Daryl Gurney has leapfrogged world number one Michael van Gerwen to top the Players Championship Order of Merit, after enjoying the best weekend of his darting career in Barnsley. ‘Super-Chin’ won his maiden PDC title at Players Championship Seven on Saturday, before losing out in the final of Sunday’s event to Joe Cullen.
Prior to this weekend’s action, Van Gerwen topped the Order of Merit just ahead of Gary Anderson. Nevertheless, the world’s top two were absent due to exhibition commitments and Gurney and Cullen’s successes mean that incredibly, in the eight Players Championship events so far this year, eight different winners have been crowned.
Gurney has soared to the top of the Players Championship Order of Merit after accruing a remarkable £16,000 in prize money across the weekend. He’s earned a total of £25,250 in the eight Players Championship events so far this year, and sits £7,000 above second place Peter Wright, who reached the quarter-finals of Saturday’s event.
Van Gerwen and Anderson are down to third and fourth respectively after missing the double-header in Barnsley. Meanwhile, Simon Whitlock has slipped to fifth. ‘The Wizard’ was beaten in the last 16 by eventual winner Gurney on Saturday, before suffering a shock first-round defeat to Craig Gilchrist yesterday.
Alan Norris and Rob Cross are sixth and seventh respectively after their Players Championship victories back in March, whilst Mervyn King is up to 8th after reaching his third Players Championship semi-final of the season on Sunday.
Kim Huybrechts has climbed to ninth after reaching his first Pro Tour final since September on Saturday, whilst Welsh star Gerwyn Price makes up the top ten after recording semi-final and quarter-final appearances in a very solid showing in Barnsley.
Joe Cullen is just outside the top ten after clinching his maiden PDC title on Sunday. ‘The Rockstar’ had won just £2,500 in prize money across the previous seven events, but performed magnificently to triumph at Players Championship Eight. The Yorkshireman is now tied in eleventh position with Players Championship Five winner Adrian Lewis.
Eight-time major winner James Wade has risen to thirteenth after reaching his second Players Championship final of the year on Sunday afternoon, whilst the left-hander is closely trailed in fourteenth by his fellow Premier League star Dave Chisnall, a finalist at Players Championship Five in Milton Keynes last weekend.
Steve West has slipped to fifteenth after failing to make it beyond the last 16 in either of this weekend’s competitions, whilst Spanish star Cristo Reyes is tied in sixteenth position with European Championship finalist Mensur Suljovic, who made the last eight of Saturday’s action.
Five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld has climbed one place to 18th. Van Barneveld followed up his three previous quarter-final appearances this year by reaching the last 16 of Players Championship eight. He’s tied with Michael Smith, who has endured a difficult few weeks after enjoying a bright start to the Pro Tour season.
Kyle Anderson and Steve Beaton are tied in 20th position, and they remain just two of five players to have won money from all eight Players Championship events in 2017. The others include table-topper Daryl Gurney, Cristo Reyes and young Dutchman Jimmy Hendriks, who is 27th after producing a series of consistent showings.
Recent Players Championship finalists Peter Jacques and Darren Johnson are joint 22nd alongside former three-time Players Championship winner Benito van de Pas, whilst seven-time PDC ranking winner Ian White is in 25th alongside Richard North, who recorded back-to-back quarter-final appearances in Milton Keynes last week.
Jelle Klaasen has fallen to 28th as his injury woes continue. ‘The Cobra’ suffered successive first-round exits in Barnsley, as he continues to battle a tendonitis problem in his wrist. However, James Richardson has been catapulted up to 29th after reaching his first Pro Tour quarter-final since 2011 on Sunday.
Steve Hine and David Pallett are tied in 30th position on £5,500 apiece, whilst former Lakeside world champion Mark Webster makes up the top 32, having pocketed £5,250 across the eight events so far. Nevertheless, there are a host of high-profile names currently outside the top 32.
Former World Grand Prix champion Robert Thornton occupies 40th position alongside three-time major semi-finalist Justin Pipe, whilst the trio of Chris Dobey, John Henderson and Paul Nicholson are all tied in 33rd, along with Players Championship seven semi-finalist Jermaine Wattimena.
Vincent van der Voort is in 76th position having registered £2,500 in prize money across the Players Championship season so far, whilst former Lakeside world champion Stephen Bunting is 84th. Elsewhere, 2015 World-Youth champion Max Hopp is even further back in 96th, having registered just three wins on the Players Championship circuit all year.
| Position | Name | Total Prize Money |
| 1 | Gurney, Daryl | £25,250 |
| 2 | Wright, Peter | £18,250 |
| 3 | Gerwen, Michael van | £17,000 |
| 4 | Anderson, Gary | £16,750 |
| 4 | Whitlock, Simon | £16,750 |
| 6 | Norris, Alan | £16,500 |
| 7 | Cross, Rob | £15,500 |
| 8 | King, Mervyn | £15,000 |
| 9 | Huybrechts, Kim | £13,750 |
| 10 | Price, Gerwyn | £12,750 |
| 11 | Cullen, Joe | £12,500 |
| 11 | Lewis, Adrian | £12,500 |
| 13 | Wade, James | £12,250 |
| 14 | Chisnall, Dave | £11,000 |
| 15 | West, Steve | £10,750 |
| 16 | Reyes, Cristo | £10,250 |
| 16 | Suljovic, Mensur | £10,250 |
| 18 | Barneveld, Raymond van | £8,750 |
| 18 | Smith, Michael | £8,750 |
| 20 | Anderson, Kyle | £8,250 |
| 20 | Beaton, Steve | £8,250 |
| 22 | Jacques, Peter | £8,000 |
| 22 | Johnson, Darren | £8,000 |
| 22 | Pas, Benito van de | £8,000 |
| 25 | North, Richard | £7,000 |
| 25 | White, Ian | £7,000 |
| 27 | Hendriks, Jimmy | £6,500 |
| 28 | Klaasen, Jelle | £6,000 |
| 29 | Richardson, James | £5,750 |
| 30 | Hine, Steve | £5,500 |
| 30 | Pallett, David | £5,500 |
| 32 | Webster, Mark | £5,250 |
| 33 | Dobey, Chris | £5,000 |
| 33 | Henderson, John | £5,000 |
| 33 | Hudson, Peter | £5,000 |
| 33 | Nicholson, Paul | £5,000 |
| 33 | Wattimena, Jermaine | £5,000 |
| 38 | Green, Robbie | £4,750 |
| 38 | Lennon, Steve | £4,750 |
| 40 | Brown, Keegan | £4,500 |
| 40 | Dekker, Jan | £4,500 |
| 40 | Huybrechts, Ronny | £4,500 |
| 40 | Kist, Christian | £4,500 |
| 40 | Lerchbacher, Zoran | £4,500 |
| 40 | O’Connor, William | £4,500 |
| 40 | Pipe, Justin | £4,500 |
| 40 | Thornton, Robert | £4,500 |
| 48 | Duijvenbode, Dirk van | £4,250 |
| 48 | Kellett, Stuart | £4,250 |
| 50 | Bain, Jamie | £4,000 |
| 50 | Meikle, Ryan | £4,000 |
| 50 | Payne, Josh | £4,000 |
| 50 | Todd, Mick | £4,000 |
| 50 | Wilson, James | £4,000 |
| 55 | Burnett, Richie | £3,500 |
| 55 | Corner, Richie | £3,500 |
| 55 | Dolan, Brendan | £3,500 |
| 55 | Jones, Wayne | £3,500 |
| 55 | Painter, Kevin | £3,500 |
| 55 | Webster, Darren | £3,500 |
| 61 | Owen, Robert | £3,250 |
| 62 | Bergh, Dimitri Van Den | £3,000 |
| 62 | Caven, Jamie | £3,000 |
| 62 | Clark, Matt | £3,000 |
| 62 | Decker, Mike De | £3,000 |
| 62 | Evetts, Ted | £3,000 |
| 62 | Hamilton, Andy | £3,000 |
| 62 | Jenkins, Andy | £3,000 |
| 62 | Kirk, Aden | £3,000 |
| 62 | Langendorf, Maik | £3,000 |
| 62 | Mansell, Mickey | £3,000 |
| 62 | Michael, John | £3,000 |
| 62 | Taylor, Scott | £3,000 |
| 62 | Temple, Terry | £3,000 |
| 75 | Edhouse, Ritchie | £2,750 |
| 76 | Clayton, Jonny | £2,500 |
| 76 | Evans, Ricky | £2,500 |
| 76 | Graaf, Jeffrey de | £2,500 |
| 76 | McGowan, Mick | £2,500 |
| 76 | Meulenkamp, Ron | £2,500 |
| 76 | Scheffer, Warrick | £2,500 |
| 76 | Schindler, Martin | £2,500 |
| 76 | Voort, Vincent van der | £2,500 |
| 84 | Alcinas, Antonio | £2,000 |
| 84 | Baxter, Ronnie | £2,000 |
| 84 | Boulton, Andy | £2,000 |
| 84 | Bowles, John | £2,000 |
| 84 | Bunting, Stephen | £2,000 |
| 84 | Dennant, Matthew | £2,000 |
| 84 | Lewis, Jamie | £2,000 |
| 84 | Murnan, Joe | £2,000 |
| 84 | Newton, Wes | £2,000 |
| 84 | Rodriguez, Rowby-John | £2,000 |
| 84 | Shepherd, Kirk | £2,000 |
| 84 | Stevenson, Simon | £2,000 |
| 96 | Barilli, Mark | £1,500 |
| 96 | Burton, Stephen | £1,500 |
| 96 | Gilding, Andrew | £1,500 |
| 96 | Griffiths, Shaun | £1,500 |
| 96 | Groen, Sven | £1,500 |
| 96 | Hopp, Max | £1,500 |
| 96 | Hunt, Adam | £1,500 |
| 96 | Kamphuis, Vincent | £1,500 |
| 96 | Meeuwisse, Yordi | £1,500 |
| 96 | Petersen, Devon | £1,500 |
| 96 | Quantock, Chris | £1,500 |
| 96 | Smith, Dennis | £1,500 |
| 96 | Worsley, Jonathan | £1,500 |
| 109 | Brown, Darron | £1,000 |
| 109 | Darbyshire, Scott | £1,000 |
| 109 | Muramatsu, Haruki | £1,000 |
| 109 | Newell, Tony | £1,000 |
| 109 | Norman, John jnr | £1,000 |
| 109 | Peer, Berry van | £1,000 |
| 109 | Preston, Simon | £1,000 |
| 109 | Roach, Terry | £1,000 |
| 109 | Robinson, Harry | £1,000 |
| 109 | Searle, Ryan | £1,000 |
| 109 | Williams, Ricky | £1,000 |
| 120 | Brown, Jim | £500 |
| 120 | Bryant, Lee | £500 |
| 120 | Edgar, Matthew | £500 |
| 120 | Gilchrist, Craig | £500 |
| 120 | Hewson, Rob | £500 |
| 120 | Hoog, Bryan de | £500 |
| 120 | Palmer, Ryan | £500 |
| 120 | Part, John | £500 |
| 120 | Portela, Diogo | £500 |
| 120 | Razma, Madars | £500 |
| 120 | Roelofs, Colin | £500 |
| 120 | Rowley, Paul | £500 |
| 120 | Twell, Ross | £500 |
| 120 | Walsh, Mark | £500 |
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