Grand Slam of Darts like the old days: Which WDF Stars would face Littler and co in 2026 if cross-code amateur format returned?

Tuesday, 10 November 2026 at 06:00

When the Grand Slam of Darts was first held in 2007, it was a unique event in professional darts. The best players from the PDC and its rival organisation, the BDO, rarely shared a stage, but the new tournament brought both camps together. The original format featured 24 PDC players and eight places for invited BDO players—a distinctive feature that gave the Grand Slam its own identity for many years.

That tradition is now a thing of the past. The BDO no longer exists, and the Grand Slam field is selected exclusively through the PDC qualification system. But what if the original idea returned in 2026? What if the best players from the World Darts Federation (WDF) were suddenly allowed to take on Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and company at this year’s Grand Slam? It is a thought experiment that produces some intriguing names—almost too many, as it turns out.

Grand Slam of Darts 2007: When the PDC and BDO faced off

The first Grand Slam of Darts took place at the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton from 17 to 25 November 2007. The idea behind the new event came from then-PDC chief Barry Hearn: the most successful players from the two rival organisations should be able to compete against each other, regardless of which organisation they belonged to.

Phil Taylor won the inaugural Grand Slam of Darts in 2007, beating Andy Hamilton 18–11 in the final.

On 21 February 2007, Hearn announced the main qualification criteria. These included finalists from major tournaments held over the previous two years, as well as the semi-finalists from the PDC and BDO World Championships. Further routes into the tournament were available through rankings, regional events and qualifying tournaments.

On the BDO side, the 2006 and 2007 World Championships, the 2006 World Masters, the International Darts League and the World Darts Trophy all played a part. The latter two tournaments had already brought players from both organisations together.

The result was a 32-player field, including six players who still belonged to the BDO at the time. Others had qualified through previous success in BDO events but had since switched to the PDC. Phil Taylor eventually won the inaugural event, beating Andy Hamilton 18–11 in the final.

The 2007 Grand Slam of Darts field

Group	Player	Organisation
A	Raymond van Barneveld	PDC
A	Adrian Lewis	PDC
A	Dennis Priestley	PDC
A	Chris Mason	PDC
B	Andy Hamilton	PDC
B	Terry Jenkins	PDC
B	Vincent van der Voort	PDC
B	Charles Losper	Regional qualifier (South Africa)
C	James Wade	PDC
C	Pat Orreal	Regional qualifier (Australia)
C	Phill Nixon	BDO
C	Niels de Ruiter	BDO
D	Jelle Klaasen	PDC (qualified through BDO success)
D	Kevin McDine	PDC
D	Shaun Greatbatch	BDO
D	Peter Manley	PDC
E	Phil Taylor	PDC
E	Colin Lloyd	PDC
E	Wayne Mardle	PDC
E	Ronnie Baxter	PDC
F	John Part	PDC
F	Gary Mawson	Regional qualifier (North America)
F	Mark Webster	BDO
F	Andy Jenkins	PDC
G	Kevin Painter	PDC
G	Gary Anderson	BDO
G	Barrie Bates	PDC
G	Wayne Jones	PDC
H	Roland Scholten	PDC
H	Mervyn King	PDC (qualified through BDO success)
H	Michael van Gerwen	PDC (qualified through BDO success)
H	Scott Waites	BDO

However, the cross-organisational concept was not without tension. The case of Martin Adams made that particularly clear. The reigning 2007 BDO World Champion had qualified for the Grand Slam but declined his invitation.

The reason was a scheduling clash with the prestigious Winmau World Masters, which Adams chose to play instead. He was knocked out in the quarter-finals and received £1,250 in prize money. Simply appearing at the Grand Slam would have earned him £4,000. Adams also turned down the event in 2008, despite the scheduling clash having been resolved.

Despite such difficulties, the Grand Slam remained a stage for players from both organisations to meet for many years. The BDO allocation was not drastically reduced until 2020, when the PDC invited only the reigning world champions, Wayne Warren and Mikuru Suzuki. It cited the lack of certainty around the schedules of other BDO and amateur tournaments, which had previously served as qualification events.

After the BDO’s financial collapse in 2020, the competition’s original foundation had disappeared for good. In 2021, BDO places were no longer awarded for the first time. Instead, qualification routes through the PDC Challenge Tour, Development Tour and Women's Series took on greater importance.

Scott Waites Makes History: The BDO players’ greatest achievements

One man in particular showed that BDO players were far more than bit-part participants at the Grand Slam: Scott Waites.

The Englishman first reached the final in 2009, producing one of the tournament’s most remarkable stories. After finishing second in his group, he beat Gary Anderson 10–9 in the last 16. He then avenged his group-stage defeat to Simon Whitlock with a 16–13 quarter-final win before defeating Terry Jenkins 16–11 in the semi-finals.

Only Phil Taylor could stop the BDO player’s run. In the final, the sport’s dominant force at the time gave his opponent no chance, winning 16–2. Taylor also claimed the third edition of the Grand Slam, having already triumphed in 2007 and 2008.

But Waites returned a year later—and made history.

Scott Waites made history.

In 2010, he won all three of his group matches against Co Stompé, Martin Phillips and Adrian Lewis. He followed that with knockout wins over Raymond van Barneveld (10–7), Co Stompé (16–10) and Steve Beaton (16–9). James Wade awaited in the final, having raced into an emphatic 8–0 lead.

Waites was not rattled, however. He fought his way back and eventually won 16–12. With a three-dart average of 99.86, he completed his comeback and became the first—and, to this day, the only—BDO player to win the Grand Slam of Darts.

Other BDO representatives also made their mark in Wolverhampton. Gary Anderson reached the semi-finals in both 2007 and 2008, long before he became one of his generation’s most successful players as a PDC professional. Michael Unterbuchner’s 2018 campaign stands out too. The two-time BDO World Championship semi-finalist finished second behind Gary Anderson in his group before beating James Wade 10–6. His run ended in the quarter-finals, where Anderson defeated him 16–6.

Grand Slam of Darts 2026: What If the WDF could compete?

For the 2026 edition, the PDC expanded the field to 48 players for the first time. Alongside qualifiers from PDC major and ProTour events and various rankings, ten places were awarded at the Tour Card Holder Qualifier on 6 November.

In our alternative Grand Slam, we would reallocate those exact ten places. Instead of an additional qualifying event for PDC Tour Card holders, ten players from the WDF system would take part. The remaining 38 places would stay unchanged.

The aim is not to copy the exact qualification rules from 2007, but to revive the idea behind them: the most successful players from different organisations should be able to compete on the same stage.

To select the players, we are considering the three most important platinum-status events on the WDF calendar held during the qualifying period: the WDF World Championship, the Dutch Open and the World Masters. The winners and runners-up in both the men’s and women’s events will be considered.

We are using the 2025 edition of the World Championship and the 2026 editions of the Dutch Open and World Masters.

WDF World Championship: Lawrie, Hedman and Rietbergen add to field

The 2025 WDF World Championship produced a name that has also attracted plenty of interest from the PDC: Jimmy van Schie. The Dutchman beat Mitchell Lawrie 6–3 in the final at Lakeside and then secured a PDC Tour Card in January 2026.

Van Schie is therefore excluded from the WDF allocation in our model. He is now part of the PDC system and should not be invited through one of the additional WDF places.

His opponent in that final, Mitchell Lawrie, would be a contender. The young Scot reached the 2025 WDF World Championship final and would earn a place in our hypothetical field on the strength of that achievement.

In the women’s event, both places went to players who could also make an impact at the Grand Slam. Deta Hedman won the world title with a 4–1 victory over Lerena Rietbergen. Both would qualify under our criteria.

That gives the WDF World Championship three contenders: Mitchell Lawrie, Deta Hedman and Lerena Rietbergen.

Dutch Open: Paul Krohne leads further allocation

The Dutch Open 2026 would also bring some intriguing contenders into the picture. We would have a German with the prospect of a talented hopeful making his debut on one of the sport’s biggest stages would be especially appealing: Paul Krohne.

Paul Krohne won the Dutch Open 2026, making him one of the German contenders for a place at the Grand Slam of Darts in our hypothetical scenario.

The German beat Corné Groeneveld in the final after a high-quality, dramatic battle for the title. Krohne fell two sets behind but fought back to win the match 3–2.

In our model, both the champion and his Dutch opponent in the final would qualify for Wolverhampton.

Priscilla Steenbergen claimed the women’s title. The Dutch player beat Norway’s Rachna David 5–3 in the final. Both players would also receive an invitation.

The Dutch Open would therefore add four more names: Paul Krohne, Corné Groeneveld, Priscilla Steenbergen and Rachna David.

WDF World Masters: Chris Lim and Gemma Hayter complete the line-up

The final four contenders would come from the WDF World Masters 2026, held in Las Vegas in July.

Chris Lim won the men’s title. The American, son of darts legend Paul Lim, beat Belgium’s Brian Raman 7–6 in a close final. The deciding leg settled the match in Lim’s favour.

Gemma Hayter triumphed in the women’s event. The English player produced outstanding form for much of the tournament and beat Aurora Fochesato 6–3 in the final.

Here, too, we would award places at the Grand Slam to both finalists in each event. Chris Lim, Brian Raman, Gemma Hayter and Aurora Fochesato would complete our line-up.

Eleven WDF contenders for ten places: Who would miss out?

That leaves us with a small problem: although we initially set aside ten places for WDF players, our qualifying model produces eleven contenders.

Our hypothetical WDF qualifiers for the 2026 Grand Slam of Darts:

Player	Qualifying route
Deta Hedman	2025 WDF world champion
Mitchell Lawrie	2025 WDF world championship runner-up
Lerena Rietbergen	2025 WDF women’s world championship runner-up
Chris Lim	2026 WDF World Masters winner
Gemma Hayter	2026 WDF World Masters women’s winner
Brian Raman	2026 WDF World Masters finalist
Aurora Fochesato	2026 WDF World Masters women’s finalist
Paul Krohne	2026 Dutch Open winner
Priscilla Steenbergen	2026 Dutch Open women’s winner
Corné Groeneveld	2026 Dutch Open finalist
Rachna David	2026 Dutch Open women’s finalist

So how should we decide? One option would be to give greater weight to the World Championship and the World Masters than to the Dutch Open. That could leave the bottom two contenders on our priority list, Corné Groeneveld and Rachna David, to contest an extra play-off for the final place.

But perhaps there is no need to make things so complicated. After all, we are already in a darts fantasy world where the PDC suddenly invites players from another organisation to the Grand Slam again. We can surely leave the decision over the very last place to the imaginary tournament organisers.

More exciting is the idea behind this thought experiment: Mitchell Lawrie against Luke Littler, Deta Hedman against James Wade, or Paul Krohne against Gian van Veen. Those are match-ups worthy of the Grand Slam in the original sense of the name.

Read also

Whether such a model will ever return is another question. But the tournament’s history shows that bringing different worlds of darts together can be more than a nice footnote. Scott Waites proved in 2010 that such a clash can even become a piece of darts history.

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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