QUALIFICATION CRITERIA CONFIRMED FOR 2015 SINGHA BEER GRAND SLAM OF DARTS
THE qualification criteria for the 2015 SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts has been confirmed, with 24 PDC stars set to be joined by eight BDO players in this year's tournament in Wolverhampton.
Following eight hugely successful years of the tournament, which is held across nine days at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, the SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts will become a PDC ranked event in 2015, with prize money won to count on the main PDC Order of Merit.
Players from within the PDC system will be able to qualify automatically by winning, or reaching the final of, major PDC tournaments throughout 2015 - plus the 2014 Grand Slam, Players Championship Finals and World Youth Championship - up to a maximum of 16 spots.
The automatic qualifiers would currently include PDC World Champion and Premier League champion Gary Anderson, 2015 Masters winner and UK Open champion Michael van Gerwen as well as reigning Grand Slam champion Phil Taylor and his World Cup of Darts-winning partner Adrian Lewis.
World Youth Champion Keegan Brown will also compete in the event, with Dave Chisnall, Peter Wright, Raymond van Barneveld and Rowby-John Rodriguez standing by to compete from the list of major finalists.
Alongside the 16 automatic PDC qualifiers, eight players will come from a PDC Qualifier which will be held on October 23 in Coventry.
In addition, eight players will represent the BDO system in the tournament, with invitations being issued to BDO Lakeside World Champion Scott Mitchell, runner-up Martin Adams, 2015 World Trophy champion Geert De Vos and the 2014 World Masters winner Martin Phillips.
A further four BDO Qualifiers will also compete in Wolverhampton, with two to come from a UK qualifying event on Tuesday October 6 and two from a European qualifying event, which will be held on Sunday October 18. Full details will be available in due course.
The SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts was first staged in 2007 and has been won six times by Phil Taylor, with Scott Waites taking the 2010 title and Raymond van Barneveld claiming glory in 2012.
The SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts will be played from November 7-15 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall and televised live on Sky Sports. Ticket information will be confirmed in due course at www.pdc.tv/tickets.
2015 SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts
Invitations & Qualifying Criteria In Full
One-Year Invitations to be issued to a maximum of 16 players from the events below in the order of automatic qualifiers listed (players who have already qualified listed in brackets):
2015 PDC World Champion - Gary Anderson
2014 Grand Slam of Darts Champion - Phil Taylor
2015 Premier League Champion - (Gary Anderson)
2015 World Matchplay Champion
2015 World Grand Prix Champion
2014 Players Champion - (Gary Anderson)
2015 UK Open Champion - Michael van Gerwen
2015 European Champion
2015 Masters Champion - (Michael van Gerwen)
2014 World Youth Champion - Keegan Brown
2015 World Series of Darts Ranking List Leader
2015 World Cup Champions - Adrian Lewis (& Phil Taylor)
2015 PDC World Championship Runner-Up - (Phil Taylor)
2014 Grand Slam of Darts Runner-Up - Dave Chisnall
2015 Premier League Runner-Up - (Michael van Gerwen)
2015 World Matchplay Runner-Up
2015 World Grand Prix Runner-Up
2014 Players Championship Finals Runner-Up (Adrian Lewis)
2015 UK Open Runner-Up - Peter Wright
2015 European Championship Runner-Up
2015 Masters Runner-Up - Raymond van Barneveld
2014 World Youth Championship Runner-Up - Rowby-John Rodriguez
2015 World Series of Darts Ranking List Runner-Up
2015 World Cup Runners-Up (Gary Anderson & Peter Wright)
Should the list above produce 16 players in the order of events listed, no further players shall qualify automatically.
Should the list above produce fewer than 16 players, then additional places up to a total of 16 players shall be filled from the reserve list in the following order:
2015 PDC European Tour event winners (in ProTour Order of Merit position order at cut-off date)
2015 Players Championship event winners (in ProTour Order of Merit position at cut-off date)
If the automatic qualifiers list and reserve list as stated above produces less than 16 players, then additional places shall be awarded to the PDC Qualifier.
The remaining 16 places shall be filled with eight players from a PDC Qualifier and eight players from the BDO system.
The four BDO invitees are:
2015 Lakeside World Champion - Scott Mitchell
2015 Lakeside World Championship Runner-Up - Martin Adams
2014 World Masters Champion – Martin Phillips
2015 World Trophy Champion - Geert De Vos
In addition, the BDO will stage two qualifying tournaments, one in the UK (Tuesday October 6 in Hull) and one in Europe (Sunday October 18, venue TBC), which will each produce two players.
Should any of the four BDO invitees decline their invitation, additional places will shall be awarded to the BDO UK qualifying tournament.
The four BDO Invitees shall be drawn, along with the four BDO qualifiers, randomly for the main event, with one player drawn per group.
Seeds for main event
Eight seeds will be allocated as one per group based on the PDC Order of Merit on the date of the last player qualifying for the event.