Race to World Grand Prix close to conclusion as field set to be confirmed after Belgian Darts Open

The field of participants for the World Grand Prix is beginning to take shape. The Belgian Darts Open (Sept. 23-25) is the last tournament to count in the qualifying race for the double-in double-out tournament in Leicester.

Competing in the World Grand Prix, which takes place from Oct. 3 to 9, are the top-16 players in the world rankings and the top-16 in the cleaned Pro Tour Order of Merit.

Through the world rankings, Gerwyn Price, Peter Wright, Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, James Wade, José de Sousa, Jonny Clayton, Rob Cross, Gary Anderson, Danny Noppert, Luke Humphries, Joe Cullen, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Dimitri van den Bergh and Nathan Aspinall are already certain to participate.

The sixteenth spot in the world rankings is currently held by Dave Chisnall, but can still be taken over by Ryan Searle. In that case Chisnall will still qualify via the Pro Tour, which is currently the case for Searle.

Read also

PDC increases prize funds for World Matchplay, World Grand Prix and Grand Slam of Darts

Via the Pro Tour, Damon Heta, Krzysztof Ratajski, Martin Schindler, Chris Dobey, Daryl Gurney, Stephen Bunting, Madars Razma, Andrew Gilding, Martin Lukeman, Callan Rydz, Gabriel Clemens, Adrian Lewis and Kim Huybrechts can start preparing for the World Grand Prix.

The final two qualifying spots are currently held by Brendan Dolan and Rowby-John Rodriguez, with Dolan still having a sizeable margin over Ross Smith and Vincent van der Voort, among others.

Dolan and Rodriguez are not competing in the Belgian Darts Open, while Smith and Van der Voort have qualified for the Euro Tour tournament in Wieze, Belgium. Smith needs only one win to pass Rodriguez in the qualifying round. Van der Voort needs to reach at least the semifinals to still compete in the World Grand Prix.