Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts | |
---|---|
Tournament information | |
Venue | Civic Hall (2007–17) WV Active - Aldersley (2018–19, 2021–) Ricoh Arena (2020) |
Location | Wolverhampton (2007–19, 2021–) Coventry (2020) |
Country | England |
Established | 2007 |
Organisation(s) | PDC BDO (until 2020) |
Format | Legs |
Prize fund | £650,000 (2022) |
Month(s) Played | November |
Current champion(s) | |
Luke Littler |
The Grand Slam of Darts is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and is known as the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts for sponsorship purposes. [1] The PDC used to invite the best performing players from its rival, the British Darts Organisation (which went into liquidation in September 2020). There have been two previous head-to-head matches between the champions of the two organisations and a few overseas tournaments have also featured BDO v PDC clashes, but this tournament is the first of its kind to be held in the United Kingdom. This arrangement lasted until the BDO's collapse into liquidation in 2020 [2] and it is unclear whether any other organisation will be invited in future.
Since the 2015 edition the tournament is classified as a ranking-tournament, being a non-ranking event at previous editions.
Up until 2017, the tournament was staged each November at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall since it began in 2007. Phil Taylor won the first three finals against Andy Hamilton in 2007, Terry Jenkins in 2008 and Scott Waites in 2009. Taylor did not reach the final in 2010, losing to Steve Beaton in the quarter-finals. [3] Scott Waites won that year, beating James Wade 16–12 in the final having trailed 8–0, making him the only BDO player to win the title. Taylor reclaimed the title in 2011, defeating Gary Anderson 16–4. Raymond van Barneveld defeated Michael van Gerwen 16–14 in the 2012 final, but Taylor regained the trophy in 2013, retained it in 2014, before losing to van Gerwen in 2015. Van Gerwen then retained it in 2016 and again in 2017 before Gerwyn Price won the trophy for the first time in 2018.
In May 2018, the PDC announced that the Grand Slam of Darts trophy would be renamed in honour of the recently deceased Eric Bristow. [4]
That year, with renovations being done to the Civic Hall, the Grand Slam was moved to a new venue, WV Active - Aldersley formerly Aldersley Leisure Village, which is located around 3 miles north-west of Wolverhampton City Centre. Three Grand Slam of Darts events at Aldersley were won by Gerwyn Price (2018, 2019, 2021). In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the event was held at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry behind closed doors, and was won by José de Sousa. The 2021 edition saw the Grand Slam return to the WV Active - Aldersley where it has been held since. In 2024, the tournament was won by Luke Littler.
Year | Champion (average in final) | Ch's org | Score | Runner-up (average in final) | Prize money | Sponsor | Venue | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Champion | Runner-up | |||||||
2007 | Phil Taylor (101.75) | PDC | 18–11 | Andy Hamilton (100.97) | £300,000 | £80,000 | £35,000 | PartyBets.com | Civic Hall, Wolverhampton |
2008 | Phil Taylor (106.25) | 18–9 | Terry Jenkins (100.92) | £356,000 | £100,000 | £40,000 | PartyPoker.com | ||
2009 | Phil Taylor (103.94) | 16–2 | Scott Waites (94.16) | £400,000 | £50,000 | ||||
2010 | Scott Waites (99.86) | BDO | 16–12 | James Wade (92.79) | Daily Mirror | ||||
2011 | Phil Taylor (109.04) | PDC | 16–4 | Gary Anderson (98.92) | William Hill | ||||
2012 | Raymond van Barneveld (95.79) | 16–14 | Michael van Gerwen (98.55) | ||||||
2013 | Phil Taylor (98.14) | 16–6 | Robert Thornton (97.02) | ||||||
2014 | Phil Taylor (102.45) | 16–13 | Dave Chisnall (98.02) | Singha Beer | |||||
2015 | Michael van Gerwen (100.94) | 16–13 | Phil Taylor (102.53) | ||||||
2016 | Michael van Gerwen (98.74) | 16–8 | James Wade (90.73) | ||||||
2017 | Michael van Gerwen (102.18) | 16–12 | Peter Wright (97.71) | £450,000 | £110,000 | £55,000 | Bwin | ||
2018 | Gerwyn Price (96.70) | 16–13 | Gary Anderson (97.25) | WV Active - Aldersley, Wolverhampton | |||||
2019 | Gerwyn Price (107.86) | 16–6 | Peter Wright (96.28) | £550,000 | £125,000 | £65,000 | BoyleSports | ||
2020 | José de Sousa (99.95) | 16–12 | James Wade (94.26) | Ricoh Arena, Coventry | |||||
2021 | Gerwyn Price (103.90) | 16–8 | Peter Wright (91.51) | Cazoo | WV Active - Aldersley, Wolverhampton | ||||
2022 | Michael Smith (96.84) | 16–5 | Nathan Aspinall (90.94) | £650,000 | £150,000 | £70,000 | |||
2023 | Luke Humphries (104.69) | 16–8 | Rob Cross (103.61) | Mr Vegas | |||||
2024 | Luke Littler (107.08) | 16–3 | Martin Lukeman (93.42) |
Rank | Player | Nationality | Won | Runner-up | Finals | Appearances |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Phil Taylor | England | 6 | 1 | 7 | 11 |
2 | Michael van Gerwen | Netherlands | 3 | 1 | 4 | 16 |
3 | Gerwyn Price | Wales | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
4 | Scott Waites | England | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
5 | Raymond van Barneveld | Netherlands | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
Luke Humphries | England | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
Luke Littler | England | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
Michael Smith | England | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
José de Sousa | Portugal | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
9 | James Wade | England | 0 | 3 | 3 | 16 |
Peter Wright | Scotland | 0 | 3 | 3 | 11 | |
11 | Gary Anderson | Scotland | 0 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
12 | Nathan Aspinall | England | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
Dave Chisnall | England | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |
Rob Cross | England | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
Andy Hamilton | England | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
Terry Jenkins | England | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
Martin Lukeman | England | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
Robert Thornton | Scotland | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
Country | Players | Total | First title | Last title |
---|---|---|---|---|
England | 5 | 10 | 2007 | 2024 |
Netherlands | 2 | 4 | 2012 | 2017 |
Wales | 1 | 3 | 2018 | 2021 |
Portugal | 1 | 1 | 2020 | 2020 |
Six nine-darters have been thrown at the Grand Slam of Darts. The first one was in 2008.
Player | Year (+ Round) | Method | Opponent | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
James Wade | 2008, 2nd Round | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | Gary Anderson | Lost |
Kim Huybrechts | 2014, Quarter-Final | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | Michael van Gerwen | Won |
Dave Chisnall | 2015, Group Stage | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | Peter Wright | Won |
Dimitri Van den Bergh | 2018, 2nd Round | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | Stephen Bunting | Won |
Josh Rock | 2022, 2nd Round | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | Michael van Gerwen | Lost |
Ryan Searle | 2023, Group Stage | 3 x T20; 3 x T20; T20, T19, D12 | Nathan Rafferty | Won |
Ten highest Grand Slam of Darts one-match winning averages | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Average | Player | Year (+ Round) | Opponent | Result |
115.19 | Michael van Gerwen | 2021, Group Stage | Joe Cullen | 5–2 |
114.85 | Dimitri Van den Bergh | 2020, Group Stage | Ricky Evans | 5–1 |
114.71 | Gian van Veen | 2024, Group Stage | Stephen Bunting | 5–1 |
114.65 | Phil Taylor | 2014, Group Stage | Christian Kist | 5–1 |
113.86 | Geert De Vos | 2015, Group Stage | Jonny Clayton | 5–0 |
113.62 | Michael Smith | 2019, Group Stage | Nathan Aspinall | 5–1 |
113.20 | Gary Anderson | 2024, Group Stage | Ryan Joyce | 5–1 |
112.66 | Michael van Gerwen | 2018, Group Stage | Gary Robson | 5–1 |
112.54 | Gary Anderson | 2018, Group Stage | Ian White | 5–1 |
112.37 | Phil Taylor | 2011, 2nd Round | Wes Newton | 10–3 |
Five highest one-match losing averages | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Average | Player | Year (+ Round) | Opponent | Result |
111.10 | Wessel Nijman | 2024, Group Stage | Gian van Veen | 4–5 |
110.99 | Adrian Lewis | 2013, Semi-Final | Phil Taylor | 9–16 |
109.15 | Martin Schindler | 2024, Group Stage | Danny Noppert | 2–5 |
108.68 | Adrian Lewis | 2016, Group Stage | Chris Dobey | 3–5 |
107.92 | Michael van Gerwen | 2018, Group Stage | Jonny Clayton | 4–5 |
Five highest tournament averages | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Average | Player | Year | ||
107.67 | Wessel Nijman | 2024 | ||
106.58 | Gian van Veen | 2024 | ||
105.81 | Luke Littler | 2024 | ||
105.42 | Michael van Gerwen | 2015 | ||
105.12 | Michael van Gerwen | 2017 |
There have been previous tournaments in which players from both the PDC and BDO have competed. Between 1997 and 2001, several BDO players competed in the World Matchplay and the World Grand Prix – this was as a result of a 1997 Tomlin Order which allowed freedom of players to enter more events. This was later restricted from the start of 2002 onwards, when eligibility rules allowed only Professional Dart Players Association members to compete in the tournaments.
The 2005 Masters of Darts was the first tournament to feature the top players from each organisation. In 2006 and 2007, following Raymond van Barneveld's move to the PDC, the Dutch organisers of the International Darts League and World Darts Trophy invited some top PDC players to compete alongside BDO players.
As the Grand Slam is an invitational tournament for players who have reached major finals and semi-finals, or been the top of their countries' respective rankings, there is a certain degree of prestige attached to qualifying for the tournament, and even more for entrants who qualify multiple times. Gary Anderson and James Wade qualified for 15 successive tournaments between 2007 and 2021, before missing their first event in 2022.
ITV screened the first four editions of the Grand Slam of Darts, which ended their 19-year absence from regular darts coverage (although they did show a one-off Clash of Champions match between Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld in 1999). [6] The inaugural event saw selected first-round games, the semi-finals, and the final all screened live on ITV1 and the rest of the tournament live on ITV4 but the live coverage was moved entirely to ITV4 in subsequent years, with highlights packages being the only coverage of the event on ITV1.
The tournament proved popular on ITV4, with the 2009 event achieving nine out of the top ten places in the channel's output for that week. Viewing figures ranged from 208,000 to 435,000 with the final itself watched by 454,000. [7] ITV extended their contract with the PDC to show the tournament until at least 2010. [8]
The presenting team consisted of lead presenter Matt Smith, and analysts Alan Warriner-Little and Chris Mason (who replaced Steve Beaton in 2008). The commentating team included Stuart Pyke, who also commentates on darts for Sky Sports, boxing commentator John Rawling, and Peter Drury. Janie Omorogbe provided reporting duties and player interviews.
On 25 January 2011, it was announced that Sky Sports would broadcast the event until 2018. [9] [10] Sky continues to air the event with its current deal running until 2025.
The sponsors of the event were PartyBets.com (2007) and PartyPoker.com (2008–09), websites operated by Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, the Daily Mirror newspaper (2010), William Hill (2011–13), Singha Beer (2014–16), [11] bwin (2017–18) and BoyleSports (2019–2020). Cazoo took over as sponsors from 2021, as part of a deal where they will also sponsor the PDC World Cup of Darts and the European Championship. In October 2023, Mr Vegas was named as title sponsor. [1]
Raymond van Barneveld is a Dutch professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Nicknamed "Barney", although originally known as "The Man", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest darts players of all time. Van Barneveld is a five-time World Darts Champion, a two-time UK Open Champion and a former winner of the Las Vegas Desert Classic, the Grand Slam of Darts and the Premier League. He is also a twice-winner of the World Masters and the World Darts Trophy, and a three-time winner of the International Darts League, the Dutch Open and the WDF World Cup Singles event.
The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the World Darts Council (WDC). Sports promoter Eddie Hearn is the PDC chairman.
The British Darts Organisation (BDO) was a darts organisation founded on 7 January 1973 by Olly Croft. Made up of 66 member counties, it oversaw professional, semi-professional and amateur darts competitions in Britain. The BDO was a founder member of the World Darts Federation in 1974. It also staged a World Professional Darts Championship from 1978 to 2020.
James Martin Wade is an English professional darts player, currently playing in the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), where he is the World No. 16, having reached a peak of World No. 2 in 2010. He became the youngest player to win a major PDC title, when he won the 2007 World Matchplay at the age of 24. This record has since been broken by Michael van Gerwen and Luke Littler. Wade has won eleven PDC majors, third in the all-time list behind Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen.
The PDC World Darts Championship, known for sponsorship purposes as the Paddy Power World Darts Championship, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), is a World Professional Darts Championship held annually in the sport of darts. The PDC world championship begins in December and ends in January and is held at Alexandra Palace in London, and has been held there since 2008. It is the most prestigious of the PDC's tournaments, with the winner receiving the Sid Waddell Trophy, named in honour of the darts commentator Sid Waddell, who died in 2012. Along with the Premier League Darts and World Matchplay, it is considered part of the Triple Crown.
The World Masters is a darts tournament, initially organised by the British Darts Organisation from 1974 and later by the World Darts Federation. It is one of the longest-running and most prestigious of the BDO/WDF tournaments. The tournament was originally sponsored by Phonogram before changing its sponsor in 1975 to darts board manufacturer, Winmau. The World Masters was originally contested as the best of 5 legs before later transitioning to the set format.
Michael van Gerwen is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently the World No. 3, having been the World No. 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2017 and 2019. Van Gerwen is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
This is a list of some of the major events and competitions in the sport of darts in 2007. Raymond van Barneveld proved to be the most successful player with ten professional tournament wins across the PDC and BDO, including four majors.
Gary James Grant Anderson is a Scottish professional darts player who plays Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently the World No. 14, having reached a peak of PDC World No. 2 from 2015 to 2016. Nicknamed "The Flying Scotsman", after the famous steam train, he is a former BDO and WDF world number one, and a two-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2015 and 2016. He is regarded as one of the best darts players of all time.
Simon Whitlock is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments, having also played in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) between 2004 and 2009. He uses the nickname The Wizard for his matches. His walk-on music is "Down Under" by Men at Work.
The split in darts refers to the acrimonious 1993 dispute between professional darts players and the game's governing body, the British Darts Organisation (BDO), resulting in the creation of a rival darts circuit under the banner of the World Darts Council, which eventually became the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).
The 2007 PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts was the inaugural staging of the darts tournament, the Grand Slam of Darts, held by the Professional Darts Corporation. The tournament invited the best performing players from the PDC and its rival the British Darts Organisation. There had been two previous head-to-head matches between the champions of the two organisations and a few tournaments have also featured BDO v PDC clashes. This tournament was the first of its kind to be held in the United Kingdom.
Gerwyn Price is a Welsh professional darts player and former professional rugby union and rugby league player. He plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently the No. 10, having been the World No. 1 on three occasions from 2021 to 2022.
This is a list of the main career statistics of English professional darts player Phil Taylor, whose professional career lasted from 1987 to 2018. Taylor won 214 professional titles and was runner-up in 48 finals. He won a record 85 major titles and a record 16 World Championships. In team events, he won 10 titles including being a four-time winner of the PDC World Cup of Darts and has had 2 runners-up finishes in team events. In 1999 and 2004 he defeated the reigning BDO champion in a special challenge match.
Robert Cross is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events, where he is currently the World No. 5, having reached a peak of World No. 2 from 2018 to 2019.
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The 2019 BoyleSports Grand Slam of Darts was the thirteenth staging of the tournament, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The event took place from 9–17 November 2019 in Wolverhampton, England, and like in 2018, it took place at Aldersley Leisure Village.
The 2022 PDC World Darts Championship was the 29th World Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the now-defunct British Darts Organisation. It took place at the Alexandra Palace in London from 15 December 2021 to 3 January 2022.
The 2021 Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts was the fifteenth staging of the Grand Slam of Darts, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The event returned to the Aldersley Leisure Village, Wolverhampton between 13–21 November 2021, after being held behind closed doors at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry in 2020.
The 2023 PDC World Darts Championship was a professional darts event that took place at Alexandra Palace in London, England, from 15 December 2022 to 3 January 2023. It was the 30th World Darts Championship to be organised by the Professional Darts Corporation since it separated from the now-defunct British Darts Organisation.