Dates 14–22 November Location Wolverhampton Organisation(s) PDC | Venue Civic Hall Country England Format Legs | |
The 2009 Grand Slam of Darts was the third staging of the darts tournament, the Grand Slam of Darts organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The event took place from 14–22 November 2009 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall. Television coverage of the tournament was covered by ITV Sport, with live coverage on ITV4 and highlights on ITV1. Despite being beaten by Vincent van der Voort in the group stages, Phil Taylor won a third consecutive Grand Slam with a 16–2 victory over Scott Waites.
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Prize money
The prize fund increased to £400,000 for the 2009 edition of the tournament, an increase of £44,000 from the 2008 edition, £10,000 more for the runner up, £5,000 more for the semi finalists and £2,500 more for the quarter finalists. Players who failed to make it past the group stage in the last tournament got £4,000. However, players who finished 3rd would earn £1,000 more but players who finished bottom of a group would get £1,500 less. Also the player with the highest checkout would not be rewarded. Instead, the group winners would earn £2,500.
Qualifying
There were numerous tournaments that provided qualifying opportunities to players. Most tournaments offered a qualifying position for the winner and runner-up of the tournament, however the World Championships and the Grand Slams offers a place in the tournament to all semi-finalists. There are also various other ways of qualifying for overseas players, including those from Australia and the United States of America, as well as a wildcard qualifying event open to any darts player. Some minor changes were made to the qualifying criteria from 2008. The winner and the runner-up of the 2009 would be invited, whilst it was announced that only the winner of the 2008 Winmau World Masters would be invited (though runner-up Scott Waites was invited anyway due to the withdrawal of Martin Adams). It was also announced that the winner of the 2009 US Open would be invited, though this was later withdrawn from the qualification criteria.
Qualifying tournaments
Players in italics had pre-qualified for the event.
Note: Players in italics had already qualified for the tournament.
* Scott Waites took the place of Martin Adams, who declined an invitation to the Grand Slam for the third year running. Following Adams' decision, the board of the Professional Darts Corporation met and decreed that he would not be invited to any future tournaments.
Other Methods of Qualification
An invitation to compete in the 2009 Grand Slam of Darts was also awarded to:
Dart Players Australia Qualifier
Simon Whitlock topped the Dart Players Australia Order of Merit, but had already secured his place in the Grand Slam as the 2008 BDO World Championship runner-up. Steve Macarthur, who came second, was not awarded an invitation.
PDC North American Order of Merit
The PDC North American Order of Merit ranks all of the North American dart players based on the amount of prize money that they have won from tournaments held in the USA and Canada.
Darin Young won £4,725 from PDC tournaments in North America, meaning he topped the North American Order of Merit and was awarded a place in the 2009 Grand Slam of Darts.
European Order of Merit
The European Order of Merit ranks all the European dart players based on the amount of prize money that they have won from tournaments held in continental Europe.
Vincent van der Voort won £7,600 from PDC tournaments in continental Europe, meaning he topped the European Order of Merit and was awarded a place in the 2009 Grand Slam of Darts.
ITV Wildcard Qualifier
The ITV Wildcard qualifier was held on 6 November 2009 at the Magnum Centre in Irvine, Scotland. Any darts player was able to enter and the winner received an invitation to the 2009 Grand Slam of Darts.
Steve Maish was the winner of the event, defeating Arron Monk in the final to secure the final place in the 2009 Grand Slam of Darts.
Qualified Players
The 32 qualified players were:
Group Stages
all matches first-to-5/best of 9.
NB: P = Played; W = Won; L = Lost; LF = Legs For; LA = Legs Against; +/- = Plus/Minus Record, in relation to legs; Average – 3-dart average; Pts = Points
Group H
Nine dart shootout
With Andy Hamilton and James Wade finishing level on points and leg difference, a nine-dart shootout between the two took place, to see who would play Terry Jenkins in the second round. The match took place after the conclusion of the group stages. The shootout occurred exactly one year to the day after a similar situation at the 2008 Grand Slam of Darts where Hamilton beat Alan Tabern.