Grand_Slam_of_Darts
Grand Slam of Darts
Darts tournament
The Grand Slam of Darts is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and is known as the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts for sponsorship purposes.[1] The PDC used to invite the best performing players from its rival, the British Darts Organisation (which went into liquidation in September 2020). There have been two previous head-to-head matches between the champions of the two organisations and a few overseas tournaments have also featured BDO v PDC clashes, but this tournament is the first of its kind to be held in the United Kingdom. This arrangement lasted until the BDO's collapse into liquidation in 2020[2] and it is unclear whether any other organisation will be invited in future.
Since the 2015 edition the tournament is classified as a ranking-tournament, being a non-ranking event at previous editions.
Up until 2017, the tournament was staged each November at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall since it began in 2007. Phil Taylor won the first three finals against Andy Hamilton in 2007, Terry Jenkins in 2008 and Scott Waites in 2009. Taylor did not reach the final in 2010, losing to Steve Beaton in the quarter-finals.[3] Scott Waites won that year, beating James Wade 16–12 in the final having trailed 8–0, making him the only BDO player to win the title. Taylor reclaimed the title in 2011, defeating Gary Anderson 16–4. Raymond van Barneveld defeated Michael van Gerwen 16–14 in the 2012 final, but Taylor regained the trophy in 2013, retained it in 2014, before losing to van Gerwen in 2015. Van Gerwen then retained it in 2016 and again in 2017 before Gerwyn Price won the trophy for the first time in 2018.
In May 2018, the PDC announced that the Grand Slam of Darts trophy would be renamed in honour of the recently deceased Eric Bristow.[4]
That year, with renovations being done to the Civic Hall, the Grand Slam was moved to a new venue, WV Active - Aldersley formerly Aldersley Leisure Village, which is located around 3 miles north-west of Wolverhampton City Centre. Three Grand Slam of Darts events at Aldersley were won by Gerwyn Price (2018, 2019, 2021). In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, the event was held at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry behind closed doors, and was won by José de Sousa. The 2021 edition saw the Grand Slam return to the WV Active - Aldersley where it has been held since. In 2023, the tournament was won by Luke Humphries.
