The 2018 bwin Grand Slam of Darts was the twelfth staging of the tournament, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The event took place from 10–18 November 2018 in Wolverhampton, England, but for the first time in the event's history, it was not at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, as it was 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 Trophy", named after the legendary player who died in April 2018.
The tournament's defending champion was Michael van Gerwen, who won the tournament in 2017 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 won his first PDC major title by defeating Gary Anderson 16–13, in a highly controversial final. Price also became the first Welsh 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. 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 hit the fourth nine dart leg in Grand Slam of Darts history, in his second round match against Stephen Bunting, 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.
Position (num. of players) Prize money(Total: £450,000)Winner (1) £110,000Runner-up (1) £55,000Semi-finalists (2) £28,500Quarter-finalists (4) £16,000Last 16 (second round) (8) £10,000Third in group (8) £5,000Fourth in group (8) £3,000Group winner bonus (8) £2,500Nine-dart finish (1) £25,000
Qualifying
PDC Qualifying Tournaments PDC Main Tournaments Tournament Year Position Player Qualifiers PDC World Darts Championship 2018 Winner Rob Cross Rob Cross Michael van Gerwen Gary Anderson Dimitri Van den Bergh James Wade Raymond van Barneveld Peter Wright Michael Smith Mensur Suljović Josh Payne Simon Whitlock Jonny Clayton Grand Slam of Darts 2017 Winner Michael van Gerwen Premier League Darts 2018 Winner Michael van Gerwen World Matchplay 2018 Winner Gary Anderson World Grand Prix 2018 Winner Michael van Gerwen PDC World Youth Championship 2017 Winner Dimitri Van den Bergh Masters 2018 Winner Michael van Gerwen UK Open 2018 Winner Gary Anderson European Championship 2018 Winner James Wade Players Championship Finals 2017 Winner Michael van Gerwen Champions League of Darts 2018 Winner Gary Anderson World Series of Darts Finals 2018 Winner James Wade PDC World Cup of Darts 2018 Winners Michael van Gerwen PDC World Darts Championship 2018 Runner-up Phil Taylor Grand Slam of Darts 2017 Runner-up Peter Wright Premier League Darts 2018 Runner-up Michael Smith World Matchplay 2018 Runner-up Mensur Suljović World Grand Prix 2018 Runner-up Peter Wright PDC World Youth Championship 2017 Runner-up Josh Payne Masters 2018 Runner-up UK Open 2018 Runner-up Corey Cadby European Championship 2018 Runner-up Simon Whitlock Players Championship Finals 2017 Runner-up Jonny Clayton Champions League of Darts 2018 Runner-up Peter Wright World Series of Darts Finals 2018 Runner-up Michael Smith PDC World Cup of Darts 2018 Runners-Up Peter Wright Gary Anderson Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.
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.
PDC European Tour Tournament Event Position Player Qualifiers 2018 European Tour Winner Michael van Gerwen Gerwyn Price Ian White Max Hopp German Darts Grand PrixWinner Michael van Gerwen German Darts OpenWinner Max Hopp Austrian Darts OpenWinner Jonny Clayton European Darts Grand PrixWinner Michael van Gerwen Dutch Darts MastersWinner Michael van Gerwen Gibraltar Darts TrophyWinner Michael van Gerwen Danish Darts OpenWinner Mensur Suljović European Darts MatchplayWinner Michael van Gerwen Winner Michael van Gerwen Dutch Darts ChampionshipWinner Ian White International Darts OpenWinner Gerwyn Price European Darts TrophyWinner Michael van Gerwen Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.
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 Pro Tour Tournament Event Position Player Qualifiers 2018 PDC Pro Tour Winner Michael van Gerwen Krzysztof Ratajski Players Championship 2Winner Michael van Gerwen Players Championship 3Winner Gary Anderson Players Championship 4Winner Gary Anderson Players Championship 5Winner Michael van Gerwen Players Championship 6Winner Ian White Players Championship 7Winner Michael Smith Players Championship 8Winner Mickey Mansell Players Championship 9Winner Michael van Gerwen Players Championship 10Winner Jeffrey de Zwaan Players Championship 11Winner Gary Anderson Players Championship 12Winner Josh Payne Players Championship 13Winner Rob Cross Players Championship 14Winner Peter Wright Players Championship 15Winner Mervyn King Players Championship 16Winner Ian White Players Championship 17Winner Peter Wright Players Championship 18Winner Nathan Aspinall Players Championship 19Winner Max Hopp Players Championship 20Winner Danny Noppert Players Championship 21Winner Krzysztof Ratajski Players Championship 22Winner Krzysztof Ratajski Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.
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 on 5 November. These are the qualifiers: Martin Schindler Stephen Bunting Andrew Gilding Steve Hine Mark Webster Joe Murnan Keegan Brown Ryan Searle
BDO Qualifying Tournaments Tournament Year Position Player BDO World Darts Championship 2018 Winner Glen Durrant Runner-up Mark McGeeney World Masters 2018 Winner Adam Smith-Neale BDO World Trophy 2018 Winner Glen Durrant
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 Michael Unterbuchner Scott Mitchell Gary Robson
Pools Pool APool BPool CPool D(PDC Seeded Players)(PDC Qualifiers)(BDO Qualifiers) Michael van Gerwen (1) Peter Wright (2) Rob Cross (3) Gary Anderson (4) James Wade (5) Mensur Suljović (6) Simon Whitlock (7) Michael Smith (8) Dimitri Van den Bergh Raymond van Barneveld Jonny Clayton Gerwyn Price Ian White Max Hopp Stephen Bunting Keegan Brown Josh Payne Krzysztof Ratajski Martin Schindler Andrew Gilding Steve Hine Mark Webster Joe Murnan Ryan Searle Glen Durrant Mark McGeeney Adam Smith-Neale Jim Williams Wesley Harms Michael Unterbuchner Scott Mitchell Gary Robson
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 Pos.PlayerPWLLFLA+/−PtsStatus 1 Jonny Clayton 3 3 0 15 9 +6 6 Q 2 3 2 1 14 7 +7 4 3 Gary Robson (BDO) 3 1 2 9 14 –5 2 Eliminated 4 Joe Murnan 3 0 3 7 15 –8 0
10 November 112.66 Michael van Gerwen 5 – 1 Gary Robson 90.76 84.44 Jonny Clayton 5 – 2 Joe Murnan 80.90
11 November 89.57 Joe Murnan 4 – 5 Gary Robson 88.53 107.92 Michael van Gerwen 4 – 5 Jonny Clayton 103.60
13 November 87.37 Jonny Clayton 5 – 3 Gary Robson 86.35 97.33 Michael van Gerwen 5 – 1 Joe Murnan 79.85
Group B Pos.PlayerPWLLFLA+/−PtsStatus 1 3 3 0 15 7 +8 6 Q 2 Krzysztof Ratajski 3 2 1 14 9 +5 4 3 3 1 2 8 14 –6 2 Eliminated 4 3 0 3 8 15 –7 0
10 November 92.88 Michael Smith 5 – 3 Adam Smith-Neale 85.56 92.30 Raymond van Barneveld 3 – 5 Krzysztof Ratajski 90.15
11 November 5 – 4 Adam Smith-Neale 84.76 97.26 Michael Smith 5 – 4 Krzysztof Ratajski 99.40
13 November 101.93 Krzysztof Ratajski 5 – 1 Adam Smith-Neale 88.52 98.88 Michael Smith 5 – 0 Raymond van Barneveld 90.96
Group C Pos.PlayerPWLLFLA+/−PtsStatus 1 3 3 0 15 4 +11 6 Q 2 Wesley Harms (BDO) 3 2 1 10 12 –2 4 3 Keegan Brown 3 1 2 12 14 –2 2 Eliminated 4 Mark Webster 3 0 3 8 15 –7 0
10 November 98.88 James Wade 5 – 0 Wesley Harms 85.88 90.40 Keegan Brown 5 – 4 Mark Webster 86.40
11 November 91.23 Mark Webster 3 – 5 Wesley Harms 88.91 104.71 James Wade 5 – 3 Keegan Brown 102.06
13 November 103.66 Keegan Brown 4 – 5 Wesley Harms 103.98 101.72 James Wade 5 – 1 Mark Webster 91.55
Group D Pos.PlayerPWLLFLA+/−PtsStatus 1 3 3 0 15 4 +11 6 Q 2 3 2 1 12 10 +2 4 3 Ian White 3 1 2 9 11 –2 2 Eliminated 4 Steve Hine 3 0 3 4 15 –11 0
10 November 90.78 Gary Anderson 5 – 2 Michael Unterbuchner 78.78 104.64 Ian White 5 – 1 Steve Hine 92.89
11 November 89.86 Steve Hine 2 – 5 Michael Unterbuchner 97.09 112.54 Gary Anderson 5 – 1 Ian White 86.63
13 November 91.65 Ian White 3 – 5 Michael Unterbuchner 89.83 100.13 Gary Anderson 5 – 1 Steve Hine 85.97
Group E Pos.PlayerPWLLFLA+/−PtsStatus 1 3 3 0 15 10 +5 6 Q 2 Josh Payne 3 1 2 12 12 0 2 3 Max Hopp 3 1 2 11 13 –2 2 Eliminated 4 Jim Williams (BDO) 3 1 2 11 14 –3 2
10 November 88.65 Peter Wright 5 – 4 Jim Williams 87.30 92.76 Max Hopp 5 – 3 Josh Payne 90.12
11 November 90.20 Josh Payne 5 – 2 Jim Williams 91.91 98.46 Peter Wright 5 – 2 Max Hopp 95.76
12 November 97.18 Max Hopp 4 – 5 Jim Williams 101.60 90.81 Peter Wright 5 – 4 Josh Payne 86.98
Group F Pos.PlayerPWLLFLA+/−PtsStatus 1 Gerwyn Price 3 2 1 14 11 +3 4 Q 2 3 2 1 11 11 0 4 3 Glen Durrant (BDO)3 1 2 13 11 +2 2 Eliminated 4 Andrew Gilding 3 1 2 9 14 –5 2
10 November 92.05 Simon Whitlock 1 – 5 Glen Durrant 99.20 90.24 Gerwyn Price 5 – 2 Andrew Gilding 84.49
11 November 94.11 Simon Whitlock 5 – 2 Andrew Gilding 89.56 101.60 Gerwyn Price 5 – 4 Glen Durrant 97.02
12 November 101.52 Andrew Gilding 5 – 4 Glen Durrant 104.98 108.86 Simon Whitlock 5 – 4 Gerwyn Price 104.58
Group G Pos.PlayerPWLLFLA+/−PtsStatus 1 Stephen Bunting 3 3 0 15 7 +8 6 Q 2 3 1 2 12 12 0 2 3 Scott Mitchell (BDO) 3 1 2 8 11 –3 2 Eliminated 4 Martin Schindler 3 1 2 9 14 –5 2
10 November 94.24 Mensur Suljović 5 – 2 Scott Mitchell 89.53 91.00 Stephen Bunting 5 – 3 Martin Schindler 84.83
11 November 88.42 Martin Schindler 1 – 5 Scott Mitchell 97.76 101.94 Mensur Suljović 3 – 5 Stephen Bunting 104.36
12 November 89.97 Stephen Bunting 5 – 1 Scott Mitchell 91.35 90.41 Mensur Suljović 4 – 5 Martin Schindler 87.06
Group H Pos.PlayerPWLLFLA+/−PtsStatus 1 Rob Cross (3) 3 3 0 15 8 +7 6 Q 2 3 2 1 14 9 +5 4 3 Mark McGeeney (BDO) 3 1 2 8 13 –5 2 Eliminated 4 Ryan Searle 3 0 3 8 15 –7 0
10 November 87.49 Rob Cross 5 – 2 Mark McGeeney 79.63 95.67 Dimitri Van den Bergh 5 – 3 Ryan Searle 89.19
11 November 83.56 Ryan Searle 3 – 5 Mark McGeeney 92.93 98.08 Rob Cross 5 – 4 Dimitri Van den Bergh 100.11
12 November 98.90 Dimitri Van den Bergh 5 – 1 Mark McGeeney 95.75 98.70 Rob Cross 5 – 2 Ryan Searle 88.66
Knockout stage
References