The field of participants for the 2024
World Matchplay is becoming increasingly clear. With five tournaments remaining until the cutoff, much of the field of participants is already known.
The cutoff this year is July 7. Four more Players Championship tournaments and one Euro Tour tournament will be played until this date. The top-16 in the world rankings and the top-16 in the cleaned Pro Tour rankings may compete in the tournament in Blackpool.
The 31st edition of the World Matchplay will take place from July 13 to 21. Nathan Aspinall is the defending champion in Blackpool. 'The Asp' won 18-6 over Jonny Clayton in last year's final. He will be joined by Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, Gerwyn Price, Rob Cross among others.
Debut at World Matchplay beckons for five players
Luke Littler and Van Veen are not the only players who will make their debuts at the World Matchplay anyway. Ricardo Pietreczko is also going to be there for the first time at the Winter Gardens.
Looking at the virtual field of participants, Ritchie Edhouse and Luke Woodhouse are also on the right side of the line. They also have not been at this tournament before.
But Dirk van Duijvenbode is under threat for not qualifying. He sits just outside the top 16 and isn't in the ProTour running. Also currently, Callan Rydz, Kevin Doets, Mike de Decker and Cameron Menzies are ones to watch. With Andrew Gilding and James Wade in particular most under threat when it comes to their spot in Blackpool.
PDC Order of Merit
Rank - Name - Prize money (in units of £1,000)
1 Luke Humphries 1458.25
2 Michael van Gerwen 1057
3 Michael Smith 1016.25
4 Gerwyn Price 612.25
5 Rob Cross 589.25
6 Nathan Aspinall 587.5
7 Dave Chisnall 486
8 Jonny Clayton 479
9 Peter Wright 478.5
10 Dimitri Van den Bergh 475.25
11 Damon Heta 457.75
12 Danny Noppert 436
13 Chris Dobey 415.5
14 Joe Cullen 411.5
15 Ross Smith 409.25
16 Stephen Bunting 395.25
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17 Dirk van Duijvenbode 378.75
18 Josh Rock 364.75
19 Ryan Searle 340
20 Andrew Gilding 339.25
21 Gary Anderson 333.5
22 James Wade 322.25
23 Martin Schindler 317.5
24 Luke Littler 303.5
25 Gabriel Clemens 301
26 Krzysztof Ratajski 284.25
27 Daryl Gurney 266.5
28 Brendan Dolan 264.75
29 Raymond van Barneveld 249.75
30 Jose de Sousa 243
31 Scott Williams 192.5
32 Ricardo Pietreczko 179.5
PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit
Rank - Name - Prize money (in units of £1,000)
1 Gary Anderson 115
2 Josh Rock 100.25
3 Ryan Searle 97
4 Luke Littler 86
5 Martin Schindler 84.75
6 Ricardo Pietreczko 83
7 Gian van Veen 78.5
8 Ryan Joyce 72
9 Daryl Gurney 69
10 Brendan Dolan 62.25
11 Krzysztof Ratajski 59.5
12 Ritchie Edhouse 57.25
13 Raymond van Barneveld 53.75
14 Luke Woodhouse 53.5
15 Andrew Gilding 51.25
16 James Wade 47
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17 Callan Rydz 44.25
18 Kevin Doets 43.5
19 Mike De Decker 42.25
20 Cameron Menzies 39.75
21 Dirk van Duijvenbode 38.5
22 Gabriel Clemens 38.5
23 Jermaine Wattimena 37.25
24 Richard Veenstra 35
25 Scott Williams 33.5
26 Jose de Sousa 33.5
27 Martin Lukeman 31
28 Niels Zonneveld 28.5
29 Jim Williams 28.5
30 Ian White 28
31 William O'Connor 27.25
32 Madars Razma 26.5