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Paul Nicholson looks ahead to the Grand Slam of Darts

Grand Slam of Darts predictions from Paul Nicholson and his thoughts on Fallon Sherrock, Beau Greaves and the format of the tournament

By Paul Nicholson

Darts

Thu November 09, 2023 · 1y ago

The Grand Slam of Darts begins this weekend and Paul Nicholson shares his thoughts on what makes the tournament special – as well as his predictions.

How prestigious is this major and does the nature of how the field is comprised make it ‘weaker’?

This is a top tier tournament which has evolved a long way from being more of a showcase event to something that has got a lot of money and prestige on it.

In the past everyone loved the BDO players taking on those from the PDC but now it’s become a clearly defined ranking event with Eric Bristow’s name on the trophy.

The group stage gives the Grand Slam a different format which people adore and the short-format nature of those matches puts big names in greater jeopardy but also allows players to bounce back from early defeats.

There’s always drama every step of the way.

The unique qualifying criteria makes it hard to get into and most of the players have to win something big or be a runner-up in a major.

Some lesser known players are here as a result of winning something likes the Asian Championship, the CDC Continental Cup or the World Youth Championship for example because ultimately the PDC are looking to grow the game around the world, even if it weakens the strength of the field a little.

They all deserve a spot because it’s within the criteria – whether you agree with the criteria is a different issue.

Big names who missed out

On a related note, the criteria means there is no ‘top 16 safety net’ to get into this event, which is why people do question the quality strength of this major.

For instance, if we go down the world rankings at the minute, the highest ranked person not to be in this tournament is Joe Cullen. Has he done enough to be here? Not according to the rules. Dimitri Van den Bergh is next in the rankings who didn’t qualify and he was a participant in this years Premier League.

This emphasises just how hard it is to get into this event. Danny Noppert had to scrape through the last-gasp qualifying event to get here and he’s ranked seven in the world.

I think this is a forte of the tournament and not at its detriment. I think we have to have tournaments that are very hard to get into. It makes a change for there to be a major that doesn’t have a safety net for the top 16.

Are there too many spots awarded in the last-ditch qualifying event?

I can sympathise with those people who are against having the last-ditch qualifying event which gives the final eight spots away.

If you think about someone like Ross Smith - he's won two floor tournaments this year and was a European champion just over a year ago. Yet he had to go to the qualifying event and missed out. I can see why people think that’s unfair because he’s won more in 2023 than a number of players in this field.

But what the PDC want is a structure of having a qualification tournament at the end which gives everyone an even crack to get into a ranked major event.

They used to offer one, two or even five spots at the end depending on how many places had already been taken up but now selection is more clear about what you need to do in order to qualify.

Are the seedings fair?

The top eight seeds are based on which qualified players have the highest ranking on the PDC’s main Order of Merit.

This can seem a little strange in this tournament because Noppert, for example, was one of the players who had to scrape through the last-gasp qualifying event to be here and he ends up as a seed!

There could be more subjective ways of doing it – like weighting which tournaments give you a particular seeding (such as world championship making you top seed) but I think just for pure transparency and for ease of making a draw, it’s easier just to make it the top eight in the world.

It doesn't matter whether they came through the qualifier or whether they came through something else.

Should players who come through the same group be playing each other again as early as the quarter finals?

This is one feature that annoys some fans, that the nature of the draw means players who progress from Groups A to D are all in the same half of the knockout stage.

If you think about the football World Cup, you won’t play a team in your group again until the final.

As a darting purist, we want to see different matches and different routes. If we’ve seen Gary Anderson v Luke Humphries in the groups, do we want that again in the quarter-finals?

It would be very easy to sort out and the PDC have yet to come out and explain why they keep the format the way it is. Maybe they don’t want two people from the same group to meet in the final? This topic splits opinion.

Could Fallon Sherrock and Beau Greaves meet in the Grand Slam?

This is the last potential chance this season to see Fallon Sherrock and Beau Greaves meeting live on TV because the latter won’t be competing at the PDC World Championship.

However for this match to happen in the second round, it would mean one of them winning their group and the other being runner-up – or for both to finish in the same spot and then winning their respective second-round matches.

It would be wonderful if it did happen and would be one of those games which you can’t take your eyes off even for one leg. Social media would be all over it. However, as for whether it'll happen, I'm not sure. I don't think it will.

However, let me use this section to praise what both players have been doing for the sport this season.

Beau obviously came into the PDC and dominated the Women’s Series and then won the Women’s World Matchplay in the summer.

It looked like Fallon – and everyone else – was trailing in her wake but she’s shown incredible character to close the gap and deserves much credit for this.

Beau’s levels haven’t dropped either, she’s just dragged the standard of the women’s game up in a similar way to what Phil Taylor did to the men many years ago.

Even in the women’s game we had Trina Gulliver untouchable for years until Francis Hoenselaar finally beat her in a world championship. That fired Trina up again and then before long it was Lisa Ashton and Anastasia who took over and looked unbeatable.

Then we’ve had Fallon, Mikuru Suzuki and now Beau taking the limelight and enjoying spells of dominance. It’s a very exciting time right now..

I think Fallon has found a bit more fluency and confidence with her game and built that up steadily over the past few months. Her results in the Women's series have made this arguably her best period when you consider the greater competition.

She’s stood up to Beau recently and made her seem less bulletproof than she was and that can only be to the benefit of the sport and creates a rivalry that will inspire many more to watch the women’s game and get more girls playing.

We just need a big match between the pair in a major like this, live on TV! We shall see what happens in years to come.

GRAND SLAM PREDICTIONS

Group A

This group should be between Michael Smith, James Wade and Krzysztof Ratajski.

It would be an immense shock if Nathan Girvan came through.

Wade’s hit rate of getting through the group is extraordinary, and considering that he made a European Championship final recently, I can see him qualifying here as the group winner, with Smith edging out Ratajski for the runner-up spot.

Verdict: Wade & Smith

Group B

Jonny Clayton and Chris Dobey have the best form coming into this tournament, with the latter being very good in majors over the past couple of months.

I think he’s going to be more energetic while Clayton is getting his hunger back after a difficult summer.

Josh Rock is playing alright at the minute but not as well as 12 months ago and the same confidence isn’t quite there. But this event might just fire him back up.

This is the first time Berry van Peer has been in this event since those dreaded matches against Gary Anderson and Cameron Menzies when he realy went through the mill. Hopefully he can banish those ghosts. It may help that this is in a different venue.

Group C

Based on seasonal form, I don’t see anyway that Gary Anderson and Luke Humphries don’t qualify from this group.

Dirk hasn't given me any evidence in the last two months that he will be able to take care of Luke or Gary, while Steve Lennon just isn’t in their ballpark but may revel in being the group underdog.

Group D

Gerwyn Price should come through this group but it’s going to be a shoot-out between Ryan Searle and Gian van Veen to determine the other spot.

Nathan Rafferty made the last 16 back in 2021 so he won’t be fazed by this challenge at all but I think his best hope is picking up a win rather than qualification to the knockout stages.

Van Veen is improving so much on both the floor and the stage but it’s a toss of a coin whether he can finish ahead of Searle in second spot.

Group E

I think it’s fair to say this group will be between Peter Wright, Dave Chisnall, and Stephen Bunting. Any combination could happen.

I’m going to go with Peter because he’s got his tail up again as European champion by using some equipment that works. He seems to love these Michael Van Gerwen darts that he's using, which I think is incredibly ironic.

And I'm going go for Bunting to be runner-up, because I just get the feeling as he's got the bit between his teeth at the moment.

If you don’t know who Stowe Buntz is, he qualified through the CDC. It’ll be great to see him in his colourful outfit when he takes on Peter – that’s a good narrative.

Winning the Continental cup and then getting through to this tournament is one of the biggest things he's ever done, and he will be at Alexandra Palace as well. So this will be a huge experience for him even if he, as expected, loses all three matches.

Group F

Danny Noppert is the seed in this group despite having to come through the last-gasp qualifier and he also has the ‘weakest’ draw compared to the other seven seeded players.

Haruki Muramatsu is the winner of the Asian Championship and will gain a great deal more stage time ahead of his return appearance at Ally Pally.

But the other spot behind Noppert will be between Brendan Dolan and Andrew Gilding and I’ll side the with the latter. Marginally.

Group G

I don't see anybody in this group that Fallon Sherrock is going to be afraid of. She knows Michael personally and has played him plenty of times before.

She’s also done exhibitions with Rob Cross as well so nothing will phase her here and she has, of course, come through the group stages before and even gone as far as the quarter-finals.

Cross has only made one quarter-final before meaning his record in this tournament over the past six years isn’t optimum and there’ll be plenty of pressure on him – like there is any player who takes on Fallon with a big crowd on her side.

I think Michael van Gerwen is going to qualify and I feel Fallon has a great chance to join him, especially over such a short format and when you consider how well she’s played in recent months.

She has a lot of confidence right now and we know what shocks she can cause when in this frame of mind.

Group H

Beau Greaves will enjoy the occasion and take things in her stride as usual.

She’s still such a young woman but you’d never know that based on how calmly she handles herself on stage.

It was also a mature decision for her to swerve the PDC World Championship and chase a second women’s world title instead. She’s trying to incrementally grow her career instead of rushing it all.

As far as her chances in this group are concerned, it’s tough.

Nathan Aspinall is the World Matchplay champion, Damon Heta has had a great season and Ricardo Pietreczko is the hottest property in German darts right now.

All three have to be careful of Beau but ultimately I feel Nathan will sneak through with either Damon or Ricardo.

Who will win the tournament?

To put it simply, I believe the winner of the Grand Slam will come from Group C – Gary Anderson or Luke Humphries.

They’ll probably meet again in the quarter-finals and whoever comes through that contest is my pick to lift the trophy.

I’d expect them to be facing Michael van Gerwen in the final but the way both players have been performing this season – and recently – means they’ll stand a fantastic chance.

Grand Slam of Darts: Daily Schedule

Saturday November 11
Afternoon Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)

Damon Heta v Ricardo Pietreczko (H)
Andrew Gilding v Brendan Dolan (F)
Ryan Searle v Gian van Veen (D)
Chris Dobey v Josh Rock (B)
Danny Noppert v Haruki Muramatsu (F)
Nathan Aspinall v Beau Greaves (H)
Jonny Clayton v Berry van Peer (B)
Gerwyn Price v Nathan Rafferty (D)

Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)

James Wade v Krzysztof Ratajski (A)
Rob Cross v Martijn Kleermaker (G)
Dave Chisnall v Stephen Bunting (E)
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Gary Anderson (C)
Luke Humphries v Steve Lennon (C)
Peter Wright v Stowe Buntz (E)
Michael van Gerwen v Fallon Sherrock (G)
Michael Smith v Nathan Girvan (A)

Sunday November 12
Afternoon Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)

Saturday’s winning players in each group meet, and Saturday’s losing players in each group meet.

Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)

Saturday’s winning players in each group meet, and Saturday’s losing players in each group meet.

Monday November 13 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)

Group Stage x8 – Groups A-D Final Matches

Tuesday November 14 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Group Matches (Best of 9 legs)

Group Stage x8 – Groups E-H Final Matches

Wednesday November 15 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Second Round (Best of 19 legs)

Four matches

Thursday November 16 (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Second Round (Best of 19 legs)

Four matches

Friday November 17
Evening Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Quarter-finals (Best of 31 legs)

Two matches

Saturday November 18
Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Quarter-finals (Best of 31 legs)

Two matches

Sunday November 19
Afternoon Session (1pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Semi-finals (Best of 31 legs)

Two matches

Evening Session (7pm)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports
Final (Best of 31 legs)

Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2

What TV channel is the Grand Slam of Darts on?

Every session of the Grand Slam of Darts will be televised live on Sky Sports.

Grand Slam of Darts: Tournament format

Group Stage (Potentially complicated!!)

The 32 players are drawn into eight groups of four players during the round-robin stage, and they will play each other once. The opening games are decided by a draw, with the second set of matches seeing the two winners from the first games meeting each other, and the two losers also playing each other. The third set of matches will consist of the pairings which have not previously met.

Two points are awarded for a win and no points will be awarded for a loss. Each game is the best of nine legs.

The top two players in each group will progress to the knockout phase. Should there be a two-way points tie for first place in any group, then the player with the best leg difference will be deemed to have won the group. If both players have the same leg difference, then the player who won the group match between the two players will be deemed to have won the group.

Should Points, Leg Difference, Tournament Average and Legs Won Against Throw not be able to separate three players, then if one player has defeated both of the other two players then this player will be deemed to have finished higher, and the winner of the group match between the remaining two players will be the ‘second’ of the three. Should the three players have secured one win apiece against each other, then a Nine-Dart Shoot-Out will be played between the relevant players to determine final standings, with the highest aggregate score over nine darts being used to separate players.

In the event a “Nine-Dart Shoot-Out” finishes level between two or more players, those players who have tied on the most points will continue to throw three darts each in the same order until one player scores more points than the other player(s) with his three darts.

From the second round onwards, the tournament will be in a knockout format.

Knockout stage (far more simple!)

From the second round onwards, the tournament will be in a knockout format. There will be no tie-break rule employed in any match.