LIsa Ashton (Photo PDC)
Jonny Clayton and Lisa Ashton became the latest players to seal their qualification for the Grand Slam of Darts last weekend.
The newly-expanded 48-player tournament returns to the WV Active Aldersley from November 14-22, as the sport’s biggest names battle it out for the iconic Eric Bristow Trophy and a share of £1 million in prize money.
Clayton confirmed his Wolverhampton return after storming to victory at the Swiss Darts Trophy, producing a host of superb performances to claim his first ranking title of 2026.
The Welshman averaged 102.70 across the tournament in Basel, defeating Maik Kuivenhoven, Rob Cross, Karel Sedlacek, Gian van Veen and Luke Humphries to triumph.
Clayton will subsequently make his eighth Grand Slam of Darts appearance next month, as he bids to progress beyond the quarter-finals for the first time in his career.
Ashton, meanwhile, will feature in her sixth Grand Slam campaign, having sealed her qualification via the PDC Women’s Series rankings.
The former Women’s World Matchplay champion was a runner-up to Beau Greaves on the Women’s Series rankings, but with Greaves already assured of her spot, Ashton will also return to the West Midlands.
Defending Grand Slam champion and World Champion Luke Littler headlines this year’s confirmed field, alongside newly crowned World Grand Prix champion Humphries.
The finalists from PDC televised events over a 12-month period automatically qualify, with Dutch number one Van Veen and three-time champions Gerwyn Price and Michael van Gerwen also set to star.
Three-time finalist James Wade will make his 19th appearance, with World Series Finals champion Ross Smith and Players Championship Finals runner-up Nathan Aspinall assured of their qualification.
Additional qualification spots are allocated to secondary and affiliate tours, including last year’s World Youth Championship runner-up Greaves and this year’s finalists Cam Crabtree and Jan Schmidt.
Sebastian Bialecki’s Development Tour domination has earned the Polish ace a first Grand Slam outing, while Joe Hunt will also make his debut after securing top spot on the Challenge Tour.
Paolo Nebrida and Adam Sevada will also make maiden Grand Slam appearances, courtesy of their PDC Asian Championship and North American Championship victories respectively.
The winners of the PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship and ANZ Premier League will also earn spots, with the European Championship winner and runner-up guaranteed of a place.
Any remaining qualification places – up to a maximum of 40 players – are then handed out to 2026 European Tour event winners and then Players Championship event winners, in PDC Ranking order.
Wessel Nijman – an eight-time winner on the PDC ProTour in 2026 – is amongst the list of confirmed qualifiers, which includes Josh Rock, Luke Woodhouse and Krzysztof Ratajski.
Chris Dobey and Cameron Menzies will feature after winning a brace of Players Championship titles each, with Ryan Searle, Jermaine Wattimena and Cross also earning call-ups.
Kevin Doets’ impressive campaign will be rewarded with a Grand Slam debut, while Andrew Gilding, Jeffrey de Graaf, Gabriel Clemens and Sedlacek have all qualified as Players Championship winners.
Despite winning a maiden Players Championship title in July, as the lowest-ranked winner of a ProTour title, Henry Coates is not yet certain of a spot in Wolverhampton.
Should the winners of the year’s final European Tour event, four Players Championship events and the European Championship winner and runner-up not be pre-qualified and all higher ranked than Coates, he will miss out.
The Tour Card Holder Qualifier for the Grand Slam will take place on Friday November 6 in Leicester, guaranteeing at least eight qualifiers to finalise the 48-player field.
If there are less than 40 pre-qualified players by November 6, the number of places available in the Tour Card Holder Qualifier will be increased appropriately to complete the field.
