THE race to win places in the 2016 BetVictor World Matchplay will go to the wire in the final two Players Championship events in Barnsley on July 2-3.
The 32-player World Matchplay - staged at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool from July 16-24 - sees the world's top 16 players joined by the leading 16 players from the one-year ProTour Order of Merit.
Going into the final two Players Championship events, four players could still break into the world's top 16 to claim a seeded spot, with Mensur Suljovic, Mervyn King, Simon Whitlock and Benito van de Pas within touching distance of Vincent van der Voort.
The ProTour Order of Merit qualifying places currently see Alan Norris, Daryl Gurney, Josh Payne and Rowby-John Rodriguez in line to earn a World Matchplay debut, while Kyle Anderson's run to the Austrian Darts Open consolidated his position.
Austrian ace Rodriguez currently sits in the 16th qualifying position, £1,000 ahead of former Players Championship Finals winner Kevin Painter and £1,250 ahead of PDC Unicorn World Youth Champion Max Hopp, Robbie Green and Jamie Lewis.
Youngsters Ricky Evans and Chris Dobey, South Africa's Devon Petersen and Scotland's John Henderson would all need a big weekend in Barnsley if they are to snatch qualification for Blackpool on the final weekend.
However, with £10,000 in prize money on offer in each Players Championship, the opportunity remains for players to emulate Joe Murnan, who last year claimed a World Matchplay place with his maiden ProTour victory.
Note: The ProTour Order of Merit used for qualification for the 2016 BetVictor World Matchplay runs from July 6 2015, starting with the European Darts Open (ET6). Players Championship 13 and 14 in 2015 counted towards qualification for the 2015 tournament.
Click here to see the Players Championship Entries
Provisional PDC Order of Merit Top 16
Prize money won in PC10-11 to be added
| 1 | Michael van Gerwen | £ 1,197,000 |
| 2 | Gary Anderson | £ 860,250 |
| 3 | Phil Taylor | £ 489,250 |
| 4 | Adrian Lewis | £ 446,250 |
| 5 | Peter Wright | £ 405,500 |
| 6 | James Wade | £ 358,750 |
| 7 | Michael Smith | £ 305,750 |
| 8 | Robert Thornton | £ 296,750 |
| 9 | Dave Chisnall | £ 266,500 |
| 10 | Jelle Klaasen | £ 256,500 |
| 11 | Raymond van Barneveld | £ 251,500 |
| 12 | Ian White | £ 233,500 |
| 13 | Kim Huybrechts | £ 225,250 |
| 14 | Stephen Bunting | £ 219,500 |
| 15 | Terry Jenkins | £ 208,000 |
| 16 | Vincent van der Voort | £ 199,500 |
| -- | -- | -- |
| 17 | Mensur Suljovic | £ 192,500 |
| 18 | Mervyn King | £ 192,000 |
| 19 | Simon Whitlock | £ 187,000 |
| 20 | Benito van de Pas | £ 186,000 |
Provisional ProTour Order of Merit
Qualifiers marked with *, Top 16 players in Italics
| 1 | Michael van Gerwen | £ 199,250 |
| 2 | Peter Wright | £ 94,500 |
| 3 | Dave Chisnall | £ 78,750 |
| 4 | Kim Huybrechts | £ 76,000 |
| 5 | Michael Smith | £ 70,750 |
| 6 | James Wade | £ 70,250 |
| 7 | Benito van de Pas * | £ 67,500 |
| 8 | Ian White | £ 65,750 |
| 9 | Phil Taylor | £ 56,750 |
| 10 | Robert Thornton | £ 50,750 |
| 11 | Mensur Suljovic * | £ 50,250 |
| 12 | Jelle Klaasen | £ 50,000 |
| 13 | Gerwyn Price * | £ 48,000 |
| 14 | Terry Jenkins | £ 47,250 |
| 15 | Alan Norris * | £ 45,000 |
| 16 | Gary Anderson | £ 43,750 |
| 17 | Stephen Bunting | £ 42,250 |
| 18 | Simon Whitlock * | £ 41,000 |
| 19 | Adrian Lewis | £ 37,000 |
| 20 | Daryl Gurney * | £ 36,750 |
| 21 | Mervyn King * | £ 33,250 |
| 22 | Joe Cullen * | £ 33,000 |
| 23 | Justin Pipe * | £ 27,250 |
| 24 | Mark Webster * | £ 26,250 |
| 25 | Vincent van der Voort | £ 25,750 |
| 26 | Steve Beaton * | £ 24,500 |
| 27 | Jamie Caven * | £ 23,750 |
| 28 | Brendan Dolan * | £ 23,250 |
| 29 | Josh Payne * | £ 23,000 |
| 30 | Kyle Anderson * | £ 20,750 |
| 31 | Raymond van Barneveld | £ 19,750 |
| 32 | Rowby-John Rodriguez * | £ 19,500 |
| 33 | Kevin Painter | £ 18,500 |
| 34 | Max Hopp | £ 18,250 |
| 34 | Robbie Green | £ 18,250 |
| 34 | Jamie Lewis | £ 18,250 |
| 37 | Ricky Evans | £ 17,250 |
| 38 | Devon Petersen | £ 16,750 |
| 39 | Chris Dobey | £ 16,500 |
| 39 | John Henderson | £ 16,500 |
| 41 | Darren Webster | £ 16,000 |
| 41 | Steve West | £ 16,000 |
| 41 | Cristo Reyes | £ 16,000 |
| 41 | Andrew Gilding | £ 16,000 |
| 45 | Jermaine Wattimena | £ 15,000 |
| 45 | David Pallett | £ 15,000 |
| 47 | Jonny Clayton | £ 14,500 |
| 48 | Ronny Huybrechts | £ 13,500 |
* Article published June 17 2016