PDC Challenge Tour Order of Merit Update: Final weekend begins as Greaves skips and Labanauskas and Bellmont remain in pole position

The Challenge Tour Order of Merit has been updated after the latest weekend of action and the penultimate one at that. Darius Labanauskas still stands to likely return to the PDC Tour in 2026 while Stefan Bellmont likewise is in pole position.

Labanauskas currently sits on £9,700 ahead of Bellmont who is on £8,150. 'Lucky D' has won three titles so far this season but he will already likely qualify through the ProTour anyway for the World Championship so would only need a Tour Card. This in itself would open the list up further. The top three qualify for the World Championship.

This would mean that the race to Ally Pally is defacto going to be Stefan Bellmont alongside Ted Evetts and Jamai van den Herik for those spots who sit there currently. Van den Herik sealed a title this past weekend and is gaining on Evetts all the time. Evetts remains slightly adrift of Bellmont when it comes to the race for a Tour Card with the top two sealing those. The winner of the whole Order of Merit also scoops a spot in the Grand Slam of Darts which likely at the minute is Labanauskas.

Mervyn King was one of the forerunners early on. He suffered two early exits on Friday. With his main rivals suffering mixed fortunes when it came to their own weekends, it was a missed opportunity. Jack Tweddell next up reached the final of Event 17 so sits in position too. He is in sixth spot but wasn't able to gain on King who reached the latter stages of Event 20 losing to Alexander Merkx who himself had a great weekend.

Beau Greaves was absent once again from this past weekend. She has previously stated her desire to play on the PDC Tour in future but that she will go her own pace. That has seen her not play for many of the weekends and with the Women's Series next time out and a likely Ally Pally spot through that route, it seems she has given up on the Challenge Tour as her route of choice.

Especially given that she sits on top by some distance on the Development Tour alongside Cam Crabtree who already has a Tour Card. Owen Bates too already has one but is in 78th spot in the Order of Merit so stands to lose it after 2025. So likely it is the route that Greaves will take knowing that most of the top five are already either qualified for Ally Pally or have Tour Cards.

But also this likely opens up routes too for those on the Development Tour as she has a spot sewn up at Ally Pally anyway for the Women's Series and so in the end, it could just be a Tour Card she takes from that route benefiting others down the chain. The likely shift away from the Challenge Tour has also been seen as she has not played since the start of the season on the ProTour despite receiving invites through this route and being top for the start of the year.

But also it could be that she doesn't play Ally Pally at all with Lakeside as ever being on the cards and a decision not yet made despite her leaning in one direction which is Ally Pally.

Back to the Challenge Tour and Scott Waites also had an impressive return winning his first PDC title in 15 years. He is just behind Greaves in eighth spot alongside Alexander Merkx who reached a final losing to Van den Herik. Danny van Trijp currently rounds out the top ten. Joe Hunt who also won a title as well as Lee Cocks sit inside the top 20 after their respective success.

With 24 events in total, the Challenge Tour offers players who fell short at Q-School the chance to compete for major rewards. Alongside reserve places at Players Championship events, the three best players in the final standings will earn a World Darts Championship spot.

It will be a pivotal time in just two months with Challenge Tour and Women's Series coming to a close in separate weekends. The former takes place on 25th-26th October in Wigan and sees the remaining four events take place. There the spots for the World Championship will be handed out as well as the Tour Cards.

While it wasn't as frenetic as expected, there is still some jeopardy and drama going into the final weekend. But does Labanauskas hold on to top spot and where will Bellmont, Evetts among others end up. Can Waites continue that late run of form into this next weekend or will it be a basic foregone conclusion?