Gary Anderson will not be in Wolverhampton. The two-time world champion has withdrawn from the Grand Slam of Darts Tour Card Holder Qualifier, taking place this Friday 6 November in Leicester, even though this event represented his last chance to secure a place in the 48-player field. According to The Sun, the Scot will therefore miss out on the £1 million tournament for only the second time in twenty years.
The reason for his withdrawal has not been made public. The schedule, however, leaves no room for manoeuvre: the Grand Slam takes place from 14 to 22 November, and the final ten places in the draw were all due to be allocated following this qualifying day. A player who withdraws from the qualifier has no other way in.
A withdrawal at the worst possible moment
The 2026 Grand Slam of Darts has taken on a new dimension. The field has been expanded to 48 players, divided into sixteen groups of three, with a prize fund of one million pounds. This expansion was intended to benefit players capable of winning matches over the course of a week, not just the regulars on the major tour.
But the qualifiers remain unique: they reward titles and performances over the past twelve months, rather than the world rankings. A big name and a list of achievements aren’t enough. Anderson didn’t tick all the boxes this year, which meant he had to go through the qualifier in Leicester – the final hurdle before Wolverhampton. He didn’t turn up.
What this means for the draw
Ten places were up for grabs this Friday – an unusually high number – a direct consequence of the expanded draw. Anderson’s withdrawal does not strictly speaking free up his place, as he had not qualified, but it removes a name from the list of contenders and simplifies the path for one player in his section.
The qualifying draw was already shaping up to be a tough one. Stephen Bunting enters as the number one seed, having played two Premier League seasons without a major title to secure his place. Danny Noppert, tenth in the Order of Merit and the second-highest-ranked player without a wildcard, was the other big name of the day. Both men were aiming for a backdoor return to Wolverhampton.
Other big names in the qualifying draw
Anderson isn’t the only one who has to go through the qualifier. Dirk van Duijvenbode, Damon Heta, Dave Chisnall, Joe Cullen, Mike De Decker, Daryl Gurney, William O’Connor, Niko Springer, Peter Wright, Michael Smith and Ricardo Pietreczko were all in the draw in Leicester. For several of them, this was the only possible route, having failed to produce any standout results over the past year.
The contrast is stark with Bunting, a semi-finalist in 2023 but knocked out in the group stage last year. A year earlier, he was playing on Saturday in Wolverhampton. This time, he had to win several matches in a single day to return to the same stage.
Anderson and the Grand Slam: a patchy history
His absence is keenly felt because he is a regular at the event. World champion in 2015 and 2016, Anderson has long been one of the faces of the Wolverhampton tournament, without ever managing to lift the trophy. Missing the 2026 edition for the second time in twenty years sums up a career that now proceeds in fits and starts, alternating between moments of brilliance and withdrawals.
His recent schedule sets the tone: a withdrawal ahead of the Slovak Darts Open in June, an average of 109.96 at the World Matchplay in July, followed by a final defeat to Ross Smith in Budapest at the end of August. His talent remains intact. His presence, however, is no longer guaranteed.
And now
The ten qualifiers from Leicester complete a line-up that already features the major favourites, starting with defending champion Luke Littler and Luke Humphries. The group draw is due to take place in the coming days and will determine the fixtures for 14 November.
For Anderson, the next chapter will be written elsewhere, most likely on the European tour and in the major championships to come. As for the Grand Slam, it will remain the case that a former world champion has not yet taken his final shot at the title.
