Wade & Whitlock's bwin Grand Slam Spots

James Wade - Unibet European Championship (Kelly Deckers, PDC)

JAMES WADE and Simon Whitlock have secured places in Wolverhampton next month after reaching the Unibet European Championship final on Sunday.

Wade, the 2010 and 2016 runner-up at the Wolves Civic, qualified for November's tournament at the Aldersley Leisure Village with a memorable triumph in Dortmund on Sunday.

Less than two weeks after becoming a father for the first time, Wade ended almost four years without a televised title as he scooped the £100,000 top prize at the European Championship.

The left-hander is now looking forward to returning to Wolverhampton for the Sky Sports-televised event from November 10-18.

"I've qualified for the Grand Slam now so it's a great feeling," said Wade.

"It's ticked a few boxes in my head. I've gone through my troubled times but I've shown that I'm dangerous and everyone needs to watch out."

Wade dedicated his European Championship success to new-born son Arthur, and admitted: "I've won TV titles before and I've never made the most of it. It's an amazing feeling."

Australian star Whitlock also secured qualification for the Grand Slam after reaching the European Championship final, where Wade denied him a second triumph in the event.

Players have a final chance to secure automatic qualification in next weekend's bwin World Series of Darts Finals in Vienna, before eight players come through the last-chance qualifier for PDC Tour Card Holders on November 5.

The bwin Grand Slam of Darts will be held from November 10-18 at the Aldersley Leisure Village.

For ticket information, and details of car parking and shuttle buses, visit www.wolvescivic.co.uk or call 0870 320 7000.

2018 bwin Grand Slam of Darts
PDC Representatives – Current Provisional Qualifiers: (invited in the following order up to a maximum of 16 players) 
2017/18 PDC World Champion; ROB CROSS - 1
2017 Grand Slam Champion; MICHAEL VAN GERWEN - 2 
2018 Premier League Champion; (Michael van Gerwen)
2018 World Matchplay Champion; GARY ANDERSON - 3
2018 World Grand Prix Champion; (Michael van Gerwen)
2017 World Youth Champion; DIMITRI VAN DEN BERGH - 4
2018 Masters Champion; (Michael van Gerwen)
2018 UK Open Champion; (Gary Anderson)
2018 European Champion; JAMES WADE - 5
2017 Players Champion; (Michael van Gerwen)
2018 Champions League Champion; (Gary Anderson)
2018 World Series of Darts Finals Champion; 
2018 World Cup winners; (Michael van Gerwen) & RAYMOND VAN BARNEVELD - 6
2017/18 PDC World Championship runner-up; (Phil Taylor)
2017 Grand Slam runner-up; PETER WRIGHT - 7
2018 Premier League runner-up; MICHAEL SMITH - 8
2018 World Matchplay runner-up; MENSUR SULJOVIC - 9
2018 World Grand Prix runner-up; (Peter Wright)
2017 World Youth Championship runner-up; JOSH PAYNE - 10
2018 Masters runner-up; (Raymond van Barneveld)
2018 UK Open runner-up; COREY CADBY - 11
2018 European Championship runner-up; SIMON WHITLOCK - 12
2017 Players Championship runner-up; JONNY CLAYTON - 13
2018 Champions League runner-up; (Peter Wright)
2018 World Series of Darts Finals runner-up; 
2018 World Cup runners-up (2 players with highest individual taking preference if only one spot available) (Peter Wright & Gary Anderson) 
This list can produce a maximum of 28 players. If it produces more than 16 players, they shall be taken in order as listed above and no further players shall qualify automatically.
If it produces fewer than 16 places then additional places shall be filled from the reserve list in the following order:
2018 European Tour winners: GERWYN PRICE - 14, IAN WHITE - 15, MAX HOPP - 16
2018 Players Championship winners: KRZYSZTOF RATAJSKI, MERVYN KING, JEFFREY DE ZWAAN, DANNY NOPPERT, MICKEY MANSELL, NATHAN ASPINALL
2018 UK Open Qualifier winners (No non-qualified players)

Players shall be separated within the reserve list first by the number of Events in each category they have won and then by their position in the PDC main Order of Merit on the cut-off date.

BDO Representatives:
2018 Lakeside Champion - GLEN DURRANT
2018 Lakeside Championship runner-up - MARK MCGEENEY
2018 World Masters Champion - ADAM SMITH-NEALE
2018 BDO World Trophy Champion – (Glen Durrant)
Plus top five players from BDO Rankings:
JIM WILLIAMS
WESLEY HARMS
MICHAEL UNTERBUCHNER
SCOTT MITCHELL
GARY ROBSON