Noppert, Wade & R Smith among Grand Slam Tour Card Holder Qualifiers

Danny Noppert (Kelly Deckers/PDC)

Danny Noppert, James Wade and Ross Smith were among the eight players to secure their spots in the 2024 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts at Friday's Tour Card Holder Qualifier in Leicester.

Following the conclusion of the PDC ProTour season on Thursday, the Mattioli Arena played host to the Tour Card Holder Qualifier, as 99 players competed for eight spots in the £650,000 event.

Dutch number two Noppert was the highest-ranked player to come through Friday’s event, as he defeated his compatriot Danny van Trijp 5-1 to seal his sixth Grand Slam of Darts appearance.

Three-time Grand Slam runner-up Wade also eased through with a trio of emphatic wins against Simon Whitlock, Florian Hempel and Michele Turetta, conceding a solitary leg in the process.

Smith, meanwhile, will make his fourth Wolverhampton appearance in 2024 after following up routine wins against Adam Hunt and Brendan Dolan with a deciding-leg victory over Jeffrey de Graaf.

Martin Lukeman was Friday’s stand-out performer, producing averages of 103, 104, 103 and 107 in wins over Stephen Burton, James Hurrell, Nathan Rafferty and Jeffrey De Zwaan to confirm his qualification.

Lukeman will make his Grand Slam bow alongside Mickey Mansell, who followed up victory over 2012 champion Raymond van Barneveld by defeating three-time winner Gerwyn Price in the last 16.

Keane Barry was the third Tour Card Holder Qualifier to confirm his debut in the 32-player event, defeating French trailblazer Thibault Tricole 5-2 in a straight-shoot-out for qualification.

Fresh from his Players Championship triumph on Wednesday, Cameron Menzies continued his fine form to clinch a Wolverhampton return, defeating world number eight Nathan Aspinall along the way.

World Grand Prix semi-finalist Ryan Joyce made up the list of eight qualifiers, defying a 103 average from Damon Heta before running out a 5-2 winner against Nick Kenny to cap off a successful campaign.

Heta was one of several high-profile names to miss out on qualification, with three-time champion Price, world number five Clayton and 2022 runner-up Aspinall also falling short.

Former Grand Slam champions Van Barneveld and Jose de Sousa were beaten in the opening round of qualification, while Chris Dobey and Ryan Searle were beaten by De Graaf and Rafferty respectively.

Reigning champion Luke Humphries will headline the 32-player field in Wolverhampton, which also includes 2022 champion Michael Smith and three-time winner Michael van Gerwen.

Rob Cross – a runner-up to Humphries last year – will also feature alongside teenage sensation Luke Littler, who will make his highly-anticipated Grand Slam debut next weekend.

The 2024 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts will take place at WV Active Aldersley from November 9-17, as the sport’s biggest names battle it out for the coveted Eric Bristow Trophy.

The draw for the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts will be made on Monday November 4, and will be available through the PDC's social media channels.

The event draw and results are listed in the Match Centre. 

Click here for match stats & results.

2024 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts
Tour Card Holder Qualifier
Mattioli Arena, Leicester, Friday November 1
Last 16

Keane Barry 5-2 Thibault Tricole
Martin Lukeman 5-0 Jeffrey De Zwaan
Ryan Joyce 5-2 Nick Kenny
Danny Noppert 5-1 Danny van Trijp
Cameron Menzies 5-2 Matthew Dennant
James Wade 5-1 Michele Turetta
Mickey Mansell 5-3 Gerwyn Price
Ross Smith 5-4 Jeffrey de Graaf

2024 Grand Slam of Darts Qualification 
As at November 1
Automatic Qualifiers (invited in the following order up to a maximum of 16 players)

2023/24 PDC World Champion - LUKE HUMPHRIES (1)
2023 Grand Slam Champion - (Luke Humphries)
2024 Premier League Champion - LUKE LITTLER (2)
2024 World Matchplay Champion - (Luke Humphries)
2024 World Grand Prix Champion - MIKE DE DECKER (3)
2024 Masters Champion - STEPHEN BUNTING (4)
2024 UK Open Champion - DIMITRI VAN DEN BERGH (5)
2024 European Champion - RITCHIE EDHOUSE (6)   
2023 Players Championship Finals Champion - (Luke Humphries)
2024 World Series of Darts Finals Champion - (Luke Littler)     
2024 World Cup Champions x2 - (Luke Humphries), MICHAEL SMITH (7)
2023/24 PDC World Championship runner-up - (Luke Littler)
2023 Grand Slam runner-up - ROB CROSS (8)
2024 Premier League runner-up - (Luke Humphries)
2024 World Matchplay runner-up - MICHAEL VAN GERWEN (9)
2024 World Grand Prix runner-up - (Luke Humphries)       
2024 Masters runner-up - (Michael van Gerwen)
2024 UK Open runner-up - (Luke Humphries)
2024 European Championship runner-up - JERMAINE WATTIMENA (10)
2023 Players Championship Finals runner-up - (Michael van Gerwen)
2024 World Series of Darts Finals runner-up (Michael Smith)
2024 World Cup runners-up x2 - ROWBY-JOHN RODRIGUEZ (11)MENSUR SULJOVIC (12)

Additional Qualifiers (invited in the following order up to a maximum of 8 players)
2023 World Youth Champion - (Luke Littler)
2023 World Youth Championship runner-up - GIAN VAN VEEN (13)
2024 Challenge Tour OOM Top Non-Qualified Player - November 3 (14)
2024 Development Tour OOM Top Non-Qualified Player - WESSEL NIJMAN (15)
2024 Women’s World Matchplay Winner - BEAU GREAVES (16)
2024 Women’s Series OOM Top Non-Qualified Player - NOA-LYNN VAN LEUVEN (17)
2024 PDC Asian Championship Winner - LOURENCE ILAGAN (18)
2024 CDC Continental Cup Winner - LEONARD GATES (19)

2024 European Tour Event Winners

In order of number of event wins and then PDC Ranking Order; DAVE CHISNALL (20) x2, MARTIN SCHINDLER (21) x2, PETER WRIGHT (22)JOSH ROCK (23)GARY ANDERSON (24)

8x Tour Card Holder Qualifiers
KEANE BARRY (25)
MARTIN LUKEMAN (26)
RYAN JOYCE (27)
DANNY NOPPERT (28)
CAMERON MENZIES (29)
JAMES WADE (30)
MICKEY MANSELL (31)
ROSS SMITH (32)