The PDC can confirm a change to the International Qualification criteria for the 2021/22 William Hill World Darts Championship.
From the original list of International Qualification criteria, the PDC Asian Tour Thailand Qualifier scheduled for November 7 is no longer able to take place due to ongoing restrictions in Thailand.
As a result, the winner of the 2021 Championship Darts Corporation Continental Cup will secure a place in the World Championship.
The Continental Cup will take place in New York on Saturday November 20 and will be broadcast live on PDCTV.
Should the event winner be a player who has already qualified for the World Championship, their place will pass to the next highest ranked player from the relevant CDC ranking list, not the runner-up of the Continental Cup.
Therefore, should the winner be an American player who is already qualified for the World Championship, the qualification place will be awarded to Leonard Gates.
Should the winner be a Canadian player who is already qualified for the World Championship, with the exception of Jeff Smith, the qualification place will be awarded to Jacob Taylor. Should Jeff Smith win the Continental Cup, he would qualify as the CDC Continental Cup winner and relinquish his ProTour Order of Merit place in accordance with PDC Order of Merit Rule 3.8.
Last weekend saw five players book places at Alexandra Palace, taking the number of confirmed International Qualifiers up to 19.
Bradley Brooks booked his return by topping the Unicorn Development Tour UK, while Ky Smith, Ray Smith, Lihao Wen and Boris Koltsov won qualifying events.
The remainder of November will see qualifiers taking place all over the globe, with 13 places still up for grabs.
The 32 International Qualifiers will be joined by 32 PDC ProTour Order of Merit Qualifiers in the first round, while the top 32 players on the PDC Order of Merit will enter in round two.
