GRAND SLAM OF DARTS INVITATIONS CONFIRMED THE qualification criteria for the 2011 Grand Slam of Darts has been confirmed, with John Part, Ted Hankey, Co Stompe and Barrie Bates invited to compete in Wolverhampton in November.
The £400,000 tournament, to be held from November 12-20 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, features the finalists from major darts tournaments over a two-year period.
Won last year by Scott Waites, who succeeded three-time winner Phil Taylor, the event will be screened live on Sky Sports this November across nine days.
This year’s qualifiers will include the finalists from the PDC World Cup of Darts, which was held for the first time last December and saw Holland defeat Wales in the decider, as well as the previous five Ladbrokes.com World Darts Champions and Lakeside Champions.
The decision means that 2008 PDC World Champion John Part and 2009 Lakeside
Champion Ted Hankey will return to the Grand Slam, with Holland’s Co Stompe and Wales’ Barrie Bates also invited to compete in Wolverhampton.Lakeside Championship finalist Dean Winstanley and semi-finalist Jan Dekker will be invited to make their Grand Slam of Darts debuts following their success in January.
The finalists from the forthcoming World Grand Prix, to be held in October in Dublin, and Championship League Darts, the £200,000 internet-streamed event being held throughout September and October, will also be invited to compete, alongside the finalists from the Grand Slam of Darts Wildcard Qualifier on November 4.
The Wildcard Qualifier will be open to ANY darts player and played on Friday November 4 at the K2 Centre in Crawley. Entry will be available in the near future.
Alongside the finalists from the Wildcard Qualifier, the finalists of the PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship, which will be held earlier on November 4, will also qualify for the Grand Slam of Darts.
In the event that the finalists from the World Grand Prix and Championship League Darts have already qualified, the remaining four places in the field will be allocated as follows (based on rankings at November 2):
1 – Highest placed non-qualified player on the main PDC Order of Merit
2 – Highest placed non-qualified player on the Players Championship Order of Merit
3 – Highest placed non-qualified player on the European Order of Merit
4 – Third-placed play-off winner at the Wildcard Qualifier
Should one of the World Youth Championship finalists have previously qualified, then an additional place would be made available to a further player from the Wildcard Qualifier.
Tickets for the Grand Slam of Darts are now on general sale from the Wolves Civic Box Office, either in person or by calling 0870 320 7000, with record early sales of almost 7,000 reported following their launch at the beginning of August.
The full list of qualifiers is:
2010 Grand Slam of Darts
Winner Scott Waites
Runner-Up James Wade
Semi-Finalist Steve Beaton
Semi-Finalist Wayne Jones
2009 Grand Slam of Darts
Winner Phil Taylor
Runner-Up Scott Waites
Semi-Finalist Raymond van Barneveld
Semi-Finalist Terry Jenkins
2011 PDC World Championship
Winner Adrian Lewis
Runner-Up Gary Anderson
Semi-Finalist Mark Webster
Semi-Finalist Terry Jenkins
2010 PDC World Championship
Winner Phil Taylor
Runner-Up Simon Whitlock
Semi-Finalist Mark Webster
Semi-Finalist Raymond van Barneveld
Previous PDC World Champions
2009 Phil Taylor
2008 John Part
2007 Raymond van Barneveld
2011 World Matchplay
Winner Phil Taylor
Runner-Up James Wade
2010 World Matchplay
Winner Phil Taylor
Runner-Up Raymond van Barneveld
2011 World Grand Prix
Winner
Runner-Up
2010 World Grand Prix
Winner James Wade
Runner-Up Adrian Lewis
2011 UK Open
Winner James Wade
Runner-Up Wes Newton
2010 UK Open
Winner Phil Taylor
Runner-Up Gary Anderson
2011 Premier League Darts
Winner Gary Anderson
Runner-Up Adrian Lewis
2010 Premier League Darts
Winner Phil Taylor
Runner-Up James Wade
2011 Championship League Darts
Winner
Runner-Up
2010 Championship League Darts
Winner James Wade
Runner-Up Phil Taylor
2011 Players Championship Finals
Winner Phil Taylor
Runner-Up Gary Anderson
2010 Players Championship Finals
Winner Paul Nicholson
Runner-Up Mervyn King
2011 European Championship
Winner Phil Taylor
Runner-Up Adrian Lewis
2010 European Championship
Winner Phil Taylor
Runner-Up Wayne Jones
2010 PDC World Cup of Darts
Winner Co Stompe
Winner Raymond van Barneveld
Runner-Up Mark Webster
Runner-Up Barrie Bates
World Youth Championship
2011 Finalists (TBC Nov 4)
2010 Winner Arron Monk
2011 Lakeside Championship
Winner Martin Adams (invitation withdrawn as per rule 2.17 of PDC rules)
Runner-Up Dean Winstanley
Semi-Finalist Martin Phillips
Semi-Finalist Jan Dekker
2010 Lakeside Championship
Winner Martin Adams
Runner-Up Dave Chisnall
Semi-Finalist Martin Phillips
Semi-Finalist Tony O’Shea
Previous Lakeside Champions
2009 Ted Hankey
2008 Mark Webster
2007 Martin Adams
Grand Slam of Darts Wildcard Qualifier
Winner
Runner-Up
Current
Qualifiers (A-Z)
Gary Anderson
Barrie Bates
Steve Beaton
Dave Chisnall
Jan Dekker
Ted Hankey
Terry Jenkins
Wayne Jones
Mervyn King
Adrian Lewis
Arron Monk
Wes Newton
Paul Nicholson
Tony O’Shea
John Part
Martin Phillips
Co Stompe
Phil Taylor
Raymond van Barneveld
James Wade
Scott Waites
Mark Webster
Simon Whitlock
Dean Winstanley