Former champion Michael Smith has secured his spot in the 2025 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts through qualifying. The St Helens star ran out a 5-3 winner against Poland's number one Krzysztof Ratajski to secure his place, following a dominant display that saw him average 105 in a 5-1 demolition of Rusty-Jake Rodriguez earlier on.
Smith's victory marked the second televised appearance for him since March's UK Open. The former champion was joined by Ricky Evans and Danny Noppert in securing a spot at the Grand Slam of Darts, with Evans averaging 101 to dispatch Mensur Suljovic before Lukas Wenig averaged almost 107 after dumping out Dave Chisnall earlier in the day.
Other notable winners included Connor Scutt, who made his second consecutive Grand Slam of Darts appearance, and Karel Sedlacek, who will make his debut following a 103 average in his decisive showdown against Keane Barry. Meanwhile, Wessel Nijman defied a 112.57 average from Ritchie Edhouse to prevail in their winner-takes-all showdown.
The list of qualifiers now stands at eight, with Smith, Evans and Noppert joining Scutt, Wenig, Sedlacek, Luke Woodhouse, Danny Noppert, Ricky Evans and Michael Smith securing their places. The 2025 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts will take place at WV Active Aldersley from November 8-16, with the draw to be made on Monday, November 3.
Smith's victory marked the second televised appearance for him since March's UK Open. The former champion was joined by Ricky Evans and Danny Noppert in securing a spot at the Grand Slam of Darts, with Evans averaging 101 to dispatch Mensur Suljovic before Lukas Wenig averaged almost 107 after dumping out Dave Chisnall earlier in the day.
Other notable winners included Connor Scutt, who made his second consecutive Grand Slam of Darts appearance, and Karel Sedlacek, who will make his debut following a 103 average in his decisive showdown against Keane Barry. Meanwhile, Wessel Nijman defied a 112.57 average from Ritchie Edhouse to prevail in their winner-takes-all showdown.
The list of qualifiers now stands at eight, with Smith, Evans and Noppert joining Scutt, Wenig, Sedlacek, Luke Woodhouse, Danny Noppert, Ricky Evans and Michael Smith securing their places. The 2025 Mr Vegas Grand Slam of Darts will take place at WV Active Aldersley from November 8-16, with the draw to be made on Monday, November 3.
Can't a guy even get a decent game in anymore without averaging that kind of score? And what's with all these new faces popping up out of nowhere? It feels like the sport is trying to be too cool for its own britches. Karel Sedlacek, who? 
I mean, I know he won and all, but I just don't see the appeal. Give me a good old-fashioned pub darts session any day! 
. Smith's comeback looks solid and I'm loving how he dominated that match against Ratajski. It's been a while since we've seen him perform like that on TV 
. Evans and Noppert joining him in the qualifiers is awesome, can't wait to see them take on the top players! The fact that Scutt made his second consecutive appearance shows he's really racking up the experience and it'll be interesting to see how he handles the pressure this time around 
average 105? insane! and rickie evans averaging 101 is pretty fire too. but you gotta wonder what happened to the rest of these guys, are they still putting in the work or just riding the coattails of their former glory? and wessel nijman beating ritchie edhouse with a lower average is like, what?! that's got to hurt... either way, it's gonna be awesome to see who makes it out of the grand slam this year! 
he's been on fire lately and i'm so hyped for him to compete in the grand slam of darts again 
his stats are insane 105 average in that game against ratajski, what a beast! 
and now he's qualified for vegas 
can't wait to see him take on the best players again 
also congrats to ricky evans, danny noppert, connor scutt, lukas wenig, and karl sedlacek on making it through qualifying 
... I mean, they were legends for a reason! Nowadays it's all about these young guns like Michael Smith and Ricky Evans 
... from the good ol' days of watching on telly with a pint down the pub 
, to now where it's all live streams and YouTube clips. But you know what? I'm loving every minute of it! 
Bring on the Grand Slam of Darts - November can't come soon enough 
I'm so stoked for Michael Smith 
. The list of qualifiers is looking solid btw, I'm loving the competitiveness 