Race to World Matchplay Update with final upcoming Players Championship events before cut-off

With the final Players Championship tournaments seeing the field for the World Matchplay, the race to the prestigious Blackpool based tournament will conclude with the updated standings below ahead of 16 players from the Order of Merit and 16 from the ProTour colliding later this month.

Defending champion at the World Matchplay is Peter Wright, who won last year's tournament in supreme fashion. 'Snakebite' is currently first in the Order of Merit, but can still be overtaken by Gerwyn Price. Michael van Gerwen is currently third, but could lose his place to Michael Smith. Smith, unlike Van Gerwen, will be playing in the Pro Tour tournaments in Barnsley.

Besides the top 16 of the world ranking, also the sixteen best (not yet qualified) Pro Tour players are set to participate. Nathan Aspinall, Daryl Gurney, Kim Huybrechts and Stephen Bunting, among others, are sure of their place. Martin Schindler, Martin Lukeman and Madars Razma will be making their debuts at the prestigious Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

Rank - Name - Prize Money (Prize money in units of £1000; source dartsrankings.com)

1 Peter Wright 1194.5

2 Gerwyn Price 1181.25

3 Michael van Gerwen 645

4 Michael Smith 641

5 James Wade 565

6 Gary Anderson 477.5

7 Jose de Sousa 458.25

8 Dimitri Van den Bergh 443

9 Jonny Clayton 439.5

10 Rob Cross 406.25

11 Luke Humphries 362.25

12 Danny Noppert 361.75

13 Joe Cullen 360.25

14 Dirk van Duijvenbode 323.25

15 Dave Chisnall 314

16 Krzysztof Ratajski 311.25

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17 Ryan Searle 304

18 Nathan Aspinall 296.25

PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit (top 16 qualify)

Rank - Name - Prize Money (Prize money in units of £1000; source dartsrankings.com)

1 Damon Heta 95.75

2 Ryan Searle 87.5

3 Nathan Aspinall 84.75

4 Martin Schindler 56.25

5 Callan Rydz 53

6 Daryl Gurney 49.5

7 Stephen Bunting 47.25

8 Martin Lukeman 45.5

9 Kim Huybrechts 44.25

10 Chris Dobey 43.5

11 Brendan Dolan 43.5

12 Madars Razma 43.25

13 Gabriel Clemens 42.25

14 Andrew Gilding 36

15 Adrian Lewis 34.75

16 Ross Smith 34

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17 Ricky Evans 34

18 Rowby-John Rodriguez 33.5

19 Keane Barry 32.75

20 Vincent van der Voort 32

21 Simon Whitlock 31.5

22 Scott Williams 31.25

23 Ritchie Edhouse 29.5

24 Mensur Suljovic 28.25

25 Mervyn King 28

26 Jim Williams 26

27 Adam Gawlas 26

28 Josh Rock 25.75

29 Ryan Meikle 24.75

30 Ryan Joyce 24.75

31 Danny Jansen 24.5

32 Martijn Kleermaker 23.75

33 Luke Woodhouse 23.5

34 Florian Hempel 23

35 Raymond van Barneveld 22.75

36 Ian White 22

37 Joe Murnan 21.75

38 Alan Soutar 21.75

39 Jamie Hughes 20.75

40 Keegan Brown 20

41 Boris Krcmar 20

42 Jermaine Wattimena 19.75

43 William O'Connor 19.5

44 Lewy Williams 19.5

45 Mike De Decker 19

46 Matt Campbell 18.75

47 Maik Kuivenhoven 18.5

48 John O'Shea 18

49 Darius Labanauskas 17.5

50 Geert Nentjes 17

51 Niels Zonneveld 16.75

52 Cameron Menzies 16.5

53 Andy Boulton 16.25

54 Jeff Smith 15.75

55 Jeffrey De Zwaan 15.5

56 Karel Sedlacek 15.5

57 Scott Waites 15

58 Steve Beaton 14.75

59 Mickey Mansell 14.25

60 Kevin Doets 14.25

61 John Henderson 13.75

62 Max Hopp 13.75

63 Gordon Mathers 13.5

64 Nathan Rafferty 13.25

65 Scott Mitchell 13.25

66 Berry van Peer 13

67 Brett Claydon 13

68 Mario Vandenbogaerde 12.75

69 Ron Meulenkamp 12.5

70 Steve Lennon 12.25

71 Jose Justicia 12.25

72 Steve West 11.75

73 Wesley Plaisier 11

74 Connor Scutt 11

75 Jason Heaver 11

76 Devon Petersen 11

77 Eddie Lovely 10.75

78 Radek Szaganski 10.5

79 Peter Hudson 10.25