Jonny Clayton and Lisa Ashton became the latest players to seal their qualification for 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 […]
Jonny Clayton and Lisa Ashton became the latest players to seal their qualification for 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.
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 Luke Humphries.
The finalists from PDC televised events over a 12-month period automatically qualify, with Dutch number one Gian 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 Beau 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 Rob 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 Karel 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 or the European Championship winner or 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.
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)
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 (22), CAMERON MENZIES x2 (23), RYAN SEARLE (24), JERMAINE WATTIMENA (25), ROB CROSS (26), KEVIN DOETS (27), ANDREW GILDING (28), JEFFREY DE GRAAF (29), GABRIEL CLEMENS (30), KAREL SEDLACEK (31), 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.