2020 Grand Slam qualification criteria confirmed

Gerwyn Price (Lawrence Lustig, PDC)

The qualification structure for the 2020 Grand Slam of Darts has been confirmed ahead of November's tournament.

The 32-player tournament traditionally features players from both the PDC and BDO systems competing across nine days in Wolverhampton.

PDC players primarily qualify by reaching the final of a televised PDC Premier Event during each year, with this year's representatives being headlined by reigning Grand Slam champion Gerwen Price and World Champion Peter Wright.

UK Open and Players Championship Finals winner Michael van Gerwen and World Youth Champion Luke Humphries are joined by recent World Matchplay winner Dimitri Van den Bergh in securing Grand Slam spots.

2020 PDC Home Tour winner Nathan Aspinall and James Wade, the highest-placed non-qualified player from the PDC Summer Series Order of Merit, will also compete in the event, with further places going to players from the Autumn Series and Winter Series.

In addition, World Matchplay runner-up Gary Anderson, Masters finalist Michael Smith and World Youth Championship runner-up Adam Gawlas are also in line to compete in the Grand Slam.

Further places in the tournament will be on offer for the finalists of the Premier League, World Series of Darts Finals, World Grand Prix, European Championship and World Cup of Darts, as well as to one player from the Women's Qualifier in October.

The reserve list, comprised of winners of European Tour and Players Championship events, currently includes Ryan Searle, Krzysztof Ratajski, Ian White and Ryan Joyce.

2020 BDO Champion Wayne Warren and 2020 BDO Women's Champion Mikuru Suzuki will be invited to compete in the Grand Slam of Darts for a second successive year.

However, due to the lack of confirmed events within the BDO and elsewhere in amateur darts, there will be no further BDO invites or invitations to players from outside the PDC system in 2020.

After the automatic qualifying routes are concluded, eight places will be on offer at the PDC Tour Card Holder Qualifier.

The qualification system will be reviewed for 2021, including the position of invitations to non-PDC players.

2020 Grand Slam of Darts – Qualifying Structure
PDC Competitors

Qualifying Players: (invited in the following order up to a maximum of 22 players. Current provisional qualifiers in Bold) 
2019/20 PDC World Champion; PETER WRIGHT - 1
2019 Grand Slam Champion; GERWYN PRICE - 2
2020 Premier League Champion; 
2020 World Matchplay Champion; DIMITRI VAN DEN BERGH - 3
2020 World Grand Prix Champion; 
2019 World Youth Champion; LUKE HUMPHRIES - 4
2020 Masters Champion; (Peter Wright)
2020 UK Open Champion; MICHAEL VAN GERWEN - 5
2020 European Champion; 
2019 Players Champion; (Michael van Gerwen)
2020 World Series of Darts Finals Champion; 
2020 World Cup winners; 
2020 PDC Home Tour Champion: NATHAN ASPINALL – 6
2020 PDC Summer Series OOM Highest-Placed Player: JAMES WADE - 7
2020 PDC Autumn Series OOM Highest-Placed Player:
2020 PDC Winter Series OOM Highest-Placed Player:
2020 PDC Women’s Qualifier: 
2019/20 PDC World Championship runner-up; (Michael van Gerwen)
2019 Grand Slam runner-up; (Peter Wright)
2020 Premier League runner-up; 
2020 World Matchplay runner-up; GARY ANDERSON - 8
2020 World Grand Prix runner-up; 
2019 World Youth Championship runner-up; ADAM GAWLAS - 9
2020 Masters runner-up; MICHAEL SMITH - 10
2020 UK Open runner-up; (Gerwyn Price)
2020 European Championship runner-up; 
2019 Players Championship runner-up; (Gerwyn Price)
2020 World Series of Darts Finals runner-up; 
2020 World Cup runners-up (2 players with highest individual taking preference if only one spot available); 

This list can produce a maximum of 31 players. If it produces more than 22 players, they shall be taken in order as listed above and no further players shall qualify automatically. (CURRENTLY 10 QUALIFIED WITH 12 PLACES REMAINING)

If it produces fewer than 22 places then additional places shall be filled from the reserve list in the following order:
2020 European Tour winners (in Order of Merit order at Nov 9): (Gerwyn Price ET1)
2020 Players Championship winners (in Order of Merit order at Nov 9): (Gary Anderson PC1), (Nathan Aspinall PC2, PC7), RYAN SEARLE (PC3) , KRZYSZTOF RATAJSKI (PC4), (Peter Wright PC5, PC13), (Gerwyn Price PC6), IAN WHITE (PC8), (Michael van Gerwen PC9, PC11), RYAN JOYCE (PC10), (James Wade PC12) 

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.

Once 22 players are reached from the above criteria then the remaining ten places shall be filled with eight players from a PDC Full Member qualifier and two invited players from the BDO system.

BDO Invited Players
WAYNE WARREN - 2020 BDO Champion
MIKURU SUZUKI - 2020 BDO Women's Champion