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The Grand Slam of Darts is not only one of the most popular majors on the calendar but also a key indicator as to who is peaking at just the right time ahead of next month's World Championship.
The last two winners of this event – Michael Smith and Luke Humphries – both followed up their Wolverhampton success by lifting the greatest prize in darts for the first time in their careers roughly six weeks later and given how the last two majors went to big outsiders, there will be more players believing that any dream is an achievable reality for them as well.
After a first-round win at the recent European Championship, Ritchie Edhouse told the media that Mike de Decker's shock triumph over Humphries in the World Grand Prix final gave all those of lower rankings the confidence that they could do the same. Just a few days later, Edhouse did exactly that and defied pre-tournament odds of 250/1 in the process.
Given the nature of the unique qualifying criteria, there's no shortage of players in this field who aren't given much hope by the bookies but, as we are continually reminded in this crazy world of darts, anything is possible.
In this preview I'll look at each group in turn with seasonal statistics for every player as well as predictions of who will make the knockout stages.
So who will join him in the knockout stages from Group A?
James Wade has a remarkable record in this event, reaching the knockout stages in 15 of the 16 years he's qualified, and he'll fancy his chances of doing so again.
He deserves a lot of credit for being in all but one Grand Slam since its inaugural edition back in 2007 and although that was relatively recently in 2022, it was sandwiched between two semi-final runs here which highlight his desire to challenge for the big titles.
I'd expect him to finish ahead of both Mickey Mansell, who stunned Gerwyn Price in the qualifying event, and World Cup runner-up Rowby-John Rodriquez as they are both just too inconsistent to feel confident about backing.
Predicted Finish:
Predicted Finish:
Predicted Finish:
Predicted Finish:
This is a dangerous group in the sense we have the World Grand Prix champion in Mike de Decker and a recent European Championship runner-up in Jermaine Wattimena, who crushed Luke Humphries 10-4 during his unexpected run.
It's probably the type of group Smith needs to ensure he hits the ground running and has zero complacency – but it's also a lot easier than it could have been in a sense, given that it includes the woefully out of form Mensur Suljovic.
De Decker will have his fair share of backers due to his recent heroics as will Wattimena but the latter has averaged in the 80s in three of his last four matches – including the European Championship final – and in general always seems a very hot and cold player that I wouldn't want to trust throughout a group stage.
Looking further ahead, I feel Smith has fallen off the radar in most people's thinking for major honours but would you really be surprised to see a world number two with a wealth of experience of going deep in majors rediscovering a little of his lost rhythm and contending this week?
Predicted Finish:
Predicted Finish:
As I mentioned earlier, Luke Humphries ticks all the boxes to defend his Grand Slam of Darts title even though he hasn't had it all his own way in the last two majors.
Although he's a very well balanced individual who never looks like he's getting carried away with any success, those defeats may have given him an additional reason to refocus and ensure he genuinely doesn't let any complacency creep into his preparations for the most important two months of the season.
If Cool Hand does suffer a surprise exit along the way, I do like the each-way chances of Michael Smith and Stephen Bunting at big prices.
Both are somewhat under the radar having been relatively quiet on the big stages during the autumn months but this is the event that Bully Boy won a couple of years back to springboard him to world champion status and the format plays to his strengths to bounce back into title-winning form.
Away from the TV cameras, Bunting has been in great form, reaching a host of finals without winning them, while he's had some bad luck with the draws in major tournaments.
It won't be easy for him in Wolverhampton given the tough group he finds himself in and the prospect of facing MVG or Gary Anderson in round two, but nobody will fancy playing him either.
Saturday November 9
Afternoon Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)
Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)
Sunday November 10
Afternoon Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)
Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)
Monday November 11 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)
Tuesday November 12 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)
Wednesday November 13 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Second Round (Best of 19 legs)
Thursday November 14 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Second Round (Best of 19 legs)
Friday November 15
Evening Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Quarter-finals (Best of 31 legs)
Saturday November 16
Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Quarter-finals (Best of 31 legs)
Sunday November 17
Afternoon Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Semi-finals (Best of 31 legs)
Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Final (Best of 31 legs)
Every session of the Grand Slam of Darts will be televised live on Sky Sports.
Group Stage (Potentially complicated!!)
The 32 players are drawn into eight groups of four players during the round-robin stage, and they will play each other once. The opening games are decided by a draw, with the second set of matches seeing the two winners from the first games meeting each other, and the two losers also playing each other. The third set of matches will consist of the pairings which have not previously met.
Two points are awarded for a win and no points will be awarded for a loss. Each game is the best of nine legs.
The top two players in each group will progress to the knockout phase. Should there be a two-way points tie for first place in any group, then the player with the best leg difference will be deemed to have won the group. If both players have the same leg difference, then the player who won the group match between the two players will be deemed to have won the group.
Should Points, Leg Difference, Tournament Average and Legs Won Against Throw not be able to separate three players, then if one player has defeated both of the other two players then this player will be deemed to have finished higher, and the winner of the group match between the remaining two players will be the ‘second’ of the three. Should the three players have secured one win apiece against each other, then a Nine-Dart Shoot-Out will be played between the relevant players to determine final standings, with the highest aggregate score over nine darts being used to separate players.
In the event a “Nine-Dart Shoot-Out” finishes level between two or more players, those players who have tied on the most points will continue to throw three darts each in the same order until one player scores more points than the other player(s) with his three darts.
From the second round onwards, the tournament will be in a knockout format.
Knockout stage (far more simple!)
From the second round onwards, the tournament will be in a knockout format. There will be no tie-break rule employed in any match.
The Grand Slam of Darts used to bring together the best players from the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and the British Darts Organisation (BDO) but since the latter's demise in 2020, it's now purely a PDC event.
Phil Taylor won the first three finals against Andy Hamilton, Terry Jenkins and Scott Waites - averaging over 100 in each one - but he failed at the quarter-final stages to Steve Beaton in 2010.
That year, Waites bounced back from his 16-2 hammering at the hands of 12 months to become the first ever BDO player to win the event by coming from 8-0 down to defeat James Wade. No other BDO player has ever reached the final.
Taylor averaged over 109 in a 16-4 thrashing of Gary Anderson to reclaim the title in 2011 before Raymond van Barneveld edged a thrilling all-Dutch battle to beat Michael van Gerwen in 2012.
Two more titles for The Power followed in 2013 and 2014 to take his overall tally to six when he defeated Robert Thornton and Dave Chisnall but he would lose his first final in 2015 when Michael van Gerwen triumphed 16-13 in a high-quality showdown.
The Dutchman twice successfully defended his crown in 2016 and 2017 with victories over James Wade and Peter Wright respectively but the next year Gerwyn Price would bag his first televised title with a controversial victory over Gary Anderson.
The Welshman would go on to defend his crown 12 months later with a brutal 16-6 demolition job over Snakebite before Jose de Sousa triumphed over James Wade in 2020.
Price would then bring up a hat-trick of titles in this competition when defeating Wright in the 2021 final while Michael Smith broke his major duck in 2022 before Luke Humphries lifted the trophy in 2023.
Grand Slam of Darts Finals
Grand Slam of Darts Most Titles