A raft of top players will go head-to-head on Monday in the
PDPA World Championship qualifiers. The field of 150 players meet in Milton Keynes with just four spots at the Worlds on offer. Among the players taking part, there are more than a few familiar faces, including 16 who appeared at the 2017 edition. Brendan Dolan, Jamie Lewis, Jamie Caven, Chris Dobey, Joe Murnan, Ricky Evans, Andrew Gilding, Jeffrey de Graaf, Ron Meulenkamp and Mick McGowan are all hoping to make an Ally Pally return.
Mark Frost, Kevin Simm, Simon Stevenson, John Bowles were all successful in the PDPA qualifiers last year, and have entered in the hope of doing so again. Josh Payne may not need to take part. If he beats Dimitri van den Bergh in the World Youth Championship final this weekend, he will automatically qualify for the Worlds. Former World Youth runner-up and fan favourite Berry van Peer is among the PDPA hopefuls.
John Part, the
PDC world champion in 2003 and 2008, is bidding to make a return to the biggest stage. Former finalists Andy Hamilton and Kevin Painter are also taking part. Some players still maintain hope of qualifying through the Order of Merit, and have one last chance to influence their ranking at the Players Championship in Minehead.
The full list of competitors is available
here. The PDPA qualifiers will be free to view worldwide for the first time, with Sky Sports streaming the event live on their website.
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