2020 Grand Slam of Darts

2020 BoyleSports Grand Slam of Darts
2020 BoyleSports Grand Slam of Darts
Tournament information
Dates	16–24 November 2020
Venue	Ricoh Arena
Location	Coventry
Country	England
Organisation(s)	PDC
Format	Legs
Prize fund	£550,000
Winner's share	£125,000
High checkout	164 Joe Cullen ; (group stage)
Champion(s)
	José de Sousa
«2019	2021»

The 2020 BoyleSports Grand Slam of Darts was the fourteenth staging of the Grand Slam of Darts, organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The event took place, behind closed doors, from 16 to 24 November 2020 at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry.^[1]

The tournament's two-time defending champion was Gerwyn Price, who successfully defended his 2018 title by defeating Peter Wright 16–6 in 2019.^[2] Price's title defence came to an end when, after surviving a match dart from Ryan Joyce to progress through the group stage, he eventually lost 10–8 to Nathan Aspinall in the last 16.^[3]

José de Sousa became the first Portuguese darts player to win a televised title by beating James Wade 16–12 in the final; de Sousa also became the first debutant since the tournament's inception to win the title, as well as the first to win the title, without finishing top in the group phase.^[4]

Dimitri Van den Bergh broke the record for the highest individual average for this tournament when he beat Ricky Evans 5–1 in the group stage, averaging 114.85, beating Phil Taylor's previous record of 114.65 set in the 2014 tournament. Additionally, Simon Whitlock broke Adrian Lewis' record of hitting the most 180s in a Grand Slam match by scoring 20 maximums in his quarter-final victory over Michael van Gerwen.^[5]

Prize money

The prize fund for the Grand Slam was the same as 2019, with the winner getting £125,000.^[6]

Position (num. of players)		Prize money (Total: £550,000)
Winner	(1)	£125,000
Runner-up	(1)	£65,000
Semi-finalists	(2)	£40,000
Quarter-finalists	(4)	£20,000
Last 16	(8)	£10,000
Third in group	(8)	£7,500
Fourth in group	(8)	£4,000

Group winner bonus	(8)	£3,500

Qualifying

The qualification criteria were changed from 2019, with the number of entrants from the British Darts Organisation being reduced from eight to two, with a corresponding increase in PDC players. The winner of the 2020 PDC Home Tour was invited, as were the top players from the PDC's Summer, Autumn and Winter Series events and the winner of the new women's qualifier.^[7] The Champions League of Darts was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The qualifiers are:

PDC Qualifying Tournaments

PDC Main Tournaments
Tournament	Year	Position	Player	Qualifiers
PDC World Darts Championship	2020	Winner	Peter Wright	Peter Wright Gerwyn Price Glen Durrant Dimitri Van den Bergh Luke Humphries Michael van Gerwen Jonny Clayton Nathan Aspinall James Wade Damon Heta Jermaine Wattimena Lisa Ashton Gary Anderson Dirk van Duijvenbode Adam Gawlas Michael Smith Rob Cross
Grand Slam of Darts	2019	Winner	Gerwyn Price
Premier League Darts	2020	Winner	Glen Durrant
World Matchplay	2020	Winner	Dimitri Van den Bergh
World Grand Prix	2020	Winner	Gerwyn Price
PDC World Youth Championship	2019	Winner	Luke Humphries
Masters	2020	Winner	Peter Wright
UK Open	2020	Winner	Michael van Gerwen
European Championship	2020	Winner	Peter Wright
Players Championship Finals	2019	Winner	Michael van Gerwen
World Series of Darts Finals	2020	Winner	Gerwyn Price
PDC World Cup of Darts	2020	Winners	Gerwyn Price Jonny Clayton
PDC Home Tour	2020	Winner	Nathan Aspinall
PDC Summer Series	2020	Highest-placed^[i]	James Wade
PDC Autumn Series	2020	Highest-placed^[i]	Damon Heta
PDC Winter Series	2020	Highest-placed^[i]	Jermaine Wattimena
PDC Women's Qualifier	2020	Winner	Lisa Ashton
PDC World Darts Championship	2020	Runner-up	Michael van Gerwen
Grand Slam of Darts	2019	Runner-up	Peter Wright
Premier League Darts	2020	Runner-up	Nathan Aspinall
World Matchplay	2020	Runner-up	Gary Anderson
World Grand Prix	2020	Runner-up	Dirk van Duijvenbode
PDC World Youth Championship	2019	Runner-up	Adam Gawlas
Masters	2020	Runner-up	Michael Smith
UK Open	2020	Runner-up	Gerwyn Price
European Championship	2020	Runner-up	James Wade
Players Championship Finals	2019	Runner-up	Gerwyn Price
World Series of Darts Finals	2020	Runner-up	Rob Cross
PDC World Cup of Darts	2020	Runners-Up	Michael Smith Rob Cross
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.

^ ^a ^b ^c The qualifiers for the Summer, Autumn and Winter Series were the highest-ranked five day Order of Merit, not already qualified at that time.

At most twenty-two players could have qualified through this method, where the position in the list depicts the priority of the qualification.

Since the list of qualifiers from the main tournaments produced fewer than twenty-two players, the field of twenty-two players was filled from the reserve lists. The first list consisted of the winners from 2020 European Tour events, in which the winners were ordered by Order of Merit position order at the cut-off date.

PDC European Tour
Tournament	Event	Position	Player	Qualifiers
2020 European Tour
	Belgian Darts Championship	Winner	Gerwyn Price	Joe Cullen Devon Petersen José de Sousa
	German Darts Championship	Winner	Devon Petersen
	European Darts Grand Prix	Winner	José de Sousa
	International Darts Open	Winner	Joe Cullen
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.

Since there were still less than twenty-two qualified players after the winners of European Tour events were added, the winners of 2020 Players Championships events were added, in Order of Merit order.

PDC Pro Tour
Tournament	Event	Position	Player	Qualifiers
2020 PDC Pro Tour
	Players Championship 1	Winner	Gary Anderson	Ian White Ryan Searle
	Players Championship 2	Winner	Nathan Aspinall
	Players Championship 3	Winner	Ryan Searle
	Players Championship 4	Winner	Krzysztof Ratajski^[a]
	Players Championship 5	Winner	Peter Wright
	Players Championship 6	Winner	Gerwyn Price
	Players Championship 7	Winner	Nathan Aspinall
	Players Championship 8	Winner	Ian White
	Players Championship 9	Winner	Michael van Gerwen
	Players Championship 10	Winner	Ryan Joyce^[b]
	Players Championship 11	Winner	Michael van Gerwen
	Players Championship 12	Winner	James Wade
	Players Championship 13	Winner	Peter Wright
	Players Championship 14	Winner	Peter Wright
	Players Championship 15	Winner	Damon Heta
	Players Championship 16	Winner	Michael van Gerwen
	Players Championship 17	Winner	Gerwyn Price
	Players Championship 18	Winner	Gerwyn Price
	Players Championship 19	Winner	Michael Smith
	Players Championship 20	Winner	Michael Smith
	Players Championship 21	Winner	Gerwyn Price
	Players Championship 22	Winner	Peter Wright
	Players Championship 23	Winner	Joe Cullen
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.

^ Ratajski qualified via the Grand Slam qualifier before the conclusion of the Players Championship events.
^ Joyce qualified via the Grand Slam qualifier before the conclusion of the Players Championship events.

PDC Qualifying Event

A further eight places in the Grand Slam of Darts were filled by qualifiers from a PDC qualifier on 9 November.^[1] These are the qualifiers:

BDO Invitees

The two BDO world champions were invited.

Tournament	Year	Position	Player
BDO World Darts Championship	2020	Men's Winner	Wayne Warren
BDO World Darts Championship	2020	Women's Winner	Mikuru Suzuki

Pools

Pool A	Pool B	Pool C	Pool D
(PDC Seeded Players)	(PDC Qualifiers & BDO Representatives)
Michael van Gerwen (1) Peter Wright (2) Gerwyn Price (3) Michael Smith (4) Rob Cross (5) Nathan Aspinall (6) James Wade (7) Gary Anderson (8)	Dave Chisnall Dimitri Van den Bergh Ian White Glen Durrant Krzysztof Ratajski Jonny Clayton Joe Cullen Simon Whitlock	Jermaine Wattimena Ricky Evans Gabriel Clemens Devon Petersen José de Sousa Luke Humphries Ryan Joyce Ryan Searle	Dirk van Duijvenbode Justin Pipe Damon Heta Adam Hunt Lisa Ashton Adam Gawlas Wayne Warren (BDO) Mikuru Suzuki (BDO)

Draw

Group stage

All group matches are best of nine legs
After three games, the top two in each group qualify for the knock-out stage

NB: P = Played; W = Won; L = Lost; LF = Legs for; LA = Legs against; +/− = Plus/minus record, in relation to legs; Pts = Points; Status = Qualified to knockout stage

Group A

Pos.	Player	P	W	L	LF	LA	+/−	Pts	Status
1	Michael van Gerwen (1)	3	3	0	15	4	+11	6	Q
2	Adam Hunt (Q)	3	1	2	9	12	−3	2	Q
3	Gabriel Clemens (Q)	3	1	2	8	12	−4	2	Eliminated
4	Joe Cullen	3	1	2	10	14	−4	2	Eliminated

16 November


99.28 Joe Cullen	2 – 5	Gabriel Clemens 99.91
105.85 Michael van Gerwen	5 – 0	Adam Hunt 88.14

17 November


95.01 Joe Cullen	5 – 4	Adam Hunt 91.72
103.60 Michael van Gerwen	5 – 1	Gabriel Clemens 92.86

19 November


91.83 Gabriel Clemens	2 – 5	Adam Hunt 95.09
92.80 Michael van Gerwen	5 – 3	Joe Cullen 91.73

Group B

Pos.	Player	P	W	L	LF	LA	+/−	Pts	Status
1	Simon Whitlock (Q)	3	3	0	15	8	+7	6	Q
2	Gary Anderson (8)	3	2	1	11	11	0	4	Q
3	Ryan Searle	3	1	2	11	14	−3	2	Eliminated
4	Adam Gawlas	3	0	3	11	15	−4	0	Eliminated

16 November


93.77 Simon Whitlock	5 – 3	Ryan Searle 96.18
83.59 Gary Anderson	5 – 3	Adam Gawlas 88.31

17 November


99.67 Ryan Searle	5 – 4	Adam Gawlas 95.16
90.50 Gary Anderson	1 – 5	Simon Whitlock 94.77

18 November


96.09 Simon Whitlock	5 – 4	Adam Gawlas 90.11
99.85 Gary Anderson	5 – 3	Ryan Searle 102.06

Group C

Pos.	Player	P	W	L	LF	LA	+/−	Pts	Status
1	Michael Smith (4)	3	3	0	15	5	+10	6	Q
2	José de Sousa	3	2	1	12	10	+2	4	Q
3	Krzysztof Ratajski (Q)	3	1	2	11	14	–3	2	Eliminated
4	Lisa Ashton	3	0	3	6	15	−9	0	Eliminated

16 November


94.76 Krzysztof Ratajski	4 – 5	José de Sousa 99.69
102.51 Michael Smith	5 – 1	Lisa Ashton 87.98

17 November


104.18 Krzysztof Ratajski	5 – 4	Lisa Ashton 87.02
102.50 Michael Smith	5 – 2	José de Sousa 99.10

19 November


100.03 José de Sousa	5 – 1	Lisa Ashton 83.83
106.93 Michael Smith	5 – 2	Krzysztof Ratajski 94.37

Group D

Pos.	Player	P	W	L	LF	LA	+/−	Pts	Status
1	Dave Chisnall (Q)	3	3	0	15	8	+7	6	Q
2	Rob Cross (5)	3	2	1	12	8	+4	4	Q
3	Luke Humphries	3	1	2	11	14	−3	2	Eliminated
4	Justin Pipe (Q)	3	0	3	7	15	−8	0	Eliminated

16 November


94.61 Rob Cross	5 – 1	Justin Pipe 84.81
91.96 Dave Chisnall	5 – 4	Luke Humphries 97.65

17 November


87.09 Luke Humphries	5 – 4	Justin Pipe 91.51
87.78 Rob Cross	2 – 5	Dave Chisnall 96.31

18 November


85.78 Dave Chisnall	5 – 2	Justin Pipe 88.87
100.42 Rob Cross	5 – 2	Luke Humphries 102.57

Group E

Pos.	Player	P	W	L	LF	LA	+/−	Pts	Status
1	Devon Petersen	3	3	0	15	6	+9	6	Q
2	Ian White	3	1	2	10	11	−1	2	Q
3	Peter Wright (2)	3	1	2	11	13	–2	2	Eliminated
4	Dirk van Duijvenbode	3	1	2	8	14	−6	2	Eliminated

16 November


90.07 Peter Wright	4 – 5	Dirk van Duijvenbode 92.72
88.05 Ian White	2 – 5	Devon Petersen 99.55

17 November


106.80 Peter Wright	5 – 3	Ian White 100.72
93.26 Devon Petersen	5 – 2	Dirk van Duijvenbode 98.08

19 November


108.04 Ian White	5 – 1	Dirk van Duijvenbode 98.64
83.12 Peter Wright	2 – 5	Devon Petersen 88.25

Group F

Pos.	Player	P	W	L	LF	LA	+/−	Pts	Status
1	James Wade (7)	3	3	0	15	7	+8	6	Q
2	Damon Heta	3	2	1	12	10	+2	4	Q
3	Jermaine Wattimena	3	1	2	12	11	+1	2	Eliminated
4	Glen Durrant	3	0	3	4	15	−11	0	Eliminated

16 November


102.44 James Wade	5 – 2	Damon Heta 94.91
78.96 Glen Durrant	1 – 5	Jermaine Wattimena 91.04

17 November


89.76 Glen Durrant	1 – 5	Damon Heta 94.40
94.07 James Wade	5 – 3	Jermaine Wattimena 93.58

18 November


95.34 James Wade	5 – 2	Glen Durrant 87.95
86.14 Jermaine Wattimena	4 – 5	Damon Heta 86.14

Group G

Pos.	Player	P	W	L	LF	LA	+/−	Pts	Status
1	Gerwyn Price (3)	3	3	0	15	11	+4	6	Q
2	Jonny Clayton	3	2	1	13	9	+4	4	Q
3	Ryan Joyce (Q)	3	1	2	13	11	+2	2	Eliminated
4	Mikuru Suzuki (BDO)	3	0	3	5	15	−10	0	Eliminated

16 November


94.15 Jonny Clayton	5 – 4	Ryan Joyce 97.06
88.08 Gerwyn Price	5 – 4	Mikuru Suzuki 87.27

17 November


91.96 Ryan Joyce	5 – 1	Mikuru Suzuki 80.02
89.65 Gerwyn Price	5 – 3	Jonny Clayton 88.06

19 November


90.54 Jonny Clayton	5 – 0	Mikuru Suzuki 79.00
106.32 Gerwyn Price	5 – 4	Ryan Joyce 97.25

Group H

Pos.	Player	P	W	L	LF	LA	+/−	Pts	Status
1	Dimitri Van den Bergh	3	3	0	15	3	+12	6	Q
2	Nathan Aspinall (6)	3	2	1	11	6	+5	4	Q
3	Ricky Evans (Q)	3	1	2	7	13	−6	2	Eliminated
4	Wayne Warren (BDO)	3	0	3	4	15	−11	0	Eliminated

16 November


96.35 Nathan Aspinall	5 – 0	Wayne Warren 70.08
114.85 Dimitri Van den Bergh	5 – 1	Ricky Evans 95.80

17 November


87.51 Ricky Evans	5 – 3	Wayne Warren 88.70
94.40 Nathan Aspinall	1 – 5	Dimitri Van den Bergh 101.03

18 November


104.33 Dimitri Van den Bergh	5 – 1	Wayne Warren 78.82
93.28 Nathan Aspinall	5 – 1	Ricky Evans 90.35

Knockout stage

Second round (best of 19 legs)
20–21 November

Quarter-finals (best of 31 legs)
22 November

Semi-finals (best of 31 legs)
23 November

Final (best of 31 legs)
24 November

A1

Michael van Gerwen (1) 101.81

10

B2

Gary Anderson (8) 96.98

2

A1

Michael van Gerwen (1) 100.32

15

B1

Simon Whitlock (Q) 95.97

16

B1

Simon Whitlock (Q) 87.05

10

A2

Adam Hunt (Q) 86.68

6

B1

Simon Whitlock (Q) 97.92

12

C2

José de Sousa 97.53

16

C1

Michael Smith (4) 97.46

10

D2

Rob Cross (5) 95.18

9

C1

Michael Smith (4) 95.74

14

C2

José de Sousa 98.52

16

D1

Dave Chisnall (Q) 91.28

7

C2

José de Sousa 95.37

10

C2

José de Sousa 99.95

16

F1

James Wade (7) 94.26

12

E1

Devon Petersen 94.25

7

F2

Damon Heta 93.75

10

F2

Damon Heta 98.26

13

F1

James Wade (7) 101.66

16

F1

James Wade (7) 98.18

10

E2

Ian White 99.44

4

F1

James Wade (7) 98.61

16

H1

Dimitri Van den Bergh 96.87

15

G1

Gerwyn Price (3) 90.73

8

H2

Nathan Aspinall (6) 96.86

10

H2

Nathan Aspinall (6) 94.92

15

H1

Dimitri Van den Bergh 97.80

16

H1

Dimitri Van den Bergh 103.61

10

G2

Jonny Clayton 88.53

3

References

^ ^a ^b Phillips, Josh. "Ricoh Arena to host three further TV events & Winter Series". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
^ "Peerless Price retains BoyleSports Grand Slam title". pdc.tv. 17 November 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
^ Prenderville, Paul (22 November 2020). "Grand Slam of Darts 2020: Nathan Aspinall halts Gerwyn Price's bid for third title". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
^ Phillips, Josh (24 November 2020). "History-maker De Sousa defeats Wade in BoyleSports Grand Slam final". PDC. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
^ "Simon Whitlock beats Michael van Gerwen in Grand Slam of Darts". BBC Sport. 23 November 2020.
^ "PDC Order of Merit Rules". PDC. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
^ Allen, Dave. "2020 Grand Slam qualification criteria confirmed". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 18 August 2020.

[series-8] The qualifiers for the Summer, Autumn and Winter Series were the highest-ranked five day Order of Merit, not already qualified at that time.

[9] Ratajski qualified via the Grand Slam qualifier before the conclusion of the Players Championship events.

[10] Joyce qualified via the Grand Slam qualifier before the conclusion of the Players Championship events.

[Ricoh-1] Phillips, Josh. "Ricoh Arena to host three further TV events & Winter Series". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 30 September 2020.

[2] "Peerless Price retains BoyleSports Grand Slam title". pdc.tv. 17 November 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2019.

[3] Prenderville, Paul (22 November 2020). "Grand Slam of Darts 2020: Nathan Aspinall halts Gerwyn Price's bid for third title". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 November 2020.

[4] Phillips, Josh (24 November 2020). "History-maker De Sousa defeats Wade in BoyleSports Grand Slam final". PDC. Retrieved 24 November 2020.

[5] "Simon Whitlock beats Michael van Gerwen in Grand Slam of Darts". BBC Sport. 23 November 2020.

[6] "PDC Order of Merit Rules". PDC. Retrieved 15 January 2019.

[GSQ-7] Allen, Dave. "2020 Grand Slam qualification criteria confirmed". Professional Darts Corporation. Retrieved 18 August 2020.

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