Grand Slam of Darts draw: 48-player field, date and how to follow

The Grand Slam of Darts draw takes place on Monday 9 November, with Luke Littler among the players waiting to discover their opponents for the expanded Wolverhampton tournament.

The 2026 competition will feature 48 players, divided into 16 groups of three. Littler returns as defending champion, while Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen and Beau Greaves are also among those who have secured their places.

When is the Grand Slam of Darts draw?

The PDC has confirmed Monday 9 November as the draw date and says it will be available through its social media channels. Its announcement did not specify a start time.

Supporters should check the PDC’s official channels for the latest timing and the draw itself. Monday’s draw is separate from the tournament, which begins on Saturday 14 November.

How will the 48-player draw work?

The published qualification and draw criteria set out three ranking bands for the new format. The 16 highest-ranked qualifiers are seeded, with the groups arranged in bracket order.

The remaining players are divided into those ranked 17th to 32nd within the qualified field and those ranked 33rd to 48th. Each group receives one player from each band.

Draw band	Players	Role
First	Highest-ranked 16 qualifiers	One seed per group
Second	Qualifiers ranked 17–32	One drawn into each group
Third	Qualifiers ranked 33–48	One drawn into each group

Those bands refer to the ranking order of the players who have qualified. They do not mean every player in the world’s top 48 has an automatic invitation. Qualification and seeding are separate parts of the process.

The Grand Slam of Darts draw therefore keeps the leading seeds apart in the groups, while leaving room for dangerous opponents from either of the two remaining ranking bands.

Who is in the Grand Slam of Darts draw?

Littler heads a field containing established major winners and players making their first appearance. Humphries, Van Gerwen, Gerwyn Price, Gian van Veen and James Wade are among the familiar names already confirmed by the PDC.

Greaves qualified through her World Youth Championship final appearance. Charlie Manby earned his debut with his first Players Championship title, while Raymond Smith secured a place by winning the ANZ Premier League.

The PDC’s qualification update explains how those players reached Wolverhampton. Our Grand Slam qualification guide covers the different routes into the competition.

Who came through the final qualifier?

Ten players secured the remaining places at Leicester’s Mattioli Arena on Friday 6 November:

• Stephen Bunting
• Maik Kuivenhoven
• Tom Sykes
• Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
• Niko Springer
• Ricky Evans
• Carl Sneyd
• Bradley Brooks
• Joe Cullen
• Alan Soutar

Cullen beat Michael Smith in their deciding match. Peter Wright and Raymond van Barneveld also missed out, leaving three former Grand Slam finalists outside the field.

When and where is the tournament?

The Grand Slam runs from 14–22 November at WV Active Aldersley in Wolverhampton. The prize fund is £1 million, with £200,000 for the champion and the Eric Bristow Trophy at stake.

The tournament will be shown on Sky Sports in the UK. The draw will establish the groups; supporters should use the subsequently confirmed order of play to check when individual players are in action.

For Littler and the other seeds, the immediate interest is the combination of opponents. A group contains only three players, so each has two different opponents to prepare for before the knockout phase.

For debutants such as Manby, Monday will put names to that challenge. Their qualification has already earned a place on a major stage; the draw now determines the first tests awaiting them.

Follow our Grand Slam of Darts coverage for the groups and tournament news.

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