Michael van Gerwen tops the Players Championship Order of Merit following the opening weekend of Pro Tour action in 2019, whilst Dave Chisnall, Jermaine Wattimena and Glen Durrant make up the top four after an entertaining double-header in Wigan.
Van Gerwen stormed to Players Championship 1 glory on Saturday to maintain his unbeaten start to 2019, averaging 103.95 throughout the course of the day. However, the Dutchman’s 22-match unbeaten run was halted by Jonny Clayton in the quarter-finals of Players Championship 2, as the Welshman claimed his third win over Van Gerwen in the space of 12 months.
Nevertheless, ‘The Green Machine’ still occupies top spot on the Players Championship Order of Merit; having scooped £12,500 in prize money this weekend. Five-time televised finalist Dave Chisnall trails Van Gerwen by £2,000 after prevailing in Sunday’s event.
The St Helen’s star suffered a second-round exit on Saturday, but he defeated the likes of Nathan Aspinall, Luke Humphries, Rob Cross, James Wade, Clayton and Glen Durrant to clinch his first PDC title in over 18 months.
Jermaine Wattimena is third on £7,000 after reaching his first ever PDC final at Players Championship 1, while three-time BDO world champion Glen Durrant sits in fourth position. ‘Duzza’ recovered from an opening round exit on Saturday to reach his first Pro Tour final in just his second event as a PDC professional on Sunday, before losing out to Chisnall in a decider.
Jonny Clayton enjoyed a strong weekend at the Robin Park Tennis Centre, reaching the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively to scoop £5,250 in prize money, while Joe Cullen is sixth on £4,500 following his run to the last four on Sunday.
World number three Peter Wright is seventh on £3,500 after his semi-final showing in Players Championship 1. ‘Snakebite’ edged out Michael Smith in a thrilling quarter-final clash, prevailing with a 110.50 average to Smith’s 112. However, the Scot was beaten in round-two of Sunday’s event by eventual finalist Durrant.
Nine-time major winner James Wade and emerging talent Ryan Searle both scooped £3,250 in prize money, whilst former BDO star Scott Baker claimed £3,000 after enjoying a wonderful PDC debut. ‘The Mod’ reached the semi-finals of Players Championship 1, beating the likes of Rob Cross and Kyle Anderson before narrowly succumbing to Van Gerwen.
Ian White- who topped last year’s Players Championship Order of Merit, is in 13th spot, while Steve Lennon and John Henderson- both of whom will make their Premier League debuts in the coming month, also feature in the top 16. World Matchplay semi-finalist Jeffrey de Zwaan is joint 13th, with World Championship runner-up Michael Smith making up the top 16.
Premier League stars Rob Cross and Daryl Gurney are tied in 18th position on £2,000 along with former World Masters champion Krzysztof Ratajski, who won three Pro Tour titles twelve months ago.
Grand Slam of Darts champion Gerwyn Price accrued £1,000 after suffering consecutive second round exits in Wigan, with five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld joint 63rd on £500 after recording the solitary victory on his return to Pro Tour action.
World number nine Simon Whitlock and World Youth champion Dimitri Van den Bergh slipped to consecutive first round defeats in Wigan and failed to secure any prize money, while Gary Anderson, Mensur Suljovic, Adrian Lewis, Darren Webster, Max Hopp and Jamie Hughes were all absent this weekend. The Players Championship Order of Merit can be viewed below.
Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/PDC
| Position | Name | Prize Money |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gerwen, Michael van | £12,250 |
| 2 | Chisnall, Dave | £10,500 |
| 3 | Wattimena, Jermaine | £7,000 |
| 4 | Durrant, Glen | £6,000 |
| 5 | Clayton, Jonny | £5,250 |
| 6 | Cullen, Joe | £4,500 |
| 7 | Wright, Peter | £3,500 |
| 8 | Searle, Ryan | £3,250 |
| 8 | Wade, James | £3,250 |
| 10 | Baker, Scott | £3,000 |
| 11 | Anderson, Kyle | £2,750 |
| 11 | Henderson, John | £2,750 |
| 13 | Lennon, Steve | £2,500 |
| 13 | White, Ian | £2,500 |
| 13 | Zwaan, Jeffrey de | £2,500 |
| 16 | Smith, Michael | £2,250 |
| 16 | Ward, Harry | £2,250 |
| 18 | Cross, Rob | £2,000 |
| 18 | Gurney, Daryl | £2,000 |
| 18 | Ratajski, Krzysztof | £2,000 |
| 18 | Tabern Alan | £2,000 |
| 18 | Todd, Mick | £2,000 |
| 23 | Burton, Stephen | £1,500 |
| 23 | Carlin, Gavin | £1,500 |
| 23 | Dekker, Jan | £1,500 |
| 23 | Dobey, Chris | £1,500 |
| 23 | Dudbridge, Mark | £1,500 |
| 23 | Gilding, Andrew | £1,500 |
| 23 | Huybrechts, Kim | £1,500 |
| 23 | Joyce, Ryan | £1,500 |
| 23 | Klaasen, Jelle | £1,500 |
| 23 | Labanauskas, Darius | £1,500 |
| 23 | Mansell, Mickey | £1,500 |
| 23 | Michael, John | £1,500 |
| 23 | Payne, Josh | £1,500 |
| 23 | Portela, Diogo | £1,500 |
| 23 | Thornton, Robert | £1,500 |
| 23 | Voort, Vincent van der | £1,500 |
| 23 | West, Steve | £1,500 |
| 40 | Baelen, Davy Van | £1,000 |
| 40 | Bunting, Stephen | £1,000 |
| 40 | Clark, Matt | £1,000 |
| 40 | Dolan, Brendan | £1,000 |
| 40 | Dootson, Eddie | £1,000 |
| 40 | Edhouse, Ritchie | £1,000 |
| 40 | Evans, Ricky | £1,000 |
| 40 | Goldie, John | £1,000 |
| 40 | Humphries, Luke | £1,000 |
| 40 | King, Mervyn | £1,000 |
| 40 | Kuivenhoven, Maik | £1,000 |
| 40 | Lerchbacher, Zoran | £1,000 |
| 40 | MarIjanovic, Robert | £1,000 |
| 40 | Meulenkamp, Ron | £1,000 |
| 40 | Monk, Arron | £1,000 |
| 40 | Nentjes, Geert | £1,000 |
| 40 | Petersen, Devon | £1,000 |
| 40 | Price, Gerwyn | £1,000 |
| 40 | Robbe, Mario | £1,000 |
| 40 | Rodriguez, Rowby-John | £1,000 |
| 40 | Stevenson, Simon | £1,000 |
| 40 | Wilkinson, Carl | £1,000 |
| 40 | Worsley, Jonathan | £1,000 |
| 63 | Aspinall, Nathan | £500 |
| 63 | Bain, Jamie | £500 |
| 63 | Barneveld, Raymond van | £500 |
| 63 | Bates, Barrie | £500 |
| 63 | Boulton, Andy | £500 |
| 63 | Brown, Keegan | £500 |
| 63 | Bunse, Christian | £500 |
| 63 | Clemens, Gabriel | £500 |
| 63 | Derry, Nathan | £500 |
| 63 | Eastwood, Gary | £500 |
| 63 | Edgar, Matthew | £500 |
| 63 | Evetts, Ted | £500 |
| 63 | Huybrechts, Ronny | £500 |
| 63 | Justicia, Jose | £500 |
| 63 | Kamphuis, Vincent | £500 |
| 63 | Kanik, Tytus | £500 |
| 63 | Kantele, Marko | £500 |
| 63 | Koltsov, Boris | £500 |
| 63 | Lewis, Jamie | £500 |
| 63 | McGeeney, Mark | £500 |
| 63 | Meeuwisse, Yordi | £500 |
| 63 | Meikle, Ryan | £500 |
| 63 | Murnan, Joe | £500 |
| 63 | O’Connor, William | £500 |
| 63 | Prins, Dave | £500 |
| 63 | Reyes, Cristo | £500 |
| 63 | Robinson, Reece | £500 |
| 63 | Shepherd, Kirk | £500 |
| 63 | Webster, Mark | £500 |
| 63 | Whitehead, Conan | £500 |
| 63 | Wilson, James | £500 |
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