DARIN YOUNG, Bill Davis and Larry Butler have all qualified for the televised stages of the PartyPoker.net Las Vegas Desert Classic through the BEN Pro Rankings.

The trio will now automatically qualify for the first round of the Desert Classic, which is being held from June 30-July 6 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino.

The Bulls-Eye News Pro Rankings are formed from 17 tournament held in the past year around the USA, which culminated in the PartyPoker.net PDC US Open and North American Darts Championship last weekend.

Young, the NADC champion, maintained his place at the top of the rankings with his performance in Connecticut.

Davis, who reached the semi-finals of the NADC and the last 16 of the PDC US Open, finished a close second to young in the rankings.

Isen Veljic was ousted from the third qualifying place by 1994 World Matchplay champion Butler, who reached the last 16 of the NADC.

Veljic was a last 64 victim of Chris White's, meaning he picked up no BEN Pro Ranking points, with Butler's 12 seeing him hold off Brad Wethington, Brian Blake, Veljic and Kuczynski.

Wethington missed out by two ranking points, but would have claimed the third spot had he defeated Young in the NADC final, which he lost 8-7 on Saturday night.

Tickets for the PartyPoker.net Las Vegas Desert Classic are now on sale from the Mandalay Bay Theatre Box Office on 001 702 632 7580. Online sales will soon be open at www.mandalaybay.com and www.ticketmaster.com.
Tickets cost $20 per day, with a season ticket for all five days of the main event costing $50, with both prices not including applicable service charges and taxes.