Gerwyn Price missed out on qualifying for this month’s Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts after failing to secure one of the eight places on offer in the tour cardholder qualifier in Leicester.
The three-time Grand Slam champion initially offered to skip Friday’s qualifying matches and reported on Instagram after last month’s European Darts Championship final that he would only play in the Players Championship final and World Darts Championship this year.
Price headlined a strong 99-man line-up at the Mattioli Arena, averaging 101 points in a 5-2 win over Jurjen van der Velde and dispatching Robert Owen by the same margin to advance to the round of 16.
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Price defeated Peter Wright 16-8 to win the 2021 Grand Slam of Darts.
A win over Mickey Mansell would have qualified him for the Grand Slam of Darts from November 9-17. Sky Sports live broadcastBut a 5-3 loss would see Price, winner in 2018, 2019 and 2021, miss the competition for the first time since 2015.
Mansell joins James Wade, Cameron Menzies, Danny Noppert, Ross Smith, Ryan Joyce, Keane Barry and Martin Lukeman in the final eight qualifiers, with the final standings of the 32-man field set to be confirmed after the end of this Winmau Challenge Tour. weekend.
Big names miss out on Grand Slam qualifying
Wade beat former World Championship runner-up Simon Whitlock at straight leg, defeated Germany’s Florian Hempel by the same margin and beat Michele Turetta 5-1 to secure a top eight finish needed for a return to the Grand Slam of Darts.
Mansell will now make his Grand Slam darts debut after beating former world champion Raymond van Barneveld, while Noppert’s qualification began with a final-game win over Steve Beaton, who is playing his final season in the PDC ProTour.
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Steve Beaton played his last PDC ProTour match against Niels Zonneveld at Players Championship 30. (Courtesy: PDC)
Lukeman has won four successive tons or more to solidify his position in the last 16 rounds, with Smith knocking out Jeffrey de Graff (who knocked out Joe Cullen in the previous round) and Joyce knocking out last year’s quarter-finalist Damon Heta. recorded average. Qualifying location.
Menzies defeated former Grand Slam semi-finalists Mervyn King, Steve Lennon and last year’s World Match Play runner-up Nathan Aspinall (world number 7) during the qualifying period, and in the same week he won his first PDC rankings title at Players Championship 29.
Daryl Gurney, Gabriel Clemens and Chris Dobey were all eliminated in the last 32, while Jonny Clayton saw Latvia’s Madars Razma and Dirk van Duijvenbode eliminated by Danny van Trijp. Last year’s UK Open champion Andrew Gilding was also eliminated.
The Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts draw will take place on Monday 4 November.
How does the Grand Slam of Darts work?
The 32-player group stage of the competition sees players compete in a round-robin format over the opening four days at WV Active Aldersley, with 16 ties played across two sessions on Saturday 9 November and Sunday 10 November.
At the end of the group stage, the top two players from each group will advance to the knockout stage, where the final 16 will be split on Wednesday and Thursday evenings.
The quarterfinals will take place on Friday and Saturday, with the tournament concluding with a bumper double session on Sunday 17 November. This will be followed by the semi-finals in the afternoon and the finals in the evening session.
Watch Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts live on Sky Sports or stream NOW from 9 to 17 November. You can instantly watch live action from the Premier League and EFL, as well as darts, cricket, tennis, golf and more.
