STEPHEN BUNTING and Mark Webster headlined the eight bwin Grand Slam of Darts Qualifiers on Monday night as the field for the Wolverhampton event was finalised.
The last-chance qualifier for PDC Tour Card Holders saw 93 hopefuls in action at Wigan's Robin Park Tennis Centre as they battled for precious Grand Slam spots.
Bunting and Webster raced through qualification to book spots in the £450,000 tournament at the Aldersley Leisure Village from November 10-18 alongside four Grand Slam debutants.
Former Lakeside Champion Bunting defeated Dawson Murschell, Tony Newell and Rowby-John Rodriguez to secure his third Grand Slam appearance.
Three-time Wolverhampton quarter-finalist Webster edged out World Matchplay semi-finalist Jeffrey de Zwaan 5-4 in their decider to ensure his return to the event, after also seeing off Mario Robbe and Matthew Edgar.
Former World Youth Champion Keegan Brown, a quarter-finalist in the 2014 Grand Slam of Darts, will make his third Wolverhampton appearance after wins over Lee Bryant, Brendan Dolan, Darren Johnson and Steve Lennon.
Bolton's Joe Murnan qualified for a second successive year after winning 5-4 in his four games, defeating Ritchie Edhouse, Prakash Jiwa, Luke Humphries and Tytus Kanik on the day.
Former UK Open quarter-finalist Steve Hine secured his debut in the event by defeating John Goldie, Kevin Burness, Scott Taylor and Arron Monk.
Andrew Gilding sealed his Grand Slam debut with a narrow 5-4 win over Alan Norris, with the 2015 UK Open semi-finalist having only dropped four legs in his earlier defeats of Ricky Evans, Adrian Lewis and Alan Tabern.
German youngster Martin Schindler completed a memorable day in Wigan by following up his earlier qualification for the PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship final by securing a Grand Slam debut.
Schindler won in a deciding leg against both Simon Stevenson and Jamie Lewis before defeating Jan Dekker 5-3 to seal his spot in Wolverhampton.
Somerset's Ryan Searle will be another debutant in Wolverhampton, after edging out Australia's Kyle Anderson 5-4 in their decider, to follow up wins over Mark Wilson, Sven Groen and Darren Webster.
There was disappointment for world number five Daryl Gurney as he lost out to Dekker, while former finalists Robert Thornton and Dave Chisnall and two-time semi-finalist Adrian Lewis also missed out.
The bwin Grand Slam of Darts will be held from November 10-18 at the Aldersley Leisure Village.
For ticket information, and details of car parking and shuttle buses, visit www.wolvescivic.co.uk or call 0870 320 7000.
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The bwin Grand Slam of Darts draw is expected to be made on Tuesday November 6. Further details will be confirmed in due course.
2018 bwin Grand Slam of Darts
Tour Card Holders' Qualifier
Last 32
Jan Dekker 5-2 Stephen Burton
Martin Schindler 5-4 Jamie Lewis
Stephen Bunting 5-2 Tony Newell
Rowby-John Rodriguez 5-3 Chris Dobey
Andrew Gilding 5-2 Alan Tabern
Alan Norris 5-2 Davy Van Baelen
Arron Monk 5-4 Wayne Jones
Steve Hine 5-1 Scott Taylor
Jeffrey de Zwaan 5-2 Dave Chisnall
Mark Webster 5-1 Matthew Edgar
Joe Murnan 5-4 Luke Humphries
Tytus Kanik 5-1 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Keegan Brown 5-2 Darren Johnson
Steve Lennon 5-3 John Henderson
Ryan Searle 5-3 Darren Webster
Kyle Anderson 5-2 Robert Thornton
Last 16
Martin Schindler 5=3 Jan Dekker
Stephen Bunting 5-0 Rowby-John Rodriguez
Andrew Gilding 5-4 Alan Norris
Steve Hine 5-3 Arron Monk
Mark Webster 5-4 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Joe Murnan 5-4 Tytus Kanik
Keegan Brown 5-3 Steve Lennon
Ryan Searle 5-4 Kyle Anderson
2018 bwin Grand Slam of Darts
PDC Representatives (invited in the following order up to a maximum of 16 players)
2017/18 PDC World Champion; ROB CROSS - 1
2017 Grand Slam Champion; MICHAEL VAN GERWEN - 2
2018 Premier League Champion; (Michael van Gerwen)
2018 World Matchplay Champion; GARY ANDERSON - 3
2018 World Grand Prix Champion; (Michael van Gerwen)
2017 World Youth Champion; DIMITRI VAN DEN BERGH - 4
2018 Masters Champion; (Michael van Gerwen)
2018 UK Open Champion; (Gary Anderson)
2018 European Champion; JAMES WADE - 5
2017 Players Champion; (Michael van Gerwen)
2018 Champions League Champion; (Gary Anderson)
2018 World Series of Darts Finals Champion;
2018 World Cup winners; (Michael van Gerwen) & RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD - 6
2017/18 PDC World Championship runner-up; (Phil Taylor)
2017 Grand Slam runner-up; PETER WRIGHT - 7
2018 Premier League runner-up; MICHAEL SMITH - 8
2018 World Matchplay runner-up; MENSUR SULJOVIC - 9
2018 World Grand Prix runner-up; (Peter Wright)
2017 World Youth Championship runner-up; JOSH PAYNE - 10
2018 Masters runner-up; (Raymond van Barneveld)
2018 UK Open runner-up; (COREY CADBY - withdrawn)
2018 European Championship runner-up; SIMON WHITLOCK - 11
2017 Players Championship runner-up; JONNY CLAYTON - 12
2018 Champions League runner-up; (Peter Wright)
2018 World Series of Darts Finals runner-up;
2018 World Cup runners-up (2 players with highest individual taking preference if only one spot available) (Peter Wright & Gary Anderson)
This list can produce a maximum of 28 players. If it produces more than 16 players, they shall be taken in order as listed above and 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:
2018 European Tour winners: GERWYN PRICE - 13, IAN WHITE - 14, MAX HOPP - 15
2018 Players Championship winners: KRZYSZTOF RATAJSKI - 16, MERVYN KING, JEFFREY DE ZWAAN, DANNY NOPPERT, MICKEY MANSELL, NATHAN ASPINALL
2018 UK Open Qualifier winners (No non-qualified players)
Players shall be separated within the reserve list first by the number of Events in each category they have won and then by their position in the PDC main Order of Merit on the cut-off date.
PDC Qualifiers: MARTIN SCHINDLER, STEPHEN BUNTING, ANDREW GILDING, STEVE HINE, MARK WEBSTER, JOE MURNAN, KEEGAN BROWN, RYAN SEARLE
BDO Representatives:
2018 Lakeside Champion - GLEN DURRANT
2018 Lakeside Championship runner-up - MARK MCGEENEY
2018 World Masters Champion - ADAM SMITH-NEALE
2018 BDO World Trophy Champion – (Glen Durrant)
Plus top five players from BDO Rankings:
JIM WILLIAMS
WESLEY HARMS
MICHAEL UNTERBUCHNER
SCOTT MITCHELL
GARY ROBSON