Bunting, Aspinall, Anderson and Schindler certain of participating in Grand Slam of Darts
PDCWednesday, 15 October 2025 at 16:30
Following the conclusion of the World Grand Prix, the field of participants for the upcoming Grand Slam of Darts 2025 has been further filled in. Among others, Stephen Bunting, Nathan Aspinall, Gary Anderson and Martin Schindler have confirmed their qualification for the prestigious tournament, which will be played in Wolverhampton from Nov. 8 to 16.
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The World Grand Prix concluded last Sunday with Luke Littler's convincing 6-1 victory over Luke Humphries in the final at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester. With that win, the teenage star added his first major title to his rapidly growing list of honors. Both Littler and Humphries were already assured participation in the Grand Slam, which automatically includes the finalists of all PDC televised tournaments over the past 12 months.
After the Leicester tournament, only limited automatic places remain to be earned, with only the European Championship as the final qualifying opportunity. This leaves at least five spots available for winners of European Tour tournaments that have not yet forced entry. This means that Bunting, Aspinall, Anderson and Schindler, all successful on the European Tour in 2025, have now officially qualified for Wolverhampton, where they will compete for the coveted Eric Bristow Trophy.
Niko Springer, winner of the Hungarian Darts Trophy, also has a chance of qualifying. The German qualifies automatically if the European Tour event in Hildesheim this weekend is won by an already qualified player or someone lower on the PDC Order of Merit.
It was also a special weekend for Cam Crabtree, who qualified for the Grand Slam for the first time thanks to his final victory on the 2025 PDC Development Tour rankings. The 22-year-old had an impressive season with five titles and will make his debut in Wolverhampton, after already making a strong impression on the ProTour as well.
A total of 19 of the 32 players have now confirmed their participation. In addition to defending champion Luke Littler, world number one Luke Humphries and three-time winner Michael van Gerwen, Northern Ireland World Cup winners Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney will also be in attendance. In addition, Martin Lukeman, James Wade, Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price are seeded as finalists in other major PDC tournaments.
World champion Gian van Veen and Jurjen van der Velde, who was runner-up also has his spot. Among the women, Lisa Ashton (winner of the Women's World Matchplay 2024) and Beau Greaves, who is already certain of overall victory in the PDC Women's Series 2025, are also in the mix.
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From Asia, Lourence Ilagan qualified by defending his title at the PDC Asian Championship, but he had to withdraw due to medical reasons. His place will be taken by Filipino runner-up Alexis Toylo.
In addition, the winners of the CDC Continental Cup and the 2025 Challenge Tour also join the field of participants. The remaining eight spots will be distributed on Oct. 31 during the PDC Tour Card Holder Qualifier, after which the full lineup will be determined.
Moreover, the 2025 edition will be the last in the current 32-player format. Starting in 2026, the Grand Slam of Darts will expand to a field of 48 players, beginning a new chapter in the history of one of the most prestigious tournaments of the PDC season.
Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.
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- He wasn't "offered £501,000 to face Luke Littler". He was allowed to audition for the chance. That's not the same. Literally like saying I was offered a no.1 single, when actually I decided not to attend an open casting for the X factor.BandB13-09-2026
- I loved Jan and loved his walk on music "Explode" by Jordan & Baker. I think if he stuck around the BDO he definitely would have been World Champion, should have won in 2014, he never really showed any of his talent in the PDC. I remembered he worked in a bank or in finance and maybe that was his priority, he was also a fan and interested in magic. Definitely should have achieved much more in darts than he did. Wherever you are nowadays Jan, hope all is well and I was always a fan.richieburnettrocks11-09-2026
- Not much of a tournament really,is it? Now they've all pulled out,it's open for everyone. I'm sure if you bought tickets,you'd be disappointed. Doesn't that seem to bother the withdrawals? Not at all!!rick6710-09-2026
- Need to see her take part in the womens tour. She'll break the inernet.medinabello08-09-2026
- If he can be bothered? He won't play darts in Germany yet he'll go over and get an award!??rick6702-09-2026
- Why is this the main story? He chose not to compete in loads of tournaments,yes he's number 1 in the world,but he does have to turn up at tournaments! Play the next world championship in Dortmund and see if he turns up!!rick6727-08-2026
- This is exactly what I mean,littler survives the 1st round,I think you'll find a lot of other players did. Can you just report on the real sport,and not just 1 person. I like Luke,but this is getting boring now,as Kevin painter once said to Taylor!! The sport is about every player,not 1 who everyone seems to have put the sport on the map.,which he hasn't,he's just got in when the money is massive. Great as he is,it seems like what's the point in anyone trying,he's going to win everything,unless it's in Germany or Australia!!!rick6726-08-2026
- I mean look, Littler's picture is first,wattimena is second and he won! Level it up. I know littler is fantastic,but the sport was here before him,and will be when he's retired. Any player in the top 64/128 can beat each other,it's not big news. Poor Jermaine,wins it,and not even the headline!!rick6726-08-2026
- I appreciate that littler is a fantastic player,but the top 3 articles are about him. Before he'd thrown a dart in the tournament. Level it out a bit, Taylor and van gerwen soon got disliked as the media could only see them,and nobody else seemed to matterrick6725-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
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