Tour Card-less Wesley Plaisier suddenly dreams of World Darts Championship participation after two super days in Milton Keynes

Wesley Plaisier was undoubtedly one of the stars of the most recent Players Championship tournament double header, in Milton Keynes over the past few days. The Dutch dart player reached the final on both days, although a PDC title remained out of reach.

Notably, Plaisier is not even supposed to be competing on the Pro Tour. He failed to secure a PDC Tour Card at the beginning of this year at the Q-School and in principle, only the 128 PDC Tour Card holders are allowed to compete in the Players Championship tournaments.

If one or more Tour Card holders do not register for a Players Championship tournament, or cancel later, the PDC Challenge Tour rankings will be considered. This is, so to speak, the second level of the PDC. By default, the number one on the Challenge Tour is first reserve for the Players Championship tournaments, and multiple cancellations will continue down that ranking list.

After 15 of 24 Challenge Tour tournaments, Plaisier is fifth in that ranking. Because of this position, the Dutchman can almost always enter Players Championship tournaments as a substitute. This allows him to earn prize money that counts in qualifying rounds for the major tournaments.

Over the past two days, Plaisier earned £20,000 in prize money in one fell swoop. Nearly £5,000 was added to that because on Tuesday in his Players Championship final against Ross Smith Plaisier one matchdart on tops to win the tournament. The final against Jonny Clayton was lost 8-5.

In a span of two days, Plaisier has put himself in a promising position to compete in both the Players Championship Finals and the World Darts Championship later this season. Certainly the Players Championship Finals can hardly escape him. Plaisier is now nineteenth on the Players Championship Order of Merit and the top 64 of this ranking may compete in Minehead in November.

Since Plaisier can still participate in the necessary Players Championship tournaments, placement for that tournament seems a formality. But also placement for the World Darts Championship is now a lot closer. The top-32 of the world rankings and the top-32 of the Pro Tour rankings will receive an invitation to participate at the Alexandra Palace.

With £23,500 in prize money, Plaisier is now in the thirteenth spot of the Pro Tour rankings. With sixteen more Players Championship tournaments to go, Plaisier will need a few thousand pounds of prize money to qualify for the World Darts Championship in December.