Grand Slam of Darts Qualifiers Round-Up: Michael Smith set to return to big stage as Noppert, Nijman, Woodhouse among stars to qualify

The Grand Slam of Darts is just around the corner, with over 100 players in Wigan having attampted to qualify for the prestigious event, with many big names ultimately missing out.

The eight lucky qualifiers are Ricky Evans, Luke Woodhouse, Connor Scutt, Wessel Nijman, Danny Noppert, Karel Sedlacek, Michael Smith and Lukas Wenig. The likes of Rob Cross, Ross Smith, Peter Wright, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Mike De Decker, Dave Chisnall and Cameron Menzies all failed to qualify for the event despite being seeded for the qualifiers.

It has been a rough rode for Michael Smith in recent times, having failed to qualify for the majority of big events this year. However, he has come through a field of high quality to confirm his return to the Grand Slam, the first major title he won in 2022 before going on to become World Champion. He overcame Rusty-Jake Rodriguez (5-1), 2020 champion Jose de Souse (5-4), and Krzysztof Ratajski (5-3) to confirm a return to Wolverhampton.

He is one of four Englishman to have qualified for the event, with Evans making the event for the first time since 2020. He produced a 101.06 average against Mensur Suljovic to book his ticket to Wolverhampton. It was also a seismic day for Scutt, who only yesterday confirmed his place in the World Darts Championship. He averaged over 101 for the day, defeating De Decker 5-3 with a 103.58 average to secure his qualification.

Yesterday's Players Championship finalist Woodhouse backed up his impressive recent form by making it into the event for the first time since 2022, and only second time ever. One of just three seeds to make it through, he dumped out Christian Kist 5-2 despite averaging eight points less than him in the final matchup.

The ever-consistent Noppert has come so close to qualifying for the event, having reached four major semi-finals this year. However, The Freeze is able to come through qualifying, averaging 107 and 102 against Chris Landman (5-3) and Alan Soutar (5-4) before defeating Dennie Olde Kalter 5-2.

The most hard done by player award goes to Ritchie Edhouse, who averaged 112.57 against Wessel Nijman in the final match, and still lost 5-2 to the brilliant Dutchman! Nijman has had previous experience with these type of defeats, just look back at his results in the Grand Slam last year. Yesterday's Players Championship winner averaged over 101 to knock Chizzy out, before putting up a 106.75 average against the former European champion.

Despite all the high calibre players in Wigan today, Sedlacek and Wenig were able to hold their own to qualify for their maiden Grand Slam event. Evil Charlie defeated Menzies in a last-leg decider enroute to a final showdown against Keane Barry, where the Czech number one averaged 103.03 to fend off the Irishman and book his ticket to the Midlands in November.

The same can be said for Wenig, who failed to qualify for the Players Championship Finals yesterday. He shrugged off that bitter disappointment early with comfortable wins over Tom Bissell (5-2) and Oskar Lukasiak (5-0) before squeezing through a last-leg decider against Thibaut Tricole to set up a clash against Jermaine Wattimena. After finding himself 4-3 down, Wenig swept up the final two legs to dump out the inform Dutchman and qualify for the Grand Slam, which commences the 8th November.