Martin Schindler and Henry Coates have become the latest players to secure places at the 2026 Grand Slam of Darts, joining a field led by defending champion Luke Littler and Luke Humphries. The tournament will take place at WV Active Aldersley from 14 to 22 November, with the field expanded to 48 players competing for a £1 million prize fund and the Eric Bristow Trophy.
Schindler earned his spot by reaching the final of the European Championship in Dortmund last Sunday. The 30-year-old German, who only qualified for the European Championship at the season's final European Tour event in Maastricht, began the tournament as the 31st seed. He beat Wessel Nijman, Jermaine Wattimena, Jonny Clayton and Krzysztof Ratajski in succession before losing 11–8 to Ross Smith in the final. In doing so, he became the first German to reach the final of an individual PDC televised event. This will be Schindler's seventh appearance at the Grand Slam of Darts.
Coates, a 20-year-old Englishman, will make his Grand Slam debut after benefiting from Ross Smith's run to the European Championship final. Coates won Players Championship 25 in July, becoming only the fifth player in PDC history to win a ProTour event without a Tour Card. As the lowest-ranked ProTour event winner of 2026, he had to wait for other qualifying results. Smith had already qualified by winning the World Series of Darts Finals, so his latest final appearance did not claim an additional place, assuring Coates of his spot.
Littler, the two-time world champion, will face competition from Humphries, who qualified by winning the World Grand Prix, as well as Michael van Gerwen. James Wade, runner-up at the UK Open, and Gerwyn Price, finalist at the World Matchplay, have also secured places. Nathan Aspinall earned his spot by reaching last year's Players Championship Finals final. Josh Rock, Luke Woodhouse, Krzysztof Ratajski, Jonny Clayton, Chris Dobey, Cameron Menzies, Ryan Searle and Rob Cross have also qualified. Andrew Gilding, Gabriel Clemens, Karel Sedlacek, Kevin Doets and Niels Zonneveld are among the players who earned places through the Players Championship circuit and Euro Tour.
Several places remain up for grabs. Cameron Crabtree and Schmidt have secured places through the World Youth Championship, Beau Greaves will compete after winning the Women's World Matchplay, Sebastian Bialecki qualified as the Development Tour winner, and Joe Hunt will make his Wolverhampton debut through the Challenge Tour. Paolo Nebrida, Adam Sevada and Lisa Ashton have also qualified, with Nebrida securing his place as Asian champion, Sevada as the North American championship winner and Ashton through the Women's Series rankings. The ANZ Premier League winner will be decided on 31 October, while the PDC Nordic & Baltic circuit champion will earn a place on 8 November. Four more Players Championship events are scheduled, with any new winners who have not yet qualified securing a place. Up to 40 players will qualify directly by 6 November, with the remaining places decided at the Tour Card-holder qualifier.