THE Professional Darts Corporation are delighted to confirm that the Grand Slam of Darts will take place in 2008.
The inaugural PartyBets.com-sponsored tournament, staged at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, was a tremendous success, with Phil Taylor claiming the £80,000 winner's cheque.
Taylor defeated Andy Hamilton in the final in front of a sell-out crowd at the Wolves Civic.
The success of the event, in terms of crowds and also the coverage live on ITV Sport, means that the event will take place in 2008.
"We're delighted with the how successful the first PartyBets.com Grand Slam of Darts has been," said PDC Chairman Barry Hearn.
"The event has produced some great memories, the likes of Kevin McDine reaching the semis as an ITV Wildcard Qualifier, Australia's Pat Orreal reaching the second round and the fantastic matches we had throughout the tournament.
"It was a pleasure welcoming players from the WDF system to compete alongside stars from the PDC, and hopefully all 32 players enjoyed the tournament as much as myself, ITV and the darting public did."
The finalists of the recent Winmau World Masters, Robert Thornton and Darryl Fitton, will be invited to compete next year, along with the semi-finalists from the 2007 Grand Slam - ensuring a return for Taylor, Hamilton, Gary Anderson and Kevin McDine.
"I'll be back," said Taylor. "I've got my name on that trophy now and I'll be determined to retain my title next year.
"This is one of the biggest tournaments we've got. There was the best players in the world, who have qualified through being the best and the standard has been fantastic "