tour Card, where he lost finals to Tommy Lishman, Joe Hunt, Dylan Slevin and Archie Self, and the Players Championship floor, where he reached the last eight of event 22 in June and, on 29 October, the event 32 final, which Chris Dobey won 8-4.
Then came 5 November and Players Championship 34. He beat Jermaine Wattimena 6-3, Cristo Reyes 7-4 and Luke Humphries 8-5 in the final, with a 161 checkout along the way. I would not file it under fluke: in his event 32 semi-final he had averaged 106.98 against Scott Williams.
Group D
Stephen Bunting (9)
Ranking 9
From England
Nickname The Bullet
Qualified Tour Card holder qualifier
First match v Raymond Smith, Saturday 14 November, 1pm
Steady rather than spectacular: that is Stephen Bunting's 2026. The World Championship ended in the third round with a 4-3 defeat by James Hurrell, the Premier League brought two nightly wins and fifth place on 18 points, and Chris Dobey beat him 8-1 in the Players Championship 3 final in February.
His Grand Slam record swings hard. He reached the 2023 semi-finals before Rob Cross beat him 16-13, yet last year, seeded fourth, he lost all three group matches 5-4. I read that second set of numbers more kindly than it looks: three defeats in deciding legs is a narrow margin, not a collapse.
Also in Group D: Cameron Menzies and Raymond Smith
Cameron Menzies
Ranking 26
From Scotland
Nickname Cammy
Qualified Players Championship 23 and 29 winner
First match v the loser of Stephen Bunting v Raymond Smith, Sunday 15 November, 1pm
Players Championship titles in July and September put Cameron Menzies in the field twice over. He beat Cristo Reyes 8-5 to win event 23, then knocked out Kevin Doets 7-5 in the semi-finals of event 29 and Gian van Veen, now the world number three, 8-4 in the final. The summer also brought a 10-7 World Matchplay win over Luke Humphries, sealed with a 170 checkout.
His Grand Slam best came in 2024: a 10-9 win over James Wade, then a 16-15 quarter-final defeat by Mickey Mansell in a deciding leg. Group D's seed, Stephen Bunting, is the man he beat 8-4 for his maiden senior PDC title, also in 2024.
Raymond Smith
From Australia
Nickname Guru
Qualified ANZ Premier League winner
First match v Stephen Bunting, Saturday 14 November, 1pm
Last year Raymond Smith topped the ANZ Premier League table and lost the final 10-7 to Simon Whitlock. This year he won the nights in Canberra and Auckland, then beat Tim Pusey 10-2 in the Brisbane final on 31 October, and the Grand Slam place came with the trophy.
The Australian has beaten PDC names before. At the 2022 World Championship he knocked out Jamie Hughes, Florian Hempel and Devon Petersen, then led Mervyn King 3-1 in the last 16 and lost 4-3. Back in 2018, at the Brisbane Darts Masters, he had beaten Michael Smith.
Group E
Gerwyn Price (4)
Ranking 4
From Wales
Nickname The Iceman
Qualified Televised finalist (World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and World Series Finals runner-up)
First match v Joe Hunt, Saturday 14 November, 7pm
Three Grand Slam titles, in 2018, 2019 and 2021, put Gerwyn Price joint second on the winners' list behind Phil Taylor, and his 2026 has been a year of finals. Luke Littler beat him 18-9 at the World Matchplay, Luke Humphries took the World Grand Prix final from him and Ross Smith the World Series Finals. The trophies came on the floor and on the road: Players Championship 6 and, with the European Darts Grand Prix, a tenth European Tour title, a total only Michael van Gerwen had reached before him.
Last November he reached a fourth Grand Slam semi-final and, for the first time, did not go on to win the event: Luke Humphries beat him 16-13. I think his World Matchplay semi-final, a 17-10 win over Gian van Veen, shows the level is still there; the finals show who has been above it.
Also in Group E: Sebastian Białecki and Joe Hunt
Sebastian Białecki
Ranking 51
From Poland
Nickname The Bolt
Qualified Development Tour Order of Merit winner
First match v the loser of Gerwyn Price v Joe Hunt, Sunday 15 November, 7pm
Nobody on this year's Development Tour could keep pace with Sebastian Białecki. He won six of its events, four of them back to back, which no one had done before, and strung together 38 straight wins, the longest unbeaten run that tour has known.
The form travelled up a level as well. In July he won Players Championship 26 with an 8-6 final against Mario Vandenbogaerde, exactly a year after his ranking breakthrough, and the European Darts Open took him to the last four. At the World Championship he came from 2-0 down against Stephen Bunting, then the fourth seed, before losing a deciding set.
Joe Hunt
Ranking 86
From England
Qualified Challenge Tour Order of Merit winner
First match v Gerwyn Price, Saturday 14 November, 7pm
Milton Keynes in January, Hildesheim in May and Wigan in September: Joe Hunt won Challenge Tour titles in all three, five of them in all, and the last was a 5-1 final against Jack Tweddell on a 99.48 average.
The main tour noticed too. He reached Players Championship quarter-finals in April, May and July, and the last of them, at event 26, went to a deciding leg before Mario Vandenbogaerde edged it 6-5. For a player without a Tour Card, that is a full season's work on the main circuit as well.
Group F
Ryan Searle (13)
Ranking 15
From England
Nickname Heavy Metal
Qualified Players Championship 7 winner
First match v Charlie Manby, Saturday 14 November, 1pm
Ryan Searle's 2026 World Championship was the best of his career: four rounds without dropping a set, a 5-2 quarter-final win over Jonny Clayton, then a 6-1 semi-final defeat by Luke Littler. Players Championship 7 in March brought his eighth ranking title, and he lost finals in Riesa, to Ross Smith, and at Players Championship 21, to Wessel Nijman.
He threw a nine-darter here against Nathan Rafferty in the 2023 group stage. He and Charlie Manby have met already this year: Searle won their Players Championship 7 quarter-final 6-3, on the day he went on to lift that title.
Also in Group F: Andrew Gilding and Charlie Manby
Andrew Gilding
Ranking 27
From England
Nickname Goldfinger
Qualified Players Championship 16 winner
First match v the loser of Ryan Searle v Charlie Manby, Sunday 15 November, 1pm
May was a long time coming for Andrew Gilding. A Pro Tour runner-up seven times over, he won a title there at the 442nd attempt, with an 8-3 final against Jonny Clayton at Players Championship 16. Patience like that deserved a trophy.
He reached two more ranking finals this year and lost both. He already owns a major, the 2023 UK Open, won 11-10 against Michael van Gerwen, and his best Grand Slam is a last-16 run that same year. The World Championship showed he can still beat a seed: Chris Dobey, seeded eighth, went out to him 3-1 in round two.
Charlie Manby
Ranking 77
From England
Nickname Champagne
Qualified Players Championship 31 winner
First match v Ryan Searle, Saturday 14 November, 1pm
Charlie Manby arrived with a number: 130.70, the average he threw in a 4-0 win over Patrik Williams at a Development Tour event in February 2025, the highest that tour has recorded. His first World Championship took him to the fourth round, with Cameron Menzies, the 26th seed, beaten 3-2 on the way, before Gian van Veen stopped him 4-1. A Tour Card followed on the final day of Q-School.
Den Bosch on 28 October brought the title: Maik Kuivenhoven beaten 8-2 in the Players Championship 31 final. He has stood up to the best before. At the 2025 World Youth Championship he had two match darts against Luke Littler in the last 16 and lost 6-5.
Group G
Jonny Clayton (5)
Ranking 5
From Wales
Nickname The Ferret
Qualified European Tour winner (Swiss Darts Trophy)
First match v Anton Östlund, Saturday 14 November, 1pm
Much of Jonny Clayton's 2026 has been spent one match short. Recalled to the Premier League, he won four nights and finished second on 34 points, then lost his semi-final 10-9 to Luke Humphries with a match dart gone begging in the last leg. Humphries also beat him in the Belgian Darts Open final, and two Players Championship finals got away as well, before he beat Humphries 8-4 in Basel in October to win the Swiss Darts Trophy. I think that was the result he most needed.
A World Series title in New Zealand came in between. His Grand Slam best is a pair of quarter-finals, in 2018 and 2021, and last year he went out in the group after defeats by Cam Crabtree and Lukas Wenig.
Also in Group G: Rob Cross and Anton Östlund
Rob Cross
Ranking 24
From England
Nickname Voltage
Qualified Players Championship 22 winner
First match v the loser of Jonny Clayton v Anton Östlund, Sunday 15 November, 1pm
Rob Cross has a world title from 2018, won 7-2 against Phil Taylor, and a Grand Slam final from 2023, lost 16-8 to Luke Humphries. A year ago he was not here at all, one of the bigger names who fell short at the Wigan qualifier for Tour Card holders.
A floor title brought him back this time, Players Championship 22 in June. The rest of 2026 has been patchy: no Premier League place, a 4-2 World Championship defeat by Luke Littler in round four and a UK Open quarter-final that James Wade won in a deciding leg. He was also a European Tour finalist in Bratislava, which says the top of his game is still there.
Anton Östlund
Ranking 157
From Sweden
Qualified Nordic & Baltic Championship winner
First match v Jonny Clayton, Saturday 14 November, 1pm
None of the 12 events on this year's PDC tour for Nordic and Baltic players went Anton Östlund's way; he saved his win for its championship, the one that carried a Grand Slam place. One earlier match links him to another player in this field: on 2 November 2023, in a televised Super Series match, Sebastian Białecki threw a nine-darter against him.
Third place in Group G pays £5,000, more than the £4,000 that makes up his whole Order of Merit total.
Group H
Wessel Nijman (12)
Ranking 13
From Netherlands
Qualified European Tour winner (European Darts Trophy, Slovak Darts Open)
First match v Adam Sevada, Saturday 14 November, 1pm
Six Players Championship titles in one season: nobody had collected that many since 2012, when Michael van Gerwen did it, and the haul put Wessel Nijman top of this year's Players Championship rankings. He won both European Tour finals he reached, 8-3 each time, against Gerwyn Price in Göttingen and Rob Cross in Bratislava.
The results here have not kept pace. In 2024 his 111.10 in a 5-4 defeat by Gian van Veen set the event's highest losing average, yet he still came last in his group; last year he finished second in his group and Luke Littler beat him 10-4 in the last 16. For the man at the top of the floor rankings, that is a thin return.
Also in Group H: Niko Springer and Adam Sevada
Niko Springer
Ranking 34
From Germany
Nickname Meenzer Bub
Qualified Tour Card holder qualifier
First match v the loser of Wessel Nijman v Adam Sevada, Sunday 15 November, 1pm
Niko Springer made a loud Grand Slam debut last year, landing a 152 checkout on the way past Gary Anderson, beating Michael van Gerwen 5-4 and reaching the last 16 before his compatriot Lukas Wenig edged him 10-8. Since then the results have thinned: a first-round defeat by Joe Comito at the 2026 World Championship and a first World Matchplay that ended 10-6 against Luke Littler.
There have been better days. He knocked out Stephen Bunting and Ross Smith on the way to a European Darts Trophy quarter-final that Damon Heta won in a deciding leg, and in May he took Jonny Clayton the distance, 7-6, in a Players Championship 16 semi-final. His run to a first ranking final, at the 2025 Dutch Darts Championship, went through Wessel Nijman, the seed in his group.
Adam Sevada
From United States
Nickname The Reaper
Qualified North American Championship winner
First match v Wessel Nijman, Saturday 14 November, 1pm
Madison Square Garden gave Adam Sevada his best day of the year in June, on the way to the North American title: a 6-0 whitewash of Alex Spellman on a 102.48 average, Gary Mawson beaten 6-3 and a 6-1 final against Jim Long. He has no PDC world ranking, and I think that 102.48 is the better guide to what he can do.
Four Championship Darts Circuit titles this season follow the five that topped the 2025 rankings and earned him a first World Championship. That debut began with Matt Campbell beaten 3-1 and ended with a 3-0 second-round loss to Charlie Manby.
Group I
Luke Humphries (2)
Ranking 2
From England
Nickname Cool Hand
Qualified World Grand Prix champion
First match v Paolo Nebrida, Saturday 14 November, 7pm
Luke Humphries has played in two Grand Slam finals and won one of them, beating Rob Cross 16-8 for the 2023 title; last November Luke Littler beat him. Even that week left a souvenir, a group-stage nine-darter against Michael Smith.
At last year's Grand Slam he said he was thinking of missing every Players Championship event of 2026, though he might play the early ones and see how it went. He has won four of them, and in October the World Grand Prix, 6-4 in sets in the final. Littler has beaten him in two major finals this year, 6-5 in sets at the World Masters and 11-10 in the Premier League, though the US Masters final went Humphries's way 8-7.
Also in Group I: Joe Cullen and Paolo Nebrida
Joe Cullen
Ranking 32
From England
Nickname The Rockstar
Qualified Tour Card holder qualifier
First match v the loser of Luke Humphries v Paolo Nebrida, Sunday 15 November, 7pm
2022 was Joe Cullen's year: the Masters title, a Premier League final that Michael van Gerwen won 11-10, and his best Grand Slam run, a quarter-final. The record book holds a less welcome line too: Van Gerwen's 115.19 against him in 2021 is still the highest winning average this event has seen.
His 2026 has been thin by his standards: a second-round World Championship exit against Mensur Suljović and a Players Championship 8 final lost 8-4 to Wessel Nijman. Luke Humphries knows how awkward he can be. Their 2024 World Championship meeting needed a sudden-death leg, which Humphries won, and in the 2025 Players Championship 1 semi-final Cullen beat him 7-6.
Paolo Nebrida
From Philippines
Nickname Pow
Qualified PDC Asian Championship winner
First match v Luke Humphries, Saturday 14 November, 7pm
Changjiang, 14 September: that is where Paolo Nebrida earned this trip, winning the PDC Asian Championship from a field of 64 and averaging 85.93 in a best-of-five-sets final. The same title puts him into the 2027 World Championship.
He keeps doing things no Filipino had done before. At the 2025 World Championship he whitewashed a seeded Ross Smith 3-0, the first from his country into the last 32, and in Bahrain he beat Rob Cross 6-3, the first World Series match won by a Filipino. This year added two Asian Tour titles on one May weekend in Kuala Lumpur, the first of them with a 97.32 average. Ross Smith and Rob Cross have both found out he is no makeweight.
Group J
Luke Woodhouse (15)
Ranking 17
From England
Nickname Woody
Qualified European Tour winner (Baltic Sea Darts Open)
First match v Tom Sykes, Saturday 14 November, 1pm
Four times a beaten Pro Tour finalist before he lifted a ranking trophy, Luke Woodhouse broke through in May. Andrew Gilding was beaten 8-4 at Players Championship 18, and twelve days later Kiel handed him a European Tour title, a 98.61 average seeing off Ryan Joyce.
Last year he won his group here, averaging 103.61 in one of those matches, before going out in the next round. The World Championship holds a sorer memory. Krzysztof Ratajski, now in his group, beat him 4-2 in the last 16 there, in a match where Woodhouse missed the double for a nine-darter.
Also in Group J: Krzysztof Ratajski and Tom Sykes
Krzysztof Ratajski
Ranking 19
From Poland
Nickname The Polish Eagle
Qualified European Tour winner (European Darts Open)
First match v the loser of Luke Woodhouse v Tom Sykes, Sunday 15 November, 1pm
Krzysztof Ratajski knocked Luke Littler out of the European Championship in October, in the quarter-finals, and went on to the semi-finals. July had already brought a third European Tour crown, at Leverkusen's European Darts Open, with an 8-6 final win over Jermaine Wattimena.
His World Championship went deep too: he came from 3-1 down against Wesley Plaisier, who could not take any of three match darts, and reached a second quarter-final, where Littler beat him 5-0. Four times Poland's national champion, he has twice made the last 16 of the Grand Slam, in 2018 and 2023, and gone no further.
Tom Sykes
Ranking 81
From England
Qualified Tour Card holder qualifier
First match v Luke Woodhouse, Saturday 14 November, 1pm
January found Tom Sykes winning a Tour Card at the UK Q-School. November finds him at the Grand Slam, and the months between held moments worth keeping.
At Players Championship 32 he threw a nine-darter in a 6-2 win over Cor Dekker, and he reached the last eight at events 9 and 23, averaging 96.02 in the second of those quarter-finals. He finished the floor season 42nd on its money list, a sound return for a player who had to win his card in January.
Group K
James Wade (7)
Ranking 7
From England
Nickname The Machine
Qualified UK Open runner-up
First match v Cam Crabtree, Saturday 14 November, 7pm
Eighteen Grand Slams, three lost finals and no title: James Wade's story with this event is long and unfinished. Scott Waites, José de Sousa and Michael van Gerwen have all beaten him in finals here, and he threw the event's first nine-darter, against Gary Anderson in 2008, in a match he went on to lose.
His 2026 has been crowded. In March he reached 1,000 Players Championship wins, a total no one had managed before, and he added a World Series title in Australia and the Flanders Darts Trophy. He also reached a fifth UK Open final, which Luke Littler won 11-7. Both of his group rivals have beaten him: Ricky Evans at the 2026 World Championship, 3-2 in a final-set tie-break after Wade had missed a dart for the match, and Cam Crabtree at a Players Championship event in 2024.
Also in Group K: Ricky Evans and Cam Crabtree
Ricky Evans
Ranking 52
From England
Nickname Rapid Ricky
Qualified Tour Card holder qualifier
First match v the loser of James Wade v Cam Crabtree, Sunday 15 November, 7pm
Wayne Mardle has called Ricky Evans the quickest player he has ever seen, and the numbers back him: a 180 in 2.16 seconds, thrown at the 2017 World Championship with Michael Smith waiting to reply. He usually throws a visit in three to five seconds.
Last year brought his best Grand Slam. He beat Gerwyn Price 5-4 in his opening group match, then came from 8-5 down to beat Luke Woodhouse 10-9, a 76 finish in the last leg taking him to a first quarter-final at the event, where Price ended the run 16-9. His first semi-final at a major had come at the 2024 UK Open.
Cam Crabtree
Ranking 69
From England
Nickname Shazam
Qualified World Youth Championship finalist
First match v James Wade, Saturday 14 November, 7pm
This is Cam Crabtree's second Grand Slam, and the route in is new: he reached the 2026 World Youth Championship final, against Jan Schmidt, and this year that alone is enough.
He came last year as the Development Tour's Order of Merit winner and beat Jonny Clayton 5-1 on day one with a 102.07 average, still his only 100-plus average at the event. Defeats by Danny Noppert and Lukas Wenig left him third in the group. In June he added a sixth Development Tour title in Milton Keynes, edging Nathan Potter 5-4.
Group L
Michael van Gerwen (10)
Ranking 11
From Netherlands
Nickname Mighty Mike
Qualified World Cup of Darts runner-up (with Gian van Veen)
First match v Henry Coates, Saturday 14 November, 7pm
Forty-five times Michael van Gerwen has averaged over 100 in a Grand Slam match, a total only Phil Taylor has matched, and he won the event in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
The present is less tidy. Gary Anderson knocked him out of the World Championship 4-1 in round four, his earliest exit there in a decade, and a 6-3 first-round defeat by Kevin Doets at the European Championship pushed him outside the world's top 10. There were still trophies: the Bahrain and Nordic Darts Masters, and Players Championship 15, where his semi-final whitewash of Martin Schindler came on a 122.34 average. I think that 122.34 says the scoring has not left him; the results say it comes and goes.
Also in Group L: Jeffrey de Graaf and Henry Coates
Jeffrey de Graaf
Ranking 39
From Sweden
Qualified Players Championship 19 winner
First match v the loser of Michael van Gerwen v Henry Coates, Sunday 15 November, 7pm
Born in Den Helder, Jeffrey de Graaf plays for Sweden, a country that had never produced a PDC ranking champion until he won Players Championship 24 in 2025. A second title came in June, Jonny Clayton beaten 8-5 at Players Championship 19.
Michael van Gerwen, the seed in his group, ended his 2025 World Championship 4-2 in round four, after De Graaf had beaten Gary Anderson 3-0 and Paolo Nebrida 4-1. The 2026 edition was shorter, a 3-1 first-round loss to Paul Lim. Tight finishes run through his career: a 2015 BDO World Trophy final lost 10-9 after one missed match dart, and that first ranking title won 8-7 against Stephen Bunting.
Henry Coates
Ranking 96
From England
Qualified Players Championship 25 winner
First match v Michael van Gerwen, Saturday 14 November, 7pm
No Tour Card, and still a place at the Grand Slam. In July in Hildesheim, Henry Coates beat Damon Heta 8-4 at Players Championship 25 with a 104.88 average, the fifth player to take a PDC ranking title without a card. Krzysztof Ratajski, over in Group J, is one of the four who did it before him.
The win did not come from nowhere. In June he had three match darts in a Players Championship 20 semi-final and lost 7-6 to Ross Smith, and in October he won Development Tour 23, beating Owen Bates 5-1. As a junior he lost a 2021 final 6-4 to Luke Littler.
Group M
Gian van Veen (3)
Ranking 3
From Netherlands
Nickname The Giant
Qualified World Championship runner-up, World Cup of Darts runner-up (with Michael van Gerwen) and 2025 World Youth champion
First match v Carl Sneyd, Saturday 14 November, 7pm
Gian van Veen lost the World Championship final 7-1 to Luke Littler, and he has kept running into him in finals: he threw a nine-darter in the Poland Darts Open final and Littler still won it 8-4. That reads less as a weakness than as a measure of how often Van Veen gets there. A World Matchplay semi-final, his first, came in July.
The 114.71 he threw at Stephen Bunting in 2024 is third on the Grand Slam's list of winning averages, and he reached the quarter-finals that year. Last year two wins from three still left him third in his group.
Also in Group M: Bradley Brooks and Carl Sneyd
Bradley Brooks
Ranking 59
From England
Nickname Bam Bam
Qualified Tour Card holder qualifier
First match v the loser of Gian van Veen v Carl Sneyd, Sunday 15 November, 7pm
In 2021, as reigning world youth champion, Bradley Brooks beat Mervyn King and then Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 5-3 to get out of his Grand Slam group, and Gerwyn Price, then the world number one, needed a 10-8 win to stop him.
The man from Blackburn won a ranking title in 2025, beating Price in the Players Championship 21 final. This season has been patchier: a 3-0 first-round defeat by Joe Cullen at the World Championship and a Swiss Darts Trophy quarter-final, though a nine-darter in a 6-4 floor win over Adam Gawlas shows how high his best can reach.
Carl Sneyd
Ranking 129
From England
Qualified Tour Card holder qualifier
First match v Gian van Veen, Saturday 14 November, 7pm
Carl Sneyd earned his Tour Card in January, at the UK Q-School staged in Milton Keynes, and the Players Championship circuit tested him at once. In the opening event Mickey Mansell threw a nine-darter against him, and at Players Championship 2 he reached the last eight, where Wessel Nijman, the eventual winner, beat him 6-2.
He was not the only January graduate to go far. Charlie Manby and Tom Sykes, who also won cards at the UK Q-School in January, are in this field too, which says plenty about that intake.
Group N
Chris Dobey (14)
Ranking 16
From England
Nickname Hollywood
Qualified Players Championship 3, 9 and 32 winner
First match v Jan Schmidt, Saturday 14 November, 7pm
Three Players Championship titles this year carried Chris Dobey to second in the floor rankings, behind Wessel Nijman. Five of the season's 110-plus floor averages belong to him, the best of them 112.73, and he hit two nine-darters on the floor as well.
Last year he won all three group games here 5-1, then went out 10-9 to Michael Smith, who survived 11 match darts from him. His best run at the event is still the quarter-final on his first appearance, in 2016. Three 5-1 wins and one 10-9 defeat: that week went wrong in a single match.
Also in Group N: Martin Schindler and Jan Schmidt
Martin Schindler
Ranking 20
From Germany
Nickname The Wall
Qualified European Championship runner-up
First match v the loser of Chris Dobey v Jan Schmidt, Sunday 15 November, 7pm
Seeded 31st at the European Championship in Dortmund in October, Martin Schindler went further than any German before him, into a PDC televised major final, where Ross Smith beat him 11-8. It rescued a year that had started with Ryan Searle whitewashing him 4-0 at the World Championship.
His Grand Slam story is one of good darts going unrewarded. In 2024 he averaged 109.15 and still lost 5-2 to Danny Noppert, one of the five highest losing averages here, and only last year did he reach the knockout stage, as a group runner-up, before Gerwyn Price beat him 10-6.
Jan Schmidt
Ranking 146
From Germany
Qualified World Youth Championship finalist
First match v Chris Dobey, Saturday 14 November, 7pm
A rule change explains Jan Schmidt's place. From 2026 the two World Youth Championship finalists go into the Grand Slam in the same year instead of the next, and the German is one of them, with Cam Crabtree of Group K the other. Their final waits for the Players Championship Finals.
His summer belonged to the youth and regional circuits. On 4 July he won a PDC Europe Next Gen event 6-5 against Jaimy van de Weerd, who turned the tables 6-4 in a final on 5 July, and a Development Tour final in Hildesheim went 5-3 to Sam Jackson. Close finals are the one thing his season has given him plenty of.
Group O
Ross Smith (6)
Ranking 6
From England
Nickname Smudger
Qualified European Championship and World Series Finals winner
First match v Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, Saturday 14 November, 7pm
Last year Ross Smith could not get through the qualifier for this tournament. He returns at the highest ranking of his career, having won the World Series Finals in Amsterdam in September and the European Championship in Dortmund in October, which makes him three from three in major finals. I would call 2026 the best year he has had.
The rest of his year matches it: two European Tour titles and two more Players Championship titles, though it began with six missed match darts and a first-round World Championship defeat by Andreas Harrysson. At the Grand Slam he has twice got as far as the last 16, in 2022 and 2024, and his 2022 group win over Michael van Gerwen came with nine 180s, then a group-stage record for the event.
Also in Group O: Gabriel Clemens and Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Gabriel Clemens
Ranking 53
From Germany
Nickname German Giant
Qualified Players Championship 24 winner
First match v the loser of Ross Smith v Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, Sunday 15 November, 7pm
A 170 checkout sealed Gabriel Clemens's first PDC ranking title in July, with Luke Woodhouse the beaten finalist, 8-6, at Players Championship 24. The season had started well, too. Alex Spellman and Wessel Nijman went out 3-0 at the World Championship before Luke Humphries, three sets up, held him off 4-2, and even that defeat made history: no German had averaged over 100 in a World Championship match before him. A nine-darter on the floor followed in February.
His high point at this event is 2019: the last 16, with a 110.27 group-stage average. His best on any stage came at the 2023 World Championship, where a 5-1 quarter-final win over Gerwyn Price, then the world number one, made him the first German into the last four.
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Ranking 141
From Austria
Nickname RJR3
Qualified Tour Card holder qualifier
First match v Ross Smith, Saturday 14 November, 7pm
The 2021 Grand Slam, Rusty-Jake Rodriguez's only one before this, ended in the group stage without a win. The Austrian had earned that place by topping the European Development Tour with five titles, having become the first winner of the JDC World Championship back in 2017.
He won his card back at 2025 Q-School after a year away from the Pro Tour, and his best World Championship night came in 2022, when he led Chris Dobey 2-0 in sets before losing 3-2. That match is the fairest guide to him: he can hold a top player for two sets.
Group P
Nathan Aspinall (11)
Ranking 11
From England
Nickname The Asp
Qualified Players Championship Finals runner-up and German Darts Grand Prix winner
First match v Maik Kuivenhoven, Saturday 14 November, 1pm
Nathan Aspinall knows how a Grand Slam final feels: he reached one in 2022, and Michael Smith beat him 16-5. The same man got the better of him again last year, 5-3 in the group, and a 5-3 defeat by Luke Humphries ended the Asp's week.
His 2026 began without a Premier League place, the first time since 2022 he had missed out, and with a Players Championship 1 final that James Wade won 8-6. The reply came in Munich in April: Danny Noppert beaten 8-5 in the German Darts Grand Prix final for his fourth European Tour title. I think seven major finals in his career, two of them won, say more about him than one missing Premier League place.
Also in Group P: Karel Sedláček and Maik Kuivenhoven
Karel Sedláček
Ranking 42
From Czech Republic
Nickname Evil Charlie
Qualified Players Championship 30 winner
First match v the loser of Nathan Aspinall v Maik Kuivenhoven, Sunday 15 November, 1pm
The name Evil Charlie goes back to a league match in which a spectator, watching Karel Sedláček take an opponent apart, shouted the Czech for "That's evil, Charlie!" Players Championship 30 in Den Bosch in September gave him a maiden PDC ranking title, 8-7 in the final against Scott Williams.
He was here last year too, through the qualifier in Wigan. Luke Littler beat him 5-1 and Connor Scutt 5-3, and in between he beat Daryl Gurney 5-3 after a run of five straight legs, needing his 11th match dart to close it out. That mix of resolve and wasted chances is Sedláček in one evening.
Maik Kuivenhoven
Ranking 71
From Netherlands
Qualified Tour Card holder qualifier
First match v Nathan Aspinall, Saturday 14 November, 1pm
Until June, Maik Kuivenhoven had never reached a PDC ranking final. Rob Cross beat him 8-5 in that first one, in Wigan, and in October he lost another in Den Bosch.
His card has not always been safe. He missed the World Championship by £1,000 one year and by £500 the next, dropped to 75th in the rankings at the end of 2024 and lost his card, then won it straight back in January 2025, as he had in January 2023. Q-School has rescued his career more than once.
The history of the Grand Slam of Darts
Open the history: every final, the records and the stories
The Grand Slam began in 2007 at the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton as a meeting of the two codes, the PDC and the British Darts Organisation, and it stayed there until 2017. Scott Waites gave the BDO its one title in 2010, coming back from 8-0 down to beat James Wade 16-12 in the final.
In 2018 the trophy was renamed after Eric Bristow, and the event moved across the city to Aldersley while the Civic Hall was renovated. Apart from 2020, when the pandemic sent it behind closed doors in Coventry, it has stayed at Aldersley ever since, and it has been a ranking event since 2015.
Last year Luke Littler beat Luke Humphries 16-11 in the final, averaging 100.61 to 99.56.
Most titles Phil Taylor, with 6, from 2007 to 2014. Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price have 3 each.
Three finals, no title James Wade and Peter Wright have each been runner-up three times.
The nine-darters Seven, from James Wade in 2008 to Luke Humphries in 2025; Kim Huybrechts, Dave Chisnall, Dimitri Van den Bergh, Josh Rock and Ryan Searle threw the others.
The highest match average 115.19, by Michael van Gerwen against Joe Cullen in the 2021 group stage.
The highest tournament average 107.67, by Wessel Nijman in 2024.
The long servers Among the event's finalists, Michael van Gerwen, James Wade and Gary Anderson had each played in 18 editions before this one; van Gerwen and Wade are in the field again.
Your questions answered
When does the Grand Slam of Darts 2026 start?
Play starts at 1pm on Saturday 14 November with eight group matches, and the final is at 7.30pm on Sunday 22 November.
Where is the Grand Slam of Darts played?
At WV Active Aldersley in Wolverhampton, its home since 2018 apart from the 2020 edition in Coventry.
How can I watch the Grand Slam of Darts?
Every session is live on Sky Sports, and NOW offers access without a Sky subscription.
How much does the winner of the Grand Slam of Darts get?
The champion takes £200,000 and the Eric Bristow Trophy from a fund of £1,000,000, up from £650,000 last year.
Who is the defending champion?
Luke Littler, who won in 2024 and retained the title in 2025 by beating Luke Humphries 16-11 in the final.
How does the new 48-player format work?
Sixteen groups of three play a round robin, two points for a win, and only each group winner reaches the last 16, which is a straight knockout to the final.
What happens if three players finish level in a group?
Leg difference decides first, then legs won, legs won against the throw, tournament average and winning match average; a nine-dart shootout settles anything left.
How do players qualify for the Grand Slam of Darts?
Televised finalists come first, then additional qualifiers from the secondary and regional tours, then European Tour and Players Championship winners, with the last places decided at a Tour Card holder qualifier.
Who has won the most Grand Slam of Darts titles?
Phil Taylor, with six; Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price share second place on three.
How many nine-darters have there been at the Grand Slam of Darts?
Seven, by seven different players; the records in the history section name every one.
Who are the seeds?
The top 16 qualifiers on the Order of Merit, led by Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen and Gerwyn Price.
