Setting the stage for the 2026 Grand Slam

The stage is set for the 2026 Grand Slam in Warrington this coming weekend.

The stage is (almost) set for the 2026 Grand Slam, which is certain looking to be another strong field. With the expansion of this year's side event it is definitely the biggest of the four events so far - the main event is likely to be 36 or 38 - the best so far is 40.

Even with some high profile players not able to attend the midpoint of the ratings is 169!

So far no one has won the event twice - Harshan and Brian Po have been the top dogs for majors in the last year - can Brian stop Harshan retaining the title, or will there be someone else's name for the newly commissioned perpetual trophy courtesy of Elie Dangoor.

New names for the competition include Mark Nyman, Piotr Andronowski and Raymond Gbaraba who are all in the top 10 rated players in the event,

The side event also has a new perpetual shield in Adrienne Berger's name thanks to a donation by Sydney Berger.

This looks like it could also be very competitive with only 11 ratings points separating the top 7.

This year's "theme" is changing of the seasons as meteorologically day one is in Winter and day 2 is in Spring... let's see who is thawing out ready to spring into action!