The Pin Lands on Rock in Sky Televised Grand Slam Darts
There are two more televised darting majors before the 2024 Paddy Power World Championship gets underway in mid-December. The Cazoo Players Championship finals, played in the darting hotbed of Minehead Butlin’s Resort, starts on November 24. Beforehand, there is the Sky televised Mr Vegas Grand Slam, which begins on Saturday.
This £650,000 competition with a £150,000 winner’s prize has an unusual format. Players are divided into eight groups of four who play each other in a round-robin setup. The top two in each group then proceed to a conventional draw for the second round, where the tournament becomes a traditional knockout competition.
Peter Wright, who beat James Wade 11-6 in the final of the European Championship a fortnight ago, is 14/1 to win his first Grand Slam title next week. ©PDCEurope
Each group has a single seeded player. They are Michael van Gerwen (MVG), Michael Smith, Peter Wright, Luke Humphries, Gerwyn Price, Nathan Aspinall, Danny Noppert and Jonny Clayton. It was Smith who won the contest twelve months ago. MVG has three Grand Slam titles (2015, 2016, 2017), as does Gerwyn Price, who took the tournament in 2018, 2019 and 2021.
The Grand Slam Draw and More
Michael Smith, quoted on 12/1 by the best darts betting sites, will begin his title defence against debutant Nathan Girvan. Michael van Gerwen, 9/2 and disputing outright favouritism with Gerwyn Price, faces Fallon Sherrock in his opening match.
Gerwyn Price opens his Group D campaign against Northern Ireland’s Nathan Rafferty. World Matchplay champion Nathan Aspinall – a runner-up to Smith in last year’s final – will kick off his challenge against Women’s World Matchplay champion Beau Greaves.
Wales’ World Cup star Jonny Clayton plays the returning Berry van Peer. Dutch number two Danny Noppert meets Japan’s Haruki Muramatsu, while Masters champion Chris Dobey faces World Youth Champion Josh Rock.
Elsewhere, UK Open champion Andrew Gilding takes on Brendan Dolan, and Ryan Searle goes up against European Championship semi-finalist Gian van Veen. It is Damon Heta and Ricardo Pietreczko who collide in the tournament’s curtain-raising game.
Three-time Grand Slam runner-up Peter Wright has been pitted against American newcomer Stowe Buntz in his opening group game. World Grand Prix champion Luke Humphries, 7/1 third favourite in the early betting, will open his title bid against Ireland’s Steve Lennon.
What You Need to Know About the 2023 Grand Slam of Darts
The group stage of the competition will continue on Sunday, with Saturday’s winning players facing off. The losing players will also meet each other, with the final round-robin games taking place on Monday and Tuesday.
Following the conclusion of the group stage, the top two players from each group will move through to the knockout phase of the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts. The ‘last 16’ matches will be split across Wednesday and Thursday evenings. Quarter-finals will be held on Friday and Saturday, and the tournament will conclude with a bumper double afternoon/evening session on Sunday, November 19.
The Format
- Group Stage – Best of 9 legs
- Second Round – Best of 19 legs
- Quarter-Finals – Best of 31 legs
- Semi-Finals – Best of 31 legs
- Final – Best of 31 legs
The Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts, played at Aldersley Leisure Village, Wolverhampton, will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK. The PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners, including DAZN and Viaplay, will also show the action.
What Are the Best Grand Slam Bets?
Group winners face runners-up from other groups in the knockout stages. If everything goes to form, reigning World Darts Champion Smith, Clayton, Humphries and Price will be in the top bracket of the knockout draw. Wright, Noppert, van Gerwen and Aspinall will be among the eight names in the bottom bracket.
It is very tempting to seek out value away from this ‘big eight’. The 2023 season has been anything other than predictable, and this competition was won by a big outsider, Jose de Sousa, in 2020. The Portuguese player has not qualified for this year’s competition.
Dave Chisnall, drawn in Peter Wright’s Group alongside Stephen Bunting and Stowe Buntz, has enjoyed a fruitful year. He has won three European Tour events and two Players Championships – the most recent just a week ago – but has never won on a major TV stage. Until he does, it is difficult to place much faith in the world number 11.
Our pin, therefore, falls on Northern Ireland’s Josh Rock. The 2022 World Youth Champion plays in Group B with the seeded Jonny Clayton, 2023 Masters Champion Chris Dobey and the little-known Berry van Peer as his rivals.
Josh Rock hit a fantastic 9 dart finish at the Wolverhampton Grand Slam of Darts last night 🎯 pic.twitter.com/jJ1bFARTwL
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) November 18, 2022
Despite Clayton’s and Dobey’s successes, they are available at 28/1 and 33/1 in the outright betting. Josh Rock is top-priced 25/1. The leading darts betting sites clearly believe the youngster is on the verge of a breakthrough major tournament success.
It was in this competition 12 months ago that Rock recorded his first televised nine-dart finish. No player had ever achieved that feat in their debut year. He proceeded to make the final-16 stage of the World Championships. Once again, it was a fantastic achievement for a newcomer, and better is sure to come in 2024 or, hopefully, before.
