Updated 2020 World Matchplay race after Players Championship 4

PDC
Wednesday, 19 February 2020 at 16:00
WLDCHAMPS RD1 SEARLE5A

The World Matchplay race has been updated after the first four Players Championship events have been completed in Barnsley and Wigan.

Some players have brought themselves into contention while some have provisionally dropped out from proceedings.
Ryan Searle is one of them that has brought himself into contention. 'Heavy Metal' claimed his first PDC title this past weekend defeating Michael van Gerwen in the final of Players Championship 3 and he has gone from being very unlikely to be involved to having a provisional spot.
He is currently level with Steve West and is in the second to last spot and will know that if he can continue this form he stands a good chance of being involved in Blackpool even at this early stage.
Two players who are usually always in the line-up stand a chance of not being there though with Mervyn King in real danger of missing out.
He is currently outside of the top 16 on the ProTour and is down in 30th and is 22nd on the main Order of Merit.
With the likes of Danny Noppert and Jermaine Wattimena despite them getting in on ProTour on the rise in the main Order of Merit, there is a major chance he won't be involved. This means he may need a big run in a tournament or may even need to win a ranking title again to even stand a chance.
Also in danger is Simon Whitlock who is only just in the top 16 of the Order of Merit by a couple of thousand and with Glen Durrant and Krzysztof Ratajski moving to record high rankings, they could soon overturn the Wizard. An interesting few months awaits.