Niels Zonneveld became the latest player to secure his place at the 2026 Mr Vegas 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 […]
Niels Zonneveld became the latest player to secure his place at the 2026 Mr Vegas 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.
Zonneveld will star at his first Grand Slam after claiming a first PDC ranking title at the Dutch Darts Championship in Maastricht on Sunday.
The 28-year-old recorded the most 180s in one European Tour event of any player this year (27) to storm to the title, denying Danny Noppert 8-5 in the showpiece.
It adds to a breakthrough year for the Dutchman, who reached the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix in September with wins over Josh Rock and Gary Anderson.
Zonneveld also made his World Matchplay and World Masters debuts in 2026 and he will feature at a first European Championship later this week, finishing fourth on the European Tour rankings.
Defending Grand Slam champion and World Champion Luke Littler headlines this year’s confirmed field so far, alongside recent World Grand Prix winner Luke Humphries.
The finalists from PDC televised events over a 12-month period automatically qualify, with World Championship runner-up Gian van Veen featuring as well as World Series of Darts Finals winner Ross Smith.
Three-time champions Gerwyn Price and Michael van Gerwen will return to Wolverhampton, while three-time finalist James Wade and Players Championship Finals runner-up Nathan Aspinall have also earned call-ups.
Additional qualification spots are handed to secondary and affiliate tours, including World Youth Championship finalists Cam Crabtree and Jan Schmidt and last year’s runner-up Beau Greaves.
Sebastian Bialecki and Joe Hunt will make their Wolverhampton debuts after topping the Development Tour and Challenge Tour respectively, while Paolo Nebrida and Adam Sevada qualify as PDC Asian Champion and North American Champion.
The European Championship winner and runner-up this weekend will guarantee a place at the Grand Slam, while the PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship winner and ANZ Premier League winner are also set to earn spots in the coming weeks.
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.
Two-time European Tour winner Wessel Nijman will return to Wolverhampton, joined by Josh Rock, Luke Woodhouse and Krzysztof Ratajski.
Chris Dobey and Cameron Menzies’ brace of Players Championship titles each earn the pair a call-up, with Ryan Searle, Jermaine Wattimena and Rob Cross also set to star.
Kevin Doets will make a maiden Grand Slam showing, as Andrew Gilding, Jeffrey de Graaf, Gabriel Clemens, and Karel Sedlacek have all qualified as winners on the ProTour.
Although non-Tour Card Holder Henry Coates has won a Players Championship title, as the lowest-ranked winner he is not yet certain of a spot in Wolverhampton; should the winners of the remaining four Players Championship events or the European Championship winner or runner-up not be pre-qualified and higher ranked than Coates, he will miss out.
The Tour Card Holder Qualifier for the Grand Slam will take place on Friday November 6, and guarantees 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 fill the field to 48 players.
2026 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts Qualification
November 14-22 2026
Automatic Qualifiers (potential 24 players)
2025/26 World Championship Winner – LUKE LITTLER (1)
2025 Grand Slam Winner – (Luke Littler)
2026 Premier League Winner – (Luke Littler)
2026 World Matchplay Winner – (Luke Littler)
2026 World Grand Prix Winner – LUKE HUMPHRIES (2)
2026 World Masters Winner – (Luke Littler)
2026 UK Open Winner – (Luke Littler)
2026 European Championship Winner –
2025 Players Championship Finals Winner – (Luke Littler)
2026 World Series of Darts Finals Winner – ROSS SMITH (3)
2026 World Cup Winners x2 – (Luke Littler & Luke Humphries)
2025/26 PDC World Championship Runner-Up – GIAN VAN VEEN (4)
2025 Grand Slam Runner-Up – (Luke Humphries)
2026 Premier League Runner-Up (Luke Humphries)
2026 World Matchplay Runner-Up – GERWYN PRICE (5)
2026 World Grand Prix Runner-Up – (Gerwyn Price)
2026 World Masters Runner-Up – (Luke Humphries)
2026 UK Open Runner-Up – JAMES WADE (6)
2026 European Championship Runner-Up –
2025 Players Championship Finals Runner-Up – NATHAN ASPINALL (7)
2026 World Series of Darts Finals Runner-Up – (Gerwyn Price)
2026 World Cup Runners-Up x2 – MICHAEL VAN GERWEN (Gian van Veen) (8)
Additional Qualifiers (invited in the following order up to a maximum of 12 players)
2025 World Youth Championship Winner – (Gian van Veen)
2025 World Youth Championship Runner-Up – BEAU GREAVES (9)
2026 World Youth Championship Finalist 1 – CAM CRABTREE (10)
2026 World Youth Championship Finalist 2 – JAN SCHMIDT (11)
2026 Development Tour Rankings Winner – SEBASTIAN BIALECKI (12)
2026 Challenge Tour Rankings Winner – JOE HUNT (13)
2026 Women’s World Matchplay Winner – (Beau Greaves)
2026 Women’s Series Rankings Qualifier – LISA ASHTON (14)
2026 PDC Asian Championship Winner – PAOLO NEBRIDA (15)
2026 North American Championship Winner – ADAM SEVADA (16)
2026 PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship Winner – Nov 8
2026 ANZ Premier League Winner – Oct 31
Any remaining places to fill up to 40 players invited in the following order
2026 European Tour Event Winners
In order of number of event wins and then PDC Ranking Order;
WESSEL NIJMAN x2 (17), JOSH ROCK (18), LUKE WOODHOUSE (19), KRZYSZTOF RATAJSKI (20), JONNY CLAYTON (21), NIELS ZONNEVELD (22).
Pre-Qualified: (Luke Littler x2), (Ross Smith x2) (Luke Humphries), (James Wade) (Nathan Aspinall), (Gerwyn Price).
2026 Players Championship Event Winners
In order of number of event wins and then PDC Ranking Order;
CHRIS DOBEY x2 (23), CAMERON MENZIES x2 (24), RYAN SEARLE (25), JERMAINE WATTIMENA (26), ROB CROSS (27), KEVIN DOETS (28), ANDREW GILDING (29), JEFFREY DE GRAAF (30), GABRIEL CLEMENS (31), KAREL SEDLACEK (32), Henry Coates.
Pre-Qualified: Wessel Nijman x6, Luke Humphries x3, Ross Smith x2, James Wade, Gerwyn Price, Beau Greaves, Michael van Gerwen, Luke Woodhouse, Sebastian Bialecki.
Tour Card Holder Qualifiers
8x Players (Friday November 6, Leicester).
Should there be less than 40 pre-qualified players, the number of places available in the Tour Card Holder Qualifier will be increased appropriately to fill the field to 48 players. Should the winner of any Secondary Tour have qualified, the next-ranked non-qualified player from that Secondary Tour’s rankings will then be invited.