A “dangerous” Belgian, a drastic decision and the most controversial darts player on earth: five things to follow during the Grand Slam

Dimi in Mike

A total of 32 players are taking part in the Aldersley Leisure Village. Dimitri Van den Bergh and Mike De Decker are there as winners of the UK Open and World Grand Prix respectively. Van den Bergh is the seventh seed and is in a group with phenomenon Luke Littler, qualifier Keane Barry and Asian qualifier Lourence Ilagan. De Decker was paired with former world champion Michael Smith, qualifier Jermaine Wattimena and World Cup finalist Mensur Suljovic.

The first two of each group advance to the last sixteen. The nice thing is that Group E and Group F are linked. Numbers one and two play against each other. In addition, the two winners of those matches will play against each other in the quarter-finals. Van den Bergh (fifth participation) and De Decker (second participation) can look each other in the eye at two moments.

“I feel more confident than ever before,” said De Decker at the PDC. “Winning the World Grand Prix gave me the belief that I can perform on the big stage. I believe that if I can fully bring my floor game to TV tournaments, I can be very dangerous. I think what makes the tournament so special is how open it is with the group stage. It’s such a short format, which means it’s easier to create surprises. You have to be there right from the start of every match.”

Wessel

A debutant to look forward to. The barely 24-year-old Wessel Nijman has been known for years as a super talent, but was caught for match fixing in 2020. He deliberately lost a match against David Evans 4-0 in exchange for a sum of money. After his confession, Nijman received a suspension of no less than five years. That was later reduced to half because he agreed to take part in a campaign against match-fixing by sharing his experiences.

Since then, Nijman has only advanced further. Last year he qualified for the World Cup via the Development Tour (the circuit for players up to 24 years old) and immediately won a tour card for the Pro Tour, the ‘first class’ of darts. In his long-awaited debut year, he won his first floor tournament in early October by beating Stephen Bunting in the final. The Masters winner against whom Nijman will win the Grand Slam on Saturday. Nijman – one of the few with a winning record against Littler and has been at the top in the world in terms of average all season – also meets fellow countryman Gian van Veen and top player Josh Rock in the group of death.

Noa-Lynn (in Beau)

As in previous years, there are again two women at the Grand Slam. Super talent Beau Greaves returns, while Noa-Lynn van Leuven takes Fallon Sherrock’s place. There is a lot to do about the Dutch woman as she goes through life as a trans woman. Van Leuven will also be there at the World Cup, but has often had to deal with hate reactions. There is even a call to ban her.

“We have taken legal advice and we have taken some of the ideas from policies that other sporting bodies, the IOC and other governing bodies have put in place,” Sky Sports boss Matt Porter said. “In the end, we came up with a policy that we think is fair. We respect the fact that not everyone agrees and we accept that it is not a unanimously accepted position. But it is a position that we have taken and that we believe is fair. Noa-Lynn and others have been playing by that rule for a number of years. Noa-Lynn has become more successful in recent years and therefore the opposition against her has become more vocal, as it should be in this world. Again, it’s something we respect, but ultimately we have a policy that we feel good about.”

Van Leuven – good for four tournament victories in the Women’s Series that year – is in a group with Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson and Ryan Joyce. The still barely 20-year-old Greaves – winner of the Women’s World Matchplay – will meet Danny Noppert, Cameron Menzies (Sherrock’s friend) and Martin Schindler.

Peter’s throw

Peter Wright did not appear in a major final this year, but he did win a round on the European Tour and qualified for the Grand Slam based on his ranking. In the group stage, Snakebite will play fourth seed Rob Cross, qualifier Martin Lukeman and international qualifier Leonard Gates.

The Scot has dropped to fourteenth place in the world rankings, but has nothing to defend in terms of prize money as he was eliminated in the group stage in 2022. But things are not going smoothly this year either for Wright, who therefore made a drastic decision.

“I’m working on a new throw,” said Wright in the run-up to the tournament. “Or at least: something like that. It’s not completely new because I’ve tried this one before, but I’ve never been able to make the transition. I’m focused on this tournament and hopefully I can stick with that other throw and get on with it. I recently tried it in Leicester during the World Grand Prix and it went quite well. Now I have also found the arrow that fits.”

Bully Boy

And then there is the man who has the most prize money to defend in the coming days. Michael Smith won the Grand Slam two years ago, earning a sum of £150,000 that Bully Boy now sees going up in smoke on the world rankings. Next month he even has to defend half a million at the World Cup, which he also won in 2022.

“If I said I don’t feel pressure, I’d be lying,” Smith said on the Darts Show Podcast. “But I’ve been around this game long enough to know what happens. Yes, I defend a lot of money. No, I don’t play at the level I would like to. But at times I have shown what I can do. I’ve been training non-stop for the past five or six months. I’m in the process of having a training room built, so I’ll train even harder to get ready for the world championships. I also have a gym under construction to try and get in shape. The schedule is brutal, but I’m going to play as much as I can and try to get back where I belong next year.”

Groups and program