Three-time world champion John Part and former Premier League stars Andy Hamilton and Wes Newton head the list of entrants for next Monday’s PDPA World Championship qualifier at the Arena MK in Milton Keynes.
Part made 22 consecutive World Championship appearances in both the BDO and PDC systems from 1994-2015, but ‘Darth Maple’, now a regular fixture on Sky Sports’ coverage, is bidding to return to the Alexandra Palace in a playing capacity for the first time in three years.
The Canadian, who triumphed in the first ever World Championship held at the Ally Pally in 2008, regained his PDC tour-card at Q-School in January, but he’s only competed sporadically on the Pro Tour circuit this year. Nevertheless, he’ll be hoping to roll back the years in Milton Keynes.
Another high-profile name in danger of missing the cut is 2012 World Championship finalist Andy Hamilton. ‘The Hammer’ was beaten by his fellow Stoke star Adrian Lewis at the Alexandra Palace almost six years ago, but he’s endured a difficult few years which has seen him plummet to 63rd in the world.
Hamilton’s former Premier League colleague Wes Newton will also be vying to seal qualification on Monday afternoon. ‘The Warrior’ missed out on last year’s World Championship for the first time since 2005 and is currently ranked 70th on the Order of Merit, therefore failure to qualify could see him relinquish his PDC tour-card.
Welsh star Richie Burnett is another established star set to compete in next week’s qualification event. The 1995 Lakeside world champion has not featured at the Ally Pally since 2014, but he’ll be joined in Milton Keynes by former Lakeside semi-finalist Robbie Green, who is bidding to make his second PDC World Championship appearance.
Elsewhere, two other World Championship finalists set to be battling it out will be Kirk Shepherd and Mark Dudbridge. Shepherd hasn’t appeared at the Ally Pally since 2011, whilst 2005 finalist Mark Dudbridge is aiming to return to the World Championship stage after a four-year hiatus.
Former Players Championship Finals winner Paul Nicholson will also be aiming to come through qualification on Monday. ‘The Asset’ regained his tour-card in January and has qualified for this week’s Players Championships Finals, but he faces an ominous first-round assignment in Minehead against world number one Michael van Gerwen.
Former major finalists Mark Walsh, Wayne Jones and Barrie Bates will also be in attendance, along with former World-Youth champions Max Hopp, Arron Monk and James Hubbard. They will also be joined by 2007 World Championship finalist Andy Jenkins and former World Masters finalist Stuart Kellett.
Nine Dutch stars opted to skip the World Championship qualifier in the Netherlands in order to try their luck in Milton Keynes. The Dutch contingent includes Jimmy Hendriks, Jeffrey de Zwaan, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Yordi Meeuwisse, Berry van Peer, Ron Meulenkamp, Dick van Dijk, Jeffrey de Graaf and Vincent Kamphuis.
World-Youth finalist Josh Payne is also on the provisional list of entries. The 23-year-old will take on Belgian hotshot Dimitri van den Bergh in the World-Youth Championship final in Minehead on Sunday evening, and victory would confirm his spot at the Ally Pally, but if Van den Bergh triumphs, Payne will be forced to enter Monday’s event.
Kevin Painter is another high-profile star who has entered next week’s qualifier. ‘The Artist’, who lost out to Phil Taylor in a thrilling last-set decider in the 2004 world final, currently occupies the final qualification spot on the Pro Tour Order of Merit, but may have to compete in Milton Keynes depending on events in Minehead this weekend.
Nevertheless, there will be a big-name absentees in Milton Keynes. Nine-time major finalist Terry Jenkins has opted not to enter the qualifier, therefore we could have seen the last of ‘The Raging Bull’ on the big stage, as he will fall outside the world’s top 32 ahead of this year’s competition. The full list of entrants can be viewed below!
Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/PDC
Arendse, Nolan
Aspinall, Nathan
Baillie, Richard
Bain, Jamie
Barilli, Mark
Barnard, Michael
Bates, Barrie
Baulcomb, Max
Birch, Nigel
Bloor, Nicholas
Boulton, Andy
Bowles, John
Brooks, Bradley
Brown, Darren
Brown, Darron
Brown, John
Brown, Steve
Bryant, Lee
Burnett, Richie
Burton, Stephen
Caven, Jamie
Clark, Matt
Dale, Scott
de Graaf, Jeffrey
de Zwaan, Jeffrey
Dennant, Matthew
Derry, Nathan
Dobey, Chris
Dolan, Brendan
Dootson, Eddie
Dowling, Kevin
Dudbridge, Mark
Edgar, Matt
Edhouse, Ritchie
Evans, Ricky
Evetts, Ted
Foreman, Jay
Frost, Mark
Fullwell, Nick
Garcia, Kevin
Gibson, John
Gilchrist, Craig
Gilding, Andrew
Gray, Adrian
Green, Robbie
Griffiths, Shaun
Hajimina, Andreas
Hamilton, Andy
Hammond, Curtis
Harbert, Steven
Harrington, Ryan
Hart, Kelvin
Harvey, Paul
Head, Sam
Hendriks, Jimmy
Hewson, Rob
Hine, Steve
Hopp, Max
Hubbard, James
Hudson, Peter
Hunt, Adam
Hylton, Mark
Jackson, Charlie
Jenkins, Andy
Jennings, Nick
Jiwa, Prakash
Johnson, Darren
Jones, Wayne
Kamphuis, Vincent
Kellett, Stuart
Kirk, Aiden
Ladley, Dave
Lever, Ian
Lewis, Jamie
Littlecott, Colin
Loose, Callum
Lovett, Jason
Lukeman, Martin
Lynn, Barry
Mansell, Mickey
Marson, David
McDine, Kevin
McGowan, Mick
McNally, Steve
Meeuwisse, Yordi
Meikle, Ryan
Meulenkamp, Ron
Milford, Paul
Moffat, Lee
Monk, Arron
Morris, John
Moss, Ian
Moston, Jim
Murnan, Joe
Murray, Ryan
Murschell, Dawson
Nagi, Coni Singh
Nathan, Ricky
Newton, Wes
Nicholson, Paul
Osborne, Colin
Owen, Robert
Painter, Kevin
Pallett, David
Palmer, Ryan
Parry, Kurt
Part, John
Payne, Josh
Power, Michael
Poynton, Andrew
Quantock, Chris
Randall, Steve
Razma, Madars
Reeve, Paul
Robinson, Harry
Robinson, Jamie
Rodriguez, Roxy James
Rodriguez, Rusty Jake
Rollings, Scott
Rydz, Callan
Scheffer , Warrick
Scrivens, Roger
Searle, Ryan
Selby, Laurie
Shepherd, Kirk
Simm, Kevin
Smith, Dennis
Smith, Ross
Smith-Neale, Adam
Stevenson, Simon
Stone, Gary
Tabern Jnr, Alan
Tabern Snr, Alan
Taylor, Scott
Temple, Terry
Thomas, Kevin
Thomas, Martin
Todd, Mick
Twell, Ross
van Dijk, Dick
van Duijvenbode, Dirk
van Peer, Berry
Walker, Jim
Walsh, Mark
Ward, Harry
Williams, Ricky
Wilson, Jason
Withers, Ian
Woodhouse, Luke
Worsley, Jonathon
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