The race to qualify for next month’s World Grand Prix enters the home straight next week, with a Players Championship double-header, but this weekend’s International Darts Open offers a big opportunity for players to force themselves into contention.
The penultimate European Tour event of 2019 gets under way in Riesa this afternoon, and is the last European Tour event before the cut-off for the World Grand Prix. With £140,000 of prize money up for grabs in Germany this weekend, a big run could see changes in the current 32-player line-up for Dublin.
Following the mid-week Players Championship double-header in Barnsley earlier this week, 22 of the 32 places are confirmed, with the current top 16 on the PDC Order of Merit, along with Krzysztof Ratajski, Glen Durrant, Jermaine Wattimena, Jamie Hughes, Jeffrey de Zwaan and Ricky Evans, all qualified.
The final 10 spots will be decided from the ProTour Order of Merit, and the likes of Willie O’Connor, Kyle Anderson, Justin Pipe, Harry Ward, Steve West, Jelle Klaasen and Mickey Mansell, who have all qualified for Riesa, can give their qualifying hopes a major boost with a run this weekend.
PDC Order of Merit (top 16 qualify)
| Position | Name | Prize Money |
| 1 | Michael van Gerwen (Q) | £1,574,500 |
| 2 | Rob Cross (Q) | £929,750 |
| 3 | Daryl Gurney (Q) | £539,250 |
| 4 | Gary Anderson (Q) | £533,750 |
| 5 | Michael Smith (Q) | £530,750 |
| 6 | Peter Wright (Q) | £471,000 |
| 7 | Gerwyn Price (Q) | £433,000 |
| 8 | James Wade (Q) | £417,500 |
| 9 | Mensur Suljovic (Q) | £396,250 |
| 10 | Ian White (Q) | £349,250 |
| 11 | Dave Chisnall (Q) | £320,000 |
| 12 | Simon Whitlock (Q) | £319,250 |
| 13 | Nathan Aspinall (Q) | £293,000 |
| 14 | Jonny Clayton (Q) | £274,500 |
| 15 | Joe Cullen (Q) | £249,250 |
| 16 | Adrian Lewis (Q) | £247,500 |
| 17 | Stephen Bunting | £236,000 |
| 18 | Darren Webster | £235,250 |
| 19 | Jermaine Wattimena | £205,000 |
| 20 | Mervyn King | £203,500 |
ProTour Order of Merit (top 16 not already qualified)
| Position | Name | Prize Money |
| 1 | Krzysztof Ratajski (Q) | £84,000 |
| 2 | Glen Durrant (Q) | £66,000 |
| 3 | Jermaine Wattimena (Q) | £62,000 |
| 4 | Jamie Hughes (Q) | £54,250 |
| 5 | Ricky Evans (Q) | £52,250 |
| 6 | Jeffrey de Zwaan (Q) | £52,250 |
| 7 | Stephen Bunting | £51,250 |
| 8 | Steve Beaton | £50,250 |
| 9 | Chris Dobey | £49,000 |
| 10 | Danny Noppert | £49,000 |
| 11 | Vincent van der Voort | £43,750 |
| 12 | John Henderson | £43,750 |
| 13 | Max Hopp | £43,000 |
| 14 | Mervyn King | £38,750 |
| 15 | Gabriel Clemens | £37,750 |
| 16 | Dimitri Van den Bergh | £37,750 |
| 17 | Darren Webster | £36,500 |
| 18 | Jose de Sousa | £35,250 |
| 19 | William O’Connor | £33,000 |
| 20 | Kyle Anderson | £32,750 |
| 21 | Ross Smith | £31,000 |
| 22 | Justin Pipe | £30,500 |
| 23 | Ron Meulenkamp | £30,500 |
| 24 | Brendan Dolan | £29,500 |
| 25 | James Wilson | £28,000 |
| 26 | Steve West | £27,500 |
| 27 | Harry Ward | £27,250 |
| 28 | Ryan Searle | £26,250 |
| 29 | Luke Humphries | £24,750 |
| 30 | Ted Evetts | £24,000 |
| 31 | Kim Huybrechts | £23,750 |
| 32 | Martin Schindler | £23,750 |
| 33 | Raymond van Barneveld | £23,500 |
| 34 | Jelle Klaasen | £23,250 |
| 35 | Mickey Mansell | £22,750 |
Picture: PDC
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