The 2018

bwin bwin Interactive Entertainment AG, formerly known as betandwin, is an Austrian online betting brand acquired by Entain PLC. The group operated under international and regional licences in countries like Gibraltar, the Amerindian reserve of Ka ...

Grand Slam of Darts The Grand Slam of Darts is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and is known as the Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts for sponsorship purposes. The PDC also invited the best performing players from its rival, the British Dart ...

was the twelfth staging of the tournament, organised by the

Professional Darts Corporation The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is a professional darts organisation in the United Kingdom, established in 1992 when a group of leading players split from the British Darts Organisation (BDO) to form what was initially called the Wor ...

. The event took place from 10–18 November 2018 in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, but for the first time in the event's history, it was not at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, as it is undergoing a two-year renovation. The 2018 tournament was held at Aldersley Leisure Village. Beginning with this tournament, the winner of the title would receive "The

Eric Bristow Eric John Bristow, (25 April 1957 – 5 April 2018), nicknamed "The Crafty Cockney", was an English professional darts player. He was ranked World No. 1 by the World Darts Federation a record five times, in 1980, 1981 and 1983–1985. He was ...

Trophy", named after the legendary player who died in April 2018. The tournament's defending champion was

Michael van Gerwen Michael van Gerwen (; born 25 April 1989) is a Dutch professional darts player. He is currently ranked number 3 in the world, having been number 1 from 2014 to 2021. He is also a three-time PDC World Champion, having won the title in 2014, 2 ...

, who won the tournament in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

by defeating Peter Wright 16–12 in the final to win it for a third straight year, but lost in the semi-finals to Gary Anderson by the same scoreline 16–12.

Gerwyn Price Gerwyn Stephen Price (born 7 March 1985) is a Welsh professional darts player and former professional rugby union and rugby league player. Nicknamed "The Iceman", he competes in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), where he is cu ...

won his first PDC major title by defeating Gary Anderson 16–13, in a highly controversial final. Price also became the first

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

player to win a PDC major title. The DRA launched an investigation into the behaviour from both players in the final. Price was fined £21,500 for a combination of 'Bringing the sport into disrepute and gamesmanship' in the final and for his Quarter-Final clash with

Simon Whitlock Simon Whitlock (born 3 March 1969) is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournaments, having also played in the British Darts Organisation (BDO) between 2004 and 2009. He uses the nickname ...

. Price was also given a three month ban, which was suspended for 6 months. Anderson was given a formal warning for pushing Price on the oche. Price's fine was subsequently reduced on appeal to a total of £11,500.

Dimitri Van den Bergh Dimitri Van den Bergh (born 8 July 1994) is a Belgian professional darts player who currently competes in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He is a two-time World Youth Champion and the 2020 World Matchplay champion, after beating Gar ...

hit the fourth nine dart leg in Grand Slam of Darts history, in his second round match against

Stephen Bunting Stephen Bunting (born 9 April 1985) is an English professional darts player who competes in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). Nicknamed The Bullet, Bunting won the 2014 BDO World Darts Championship and is a twice former Wor ...

, and for the first time in the tournament history no Englishman progressed into the quarter-final stage.

Prize money

The prize fund for the Grand Slam was the same as in 2017, with the winner getting £110,000.

Qualifying

PDC Qualifying Tournaments

At most sixteen players could qualify through this method, where the position in the list depicts the priority of the qualification. As the list of qualifiers from the main tournaments produced fewer than sixteen players, the field of sixteen players is filled from the reserve lists. The first list consists of the winners from 2018 European Tour events, in which the winners are ordered by number of event wins then in Order of Merit position order at the cut-off date. If there are still less than sixteen qualified players after the winners of European Tour events are added, the winners of 2018 Players Championships events will be added, firstly by winners of multiple events followed by Order of Merit order.

PDC Qualifying Event

A further eight places in the Grand Slam of Darts were filled by qualifiers from a PDC qualifier that took place in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington ...

on 5 November. These are the qualifiers: *

Martin Schindler Martin Schindler (born 16 August 1996) is a German professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. Career Schindler won a PDC Tour Card at Qualifying-School (Q-School) in January 2017. He represented Germany ...

Andrew Gilding Andrew Gilding (born 7 December 1970) is an English professional darts player who plays in events of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). He made his television debut in 2011. Gilding's best result at a PDC major event was reaching the sem ...

* Steve Hine * Mark Webster * Joe Murnan *

Keegan Brown Keegan Brown (born 5 November 1992) is an English professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He won the 2014 PDC World Youth Championship. Career Early career Brown began playing darts at the age of ni ...

Ryan Searle Ryan Searle (born 22 June 1989, Brisbane, Australia) is an Australian professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He is a regular on the Australia national baseball team, the "Southern Thunder". He has been both a starter and a relief p ...

BDO Qualifying Tournaments

BDO Ranking Qualifiers

The remaining 5 BDO places were determined via the BDO Invitational Rankings at the end of September 2018. * Jim Williams *

Wesley Harms Wesley Harms (born 11 June 1984) is a Dutch former professional darts player. Career Harms won the BDO International Open in 2011, defeating Stephen Bunting in the final. Harms qualified for the 2012 BDO World Darts Championship as the 13t ...

Michael Unterbuchner Michael Unterbuchner (born 23 May 1988) is a German darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) events. He reached the semi-finals of the BDO World Championship on two of his three appearances. Career In 2017, Unterbuchne ...

* Scott Mitchell * Gary Robson

Pools

Draw

Group stage

''All group matches are best of nine legs''
''After three games, the top two in each group qualify for the knock-out stage'' NB: P = Played; W = Won; L = Lost; LF = Legs for; LA = Legs against; +/− = Plus/minus record, in relation to legs; Pts = Points; Status = Qualified to knockout stage

Group A

10 November 11 November 13 November

Group B

10 November 11 November 13 November

Group C

10 November 11 November 13 November

Group D

10 November 11 November 13 November

Group E

10 November 11 November 12 November

Group F

10 November 11 November 12 November

Group G

10 November 11 November 12 November

Group H

10 November 11 November 12 November

Knockout stage

References

{{2018 in PDC darts

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Grand Slam