THE field for the 2016 SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts has been confirmed, following the conclusion of the Ladbrokes World Series of Darts Finals.
The SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts brings together 32 players from both the Professional Darts Corporation and BDO systems to compete across nine days at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall from November 12-20, live on Sky Sports.
Qualification for players from the PDC system is primarily based on the finalists of televised events over a one-year period, which produced ten stars as Gary Anderson, Michael van Gerwen, Max Hopp, Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis, Nathan Aspinall, Dave Chisnall, Peter Wright, Mensur Suljovic and Raymond van Barneveld secured Wolverhampton spots.
Former Grand Slam finalist James Wade was joined by Alan Norris in qualifying as European Tour event winners, with Benito van de Pas, Ian White, Simon Whitlock and Gerwyn Price seeing their Players Championship victories secure them spots from the reserve list.
In addition to those 16 pre-qualified players, a further eight places went to the PDC Qualifier in Barnsley last month, with former Wolverhampton runner-up Robert Thornton amongst those players to win a spot in Wolverhampton alongside emerging stars Dimitri Van den Bergh, Chris Dobey, Nathan Derry and Ted Evetts and more experienced aces Brendan Dolan, Darren Webster and James Wilson.
The eight BDO representatives are headed by reigning Lakeside Champion Scott Waites, who won the 2010 Grand Slam of Darts and is also a former finalist in Wolverhampton.
Martin Adams, Scott Mitchell and Darryl Fitton are returning to the Grand Slam while local star Jamie Hughes joins Glen Durrant, Jeff Smith and Danny Noppert in making their debuts at the Wolves Civic.
The opening four days of the SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts sees the 32 players split into eight groups for the round-robin phase, with the top two players in each group then progressing to the knockout stage from the last 16 onwards.
The draw for the SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts will be made on Monday afternoon and advertised at www.pdc.tv.
Tickets for the SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts can be purchased by calling 0870 320 7000 or online at www.theticketfactory.com/PDC.
2016 SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts Field
PDC INVITATIONS (invited in the following order up to a maximum of 16 players)
2015/16 PDC World Champion - GARY ANDERSON
2015 Grand Slam Champion - MICHAEL VAN GERWEN
2016 Premier League Champion - Michael van Gerwen
2016 World Matchplay Champion - Michael van Gerwen
2016 World Grand Prix Champion - Michael van Gerwen
2015 World Youth Champion - MAX HOPP
2016 Masters Champion - Michael van Gerwen
2016 UK Open Champion - Michael van Gerwen
2016 European Champion - Michael van Gerwen
2015 Players Champion - Michael van Gerwen
2016 World Series of Darts Final Champion - Michael van Gerwen
2016 World Cup winners (2 players) - PHIL TAYLOR, ADRIAN LEWIS
2015/16 PDC World Championship runner-up - Adrian Lewis
2015 Grand Slam runner-up - Phil Taylor
2016 Premier League runner-up - Phil Taylor
2016 World Matchplay runner-up - Phil Taylor
2016 World Grand Prix runner-up - Gary Anderson
2015 World Youth Championship runner-up - NATHAN ASPINALL
2016 Masters runner-up - DAVE CHISNALL
2016 UK Open runner-up - PETER WRIGHT
2016 European Championship runner-up - MENSUR SULJOVIC
2015 Players Championship runner-up - Adrian Lewis
2016 World Series of Darts Final runner-up - Peter Wright
2016 World Cup of Darts runners-up - Michael van Gerwen, RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD
This list can produce a maximum of 24 players. If it produces 16 players, no further players shall qualify automatically.
If it produces fewer than 16 places then additional places shall be filled from the reserve list in the following order:
2016 European Tour winners (in ProTour Order of Merit order at Nov 7)
JAMES WADE
ALAN NORRIS
2016 Players Championship winners (in ProTour Order of Merit order at Nov 7)
BENITO VAN DE PAS
IAN WHITE
SIMON WHITLOCK
GERWYN PRICE
2016 UK Open Qualifier winners (in ProTour Order of Merit order at Nov 7) – No additional qualifiers.
Once 16 players are reached from the above criteria then the remaining 16 places shall be filled with eight players from a PDC qualifier and eight players from the BDO system.
PDC QUALIFIERS
ROBERT THORNTON
DIMITRI VAN DEN BERGH
TED EVETTS
BRENDAN DOLAN
CHRIS DOBEY
JAMES WILSON
NATHAN DERRY
DARREN WEBSTER
BDO INVITATIONS
2016 Lakeside Champion - SCOTT WAITES
2016 Lakeside runner-up - JEFF SMITH
2016 World Masters Champion - GLEN DURRANT
2016 World Trophy Champion - DARRYL FITTON
BDO QUALIFIERS
Four highest ranked BDO players not otherwise qualified
SCOTT MITCHELL
DANNY NOPPERT
JAMIE HUGHES
MARTIN ADAMS