The 2022 Pro Tour season comes to an end this week. On Friday and Saturday, the last two Players Championship tournaments of the season will be played.
Then it will also be clear which players have qualified for the PDC World Darts Championship. A number of famous names still have to work hard to secure their ticket to Alexandra Palace. The top-32 of the Pro Tour rankings will receive an invitation.
If they have not succeeded after the two final Players Championship tournaments, there is a last chance on 28 November in the qualification tournament for Tour Card holders. These famous five players did not manage to qualify at the moment.
Ian White has competed continuously at the World Darts Championship since the 2012 edition, culminating in a quarter-final place in 2014.
White has as much prize money as the number 32 ranked player, but virtually falls outside the World Darts Championship spots on countback.
Devon Petersen has already competed in the World Darts Championship nine times, including the last six editions. This year, however, the South African looks set to miss out at Alexandra Palace.
Petersen had a fantastic 2020, including winning the German Darts Championship as an absolute highlight. 'The African Warrior' then also started 2021 strongly, but then fell back into a slump. This season, he earned just £12,500 on the Pro Tour, meaning he actually needs to win a Pro Tour tournament this week to still qualify for the World Darts Championship.
Recently, Petersen also tried to qualify through the African qualifying tournament, but then surprisingly lost to eventual winner Grant Sampson.
Scott Waites made his debut on the PDC Tour last year and immediately qualified for the World Darts Championship in his first year. 'Scotty 2 Hotty' will need two more good days to make it to 'Ally Pally' again this year.
With £22,000 on the counter, Waites is currently £1250 behind the virtual World Cup places. 'Scotty 2 Hotty' may have to scrape together £3,000 over the two closing days to secure a spot.
Crowd favourite John Henderson was missing from Alexandra Palace last year for the first time since the 2013 edition. A second absence in a row is looming for 'The Highlander', who is also sure to lose his Tour Card in that case.
The Scot is currently 45th in the Pro Tour rankings, trailing £5500 to 32nd. Henderson will therefore have to reach at least a final to still qualify for the World Darts Championship.
Glen Durrant has been a ProTour leader at the World Darts Championship for the past three editions, but there is a good chance that 'Duzza' will be missing this time.
After winning the Premier League Darts in 2020, Durrant has fallen into a deep slump. Even winning a match on the Pro Tour has now become a problem for Durrant, who has lost as many as 47 of his 49 matches this year. Durrant will need to win both tournaments this week to still qualify via the Pro Tour.
Other players
Players such as Ryan Joyce, Jeff Smith, Florian Hempel, Berry van Peer, Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, Steve Lennon, Steve West and Scott Mitchell are also currently outside the qualifying spots and need two good days to still make it to Alexandra Palace.