2007 Grand Slam of Darts

The 32 players were split into eight groups of four players with the top two from each group qualifying for the last 16 knockout stages. Each player was therefore guaranteed three matches in the competition. Two points were awarded for a win. All group games were best of 9 legs, the second-round games were extended to best of 19 legs, the semi-finals best of 25 legs, and the final best of 35 legs.

PartyPoker.net increased the prize fund for the event from the original announcement of £250,000 to £300,000 making it the second richest tournament in 2007 – ahead of both the Premier League and the BDO World Championship.[1]

Controversy hit the tournament in May when it was confirmed by the BDO that the Winmau World Masters had been moved from its original dates of 26–28 October to a new date of 16–18 November,[2] clashing directly with the Grand Slam. This meant that players from the BDO were forced into a direct choice between competing at the Masters for valuable ranking points or taking their place at the Grand Slam for better prize money. BDO World Champion Martin Adams almost immediately confirmed that he would participate in the Masters, though he was the only BDO player to do so.[3] Adams went out in the quarter-finals of the World Masters meaning his pay cheque of £1,250 was significantly less than the £4,000 he would have received simply for turning up at the Grand Slam. Adams also declined the chance to compete in 2008, even though the two tournaments did not clash as the Masters was moved to December.

The PDC Chairman Barry Hearn announced on 21 February 2007 that all major tournament finalists for the past two years from both the BDO and PDC will be invited to the event. Also World Championship semi-finalists from the same period would receive an invite.

The tournaments used for the qualifying criteria were the two World Championships, the World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and World Masters (2006 only), UK Open, Las Vegas Desert Classic, Premier League, World Series of Darts, International Darts League and the World Darts Trophy with the field set at 32 players.

BDO players Gary Anderson, Mark Webster, Shaun Greatbatch, Niels de Ruiter, Phill Nixon and Scott Waites all accepted invites to the event leaving Martin Adams (the BDO World Champion) as the only player to have rejected the opportunity to play.[4] He participated in the 2007 Winmau World Masters instead, losing at the quarter-final stage.

PDC Tournament Year Position Player World Championship 2006 Winner Phil Taylor Runner-Up Peter Manley Semi-Finalist 1 Wayne Jones Semi-Finalist 2 Wayne Mardle 2007 Winner Raymond van Barneveld Runner-Up Phil Taylor Semi-Finalist 1 Andy Hamilton Semi-Finalist 2 Andy Jenkins World Matchplay 2006 Winner Phil Taylor Runner-Up James Wade 2007 Winner James Wade Runner-Up Terry Jenkins World Grand Prix 2006 Winner Phil Taylor Runner-Up Terry Jenkins 2007 Winner James Wade Runner-Up Terry Jenkins Las Vegas Desert Classic 2006 Winner John Part Runner-Up Raymond van Barneveld 2007 Winner Raymond van Barneveld Runner-Up Terry Jenkins UK Open 2006 Winner Raymond van Barneveld Runner-Up Barrie Bates 2007 Winner Raymond van Barneveld Runner-Up Vincent van der Voort World Series of Darts 2006 Winner Phil Taylor Runner-Up Adrian Lewis US Open 2007 Winner Phil Taylor Runner-Up Raymond van Barneveld Premier League 2006 Winner Phil Taylor Runner-Up Roland Scholten 2007 Winner Phil Taylor Runner-Up Terry Jenkins

BDO Tournament Year Position Player World Championship 2006 Winner Jelle Klaasen Runner-Up Raymond van Barneveld Semi-Finalist 1 Martin Adams Semi-Finalist 2 Shaun Greatbatch 2007 Winner Martin Adams Runner-Up Phill Nixon Semi-Finalist 1 Mervyn King Semi-Finalist 2 Niels de Ruiter World Masters 2006 Winner Michael van Gerwen Runner-Up Martin Adams Defunct Tournaments Tournament Year Position Player International Darts League 2006 Winner Raymond van Barneveld Runner-Up Colin Lloyd 2007 Winner Gary Anderson Runner-Up Mark Webster World Darts Trophy 2006 Winner Phil Taylor Runner-Up Martin Adams 2007 Winner Gary Anderson Runner-Up Phil Taylor

Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.

During the qualification period, players who had already sealed their places at the Grand Slam continued to reach major finals which left the PDC with several vacant positions. The qualifying criteria was therefore extended to include the highest ranked non-qualifiers from the PDC and WDF (Dennis Priestley and Scott Waites[5]). A wildcard tournament qualifier was expanded to two qualifiers (Chris Mason & Kevin McDine). Other events to be awarded places were the DPA Australian Open (Glenn Power, who was replaced by Pat Orreal due to visa restrictions[6]), the South African Open (Charles Losper), the North American Order of Merit (Gary Mawson). Finally, the next two highest ranked players from the PDC rankings were added (Ronnie Baxter and Kevin Painter[7]) to complete the 32 man field.

The tournament was televised by ITV. The first afternoon session on 17 November, the Sunday afternoon session on 18 November, the semi-finals, and the final were all be broadcast live on ITV1. The rest of the tournament was shown live on ITV4. It was ITV's first televised darts tournament since they ceased coverage of the Winmau World Masters in 1988 – although they did show the first Clash of Champions match between Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld in 1999.[9]

The ITV Sport team consisted of lead presenter Matt Smith, analysts Steve Beaton and Alan Warriner-Little, and commentators John Rawling from ITV Boxing, Stuart Pyke from Sky Sports and Nigel Pearson of talkSPORT.

• Announcement of tournament PlanetDarts.tv