Following clarification of the PDC ranking situation ahead of the sport's return to action, we take a look at the race to qualify for the Betfred World Matchplay going into the PDC Summer Series.
The PDC will resume ranked tournaments with the Summer Series of five Players Championship events taking place from July 8-12 behind closed doors at the Marshall Arena, Milton Keynes.
These will be the last five events to take place before the new World Matchplay cut-off date of July 12, and with £375,000 in prize money on offer, all 128 competing players will have the chance to force their way into the 32-player field.
The top 16 players from the PDC Order of Merit will be seeded for the World Matchplay, and they will be joined by 16 qualifiers from the one-year ProTour Order of Merit.
The tables below show the latest standings in the race to the Betfred World Matchplay, displaying each player's minimum prize money by the new cut-off date on July 12.
Glen Durrant, a semi-finalist on his World Matchplay debut last year, is poised to move into the world's top 16 alongside Poland's Krzysztof Ratajski to claim seeded places in the event.
Reigning champion Rob Cross is currently set to be the fourth seed in his challenge to retain the Phil Taylor Trophy, while 2018 champion Gary Anderson is in the provisional eighth seeding position.
Ryan Searle, a Players Championship winner earlier this year, is on course to claim his World Matchplay debut amongst the 16 ProTour Order of Merit qualifiers, with Jose De Sousa, Gabriel Clemens and Dimitri Van den Bergh also presently in line to compete in the prestigious event for the first time.
The PDC Summer Series will also be offering a place in the 2020 Grand Slam of Darts for the player who wins the most prize money across the five days, with the events also providing a chance for players to boost their chances of securing places in other televised events such as the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals and William Hill World Darts Championship.
