PDC Grand Slam of Darts

## Current champion

Jamie Lewis

The Grand Slam of Darts is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and is known as the Daily Mirror Grand Slam of Darts for sponsorship purposes. The PDC invites 8 WDF players, the WDF is a not-for-profit organization that concentrates on grassroots darts and is for amateur and semi-professional players. The Grand Slam of Darts was previously called Champion vs. Champion (from 1997 until 2004). The 1997 until 2004 was a match between the PDC World Champion and then-called BDO World Darts Champion, the 2005 and 2006 Grand Slam of Darts editions were 10 players were split into 2 groups of 5, the PDC Group and BDO Group and played a single round-robin with the top 2 players advancing to the knockout stage. All Champion vs. Champion and 2004 & 05 editions of the Grand Slam final matches were played in set form expect for the 1999 edition which was played in legs form but with a 60-minute time-limit instead of a best of/first to x legs format.

Since the 2015 edition the tournament is a ranking-tournament, being a non-ranking event at previous editions. The Clash of Champions event in 1997 and 1998 was held at the Circus Tavern, Purfleet (home of the PDC World Darts Championship at the time) before being moved to the Wembley Conference Centre in Wembley, London. The 2005 and 2006 events were played in ExpoCenter in Hengelo, Netherlands. The Grand Slam of Darts has been played at Civic Hall, Wolverhampton since its renaming until 2015 where it moved to the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.

The PDC World Darts Champion, World Matchplay champion, World Grand Prix champion, Premier League champion, PDC World Youth Champion, PDC World Women's Champion and defending Grand Slam champion qualify alongside with 17 best ranked players from the PDC Order of Merit. The WDF World Darts Champion, WDF World Masters champion, WDF World Darts Trophy champion and WDF Finder Darts Masters champion alongside 4 of the best ranked WDF players to the tournament qualify for the WDF. The 32 players go into 4 pots of 8 and a player will be selected from each of the pots. Players’ Order of Merit determines which pot they go into. The 32 players are drawn into 8 groups of 4. It’s 2 points for a win. All group games are a first to 5 legs (best of 9 legs; no breaks) and the top 2 players advance to the knockout stage. If 2 players are tied then it’s determined by leg difference then by head-to-head record.

The Round of 16 and the quarter-final is a first to 3 sets (best of 5 sets; no break), the semi-final is a first to 4 sets (best of 7 sets; break every 2 sets) and final is a first to 5 sets (best of 9 sets; break every 3 sets). It is held in the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. The trophy is named the Eric Bristow Trophy. The Round of 16 games, the semi-finals and the final were all shown live on ITV1 with all the other matches live on ITV2.

## Finals

\* The match prematurely ended due to Andy Fordham's withdrawing after suffering an asthma attack, thus the match was awarded to MVG.

## **Television coverage**

1997 & 1998: Sky Sports1999: ITV

2000-2003: Sky Sports

2004: Sky Sports Box Office

2005-2015: Sky Sports

**2016-present: ITV (contract lasts until 2024)**