The World Grand Prix is looming, the PDC's only 'Double In-Double' out Major notoriously difficult to qualify for and this weekend’s Swiss Darts Trophy in Basel is basically darts’ equivalent of last orders at the bar. One final pint, one last throw of the dice, before the bouncers (aka the PDC rankings) slam the door shut.
Most of the field is already nailed down with the penultimate 2025 Euro Tour doubles as the cut-off and a few players are still sweating bullets, glancing nervously over their shoulders like someone who’s just realised they’ve left their wallet in the taxi.
The eventual winner in Basel pockets the £30k first prize and it isn’t just a tidy payday – it could catapult them into the Grand Prix line-up - as one particular very happy German will testify. In reality, only about half a dozen hopefuls outside the current spots have a sniff, and even then, they’d need a proper run, not a token appearance.
SIGN UP FOR A DARTS WORLD MEMBERSHIP TODAY!
For 2024 major winner Ritchie Edhouse and Grand Slam runner-up from the same year,Martin Lukeman, the maths is brutally simple: win the whole thing or start practising maybe next year... speeches. Meanwhile, William O’Connor, Raymond van Barneveld, Niels Zonneveld, and Ricardo Pietreczko don’t quite need perfection, but they do at least head to Switzerland and put in a decent run.
Thanks to his Budapest heroics last weekend, Niko Springer is basically already packing his bags for Leicester. He’s sitting 12th on the Pro Tour Order of Merit and could drop a place or two, but not far enough to miss out on his Double-In debut.
The current final four clinging to Grand Prix golden tickets are Daryl Gurney, Ryan Joyce, Andrew Gilding, and Krzysztof Ratajski. The good news is they’re all in Basel. The bad news – at least for Ratajski – is that he’s holding onto the last spot by just over a grand. One slip-up in round one, and he’ll be praying to the darting gods.
Main Order of Merit Qualifying 16
| 1 | Luke Humphries | 1803.75 |
| 2 | Luke Littler | 1545.5 |
| 3 | Michael van Gerwen | 744.5 |
| 4 | Stephen Bunting | 634.25 |
| 5 | James Wade | 624.5 |
| 6 | Jonny Clayton | 525.25 |
| 7 | Gerwyn Price | 524.25 |
| 8 | Chris Dobey | 520.25 |
| 9 | Rob Cross | 510.25 |
| 10 | Josh Rock | 494.5 |
| 11 | Damon Heta | 486.25 |
| 12 | Gary Anderson | 477.5 |
| 13 | Danny Noppert | 466.25 |
| 14 | Ross Smith | 463.5 |
| 15 | Peter Wright | 436.5 |
| 16 | Dave Chisnall | 433.75 |
Pro Tour Order of Merit Top 16
| 1 | Martin Schindler | 140 |
| 2 | Gian van Veen | 133 |
| 3 | Wessel Nijman | 124 |
| 4 | Cameron Menzies | 113 |
| 5 | Nathan Aspinall | 106 |
| 6 | Jermaine Wattimena | 101.5 |
| 7 | Dirk van Duijvenbode | 97 |
| 8 | Mike De Decker | 93.5 |
| 9 | Ryan Searle | 87.5 |
| 10 | Luke Woodhouse | 82 |
| 11 | Joe Cullen | 79.75 |
| 12 | Niko Springer | 79 |
| 13 | Daryl Gurney | 76.5 |
| 14 | Ryan Joyce | 75.75 |
| 15 | Andrew Gilding | 75 |
| 16 | Krzysztof Ratajski | 72 |
If we’re being honest, 31 out of the 32 Grand Prix field looks done and dusted. That final chair at the table is probably a shoot-out between Ratajski, O’Connor, and Barney. No complicated maths, no algorithms, just gut feeling and bookmaker odds.
The draw drops Thursday afternoon, and a few players will suddenly discover religion. For me, though, I can’t see more than one change to what we’ve got right now. Of course, that means come Sunday night, this prediction will look about as accurate as that of a Blackpool promenade fortune teller.
Time, as always, will tell.
For the full stories and more in depth coverage of everything darts, together with the latest issues of their legendary publications, head on over to dartsworld.com