Ricky Evans: Last year's quarter-finalist comes through Tour Card Holder to seal spot at Grand Slam of Darts

Ricky Evans qualified for the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts a day after he missed the chance to secure his spot at the World Darts Championship in a torrid end to his ProTour season.

Following the conclusion of the PDC ProTour season on Thursday, 91 players returned to Leicester's Mattioli Arena to compete for the remaining 10 spots in this year's Wolverhampton showpiece.

Evans, who has endured a nightmare year, came through a Tour Card Holder qualifier for the second successive year on Friday to seal a spot in the Grand Slam, defeating Thomas Lovely, Willie O'Connor and Cristo Reyes in the decisive round.

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Evans failed to qualify for Worlds through the ProTour, meaning he needs to go to the TCH Qualifier which is scheduled for November 30 to get to Ally Pally in December.

Niko Springer, who defeated Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson at last year's event - sealed his immediate return in sensational fashion, averaging 112.25 to dispatch Stefaan Henderyck.

Stephen Bunting and Bradley Brooks are also heading to the West Midlands thanks to ton-plus averages, while Joe Cullen returns after defeating 2022 champion Michael Smith 5-3 in their winner-takes-all showdown.

Bunting, the 2023 semi-finalist, was the highest-ranked player to come through Friday's event, producing a trio of ton-plus averages in wins over Arno Merk, Callan Rydz and Jimmy van Schie respectively.

Alan Soutar dumped out Madars Razma, Mickey Mansell and Mike De Decker to seal his place in Wolverhampton alongside Maik Kuivenhoven - a two-time runner-up on the ProTour in 2026.

Kuivenhoven will be one of three Tour Card Holder Qualifiers making their debut in Wolverhampton, with Tom Sykes and Carl Sneyd also winning through Friday's event in Leicester.

Austria's Rusty-Jake Rodriguez completed the list of qualifiers, accounting for Australian No 1 Damon Heta and former European Champion Ritchie Edhouse en route to progressing.

Heta was one of several big names to miss out on qualification, succumbing in the opening round alongside 2025 semi-finalist Danny Noppert, World Matchplay semi-finalist Dirk van Duijvenbode and three-time runner-up Peter Wright.

Raymond van Barneveld - the 2012 Grand Slam of Darts champion - was beaten in the penultimate round of qualification, while 2023 World Champion Smith narrowly missed out on a place in the 48-player field.

The draw for the Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts will be made on Monday November 9.

2026 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts Tour Card Holder Qualifier
Mattioli Arena, Leicester
Friday November 6
Last 20
Stephen Bunting 5-2 Jimmy van Schie
Maik Kuivenhoven 5-2 Chris Landman
Tom Sykes 5-3 Adam Leek
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez 5-2 Tom Bissell
Niko Springer 5-1 Stefaan Henderyck
Ricky Evans 5-3 Cristo Reyes
Carl Sneyd 5-2 Andy Boulton
Bradley Brooks 5-2 Dave Chisnall
Joe Cullen 5-3 Michael Smith
Alan Soutar 5-3 Mike De Decker

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(c) Sky Sports 2026: Ricky Evans: Last year's quarter-finalist comes through Tour Card Holder to seal spot at Grand Slam of Darts