Top five players awaiting maiden ranking event win

Chris Dobey

Ahead of this week's Super Series 2, we take a look at the top five players on the PDC Order of Merit yet to have won a ranking title.

Taking place from March 16-19, Players Championship events 5-8 will be broadcast from the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes live on PDCTV.

The five players below will be looking to follow in the footsteps of Callan Rydz, who became the latest new name on the list of PDC ranking event winners at Super Series 1.

Chris Dobey

1. Chris Dobey

World number 22 Dobey is currently the top player on the PDC Order of Merit yet to pick up an elusive ranking title.

Like Rydz, Dobey hails from Bedlington, Northumberland and will no doubt be looking on with a mixture of pride and envy at the recent achievement of his young neighbour.

Tipped for greatness by the likes of Phil Taylor, Dobey looked to be fulfilling his promise by reaching two TV semi-finals at the end of 2019, but was unable to progress in 2020.

After a disappointing Super Series 1, a title would be a huge boost for the 30-year-old, whose last Players Championship event semi-final came over two years ago.

Jermaine Wattimena

2. Jermaine Wattimena

Watttimena, currently ranked 27th in the world, has been a regular fixture in TV events since 2018, establishing himself as a top 32 player.

Despite achieving solid results over a number of years on the ProTour, the Dutchman is yet to find a way of translating his consistent form into a title.

The 33-year-old was denied by Michael Smith in the final on Day One of the 2020 Winter Series.

Gabriel Clemens

3. Gabriel Clemens

Clemens has made great strides since his introduction to the PDC in 2018, with his impressive results seeing him become Germany's number one.

Ranked just a place behind Wattimena in 28th, Clemens has been denied on three occasions in Players Championship event finals by Gary Anderson, Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton.

Clemens' run to the semi-finals of the most recent Players Championship event suggests 'The German Giant' is in the sort of form that could see him finally get over the line.

Dirk van Duijvenbode

4. Dirk van Duijvenbode

Despite competing in PDC competition for ten years, 2020 was a breakthrough year for Van Duijvenbode who rapidly became one of the sport's most popular faces.

The Dutchman's patchy ProTour form saw him lose his Tour Card at the end of 2019, but the 28-year-old was the surprise package of last year as he reached the quarter-finals of three TV events.

Van Duijvenbode's next task will be to maintain his form in 2021 by continuing to qualify for the TV stage. Winning a maiden ranking title would massively help him achieve those goals.

Ricky Evans

5. Ricky Evans

Evans has been competing on the PDC circuit for the longest amount of time of the five players in this list, and is therefore perhaps longest overdue for a first ranking title.

The 30-year old first reached a Players Championship event final back in November 2013, where he was defeated by Brendan Dolan.

Evans was denied by Gerwyn Price in his second Players Championship final in February 2019, and has also reached two European Tour event finals in 2018 and 2019 where he was went down to Ian White and Daryl Gurney respectively. 

A disappointing 2020 campaign saw Evans fail to reach a ranking event quarter-final, a run he will be no doubt be out to arrest as soon as possible.