THE following International Representatives have qualified to play in the 2005/2006 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship at the Circus Tavern, Purfleet next month.
The number of international qualifiers has doubled to 16 for this year's event, allowing the PDC to continue their aim of expanding the sport globally.
There will be three American and two Canadian qualifers, and extra places were this year awarded to Holland and Australia - where Warren Parry won the Oceanic Masters to become the first New Zealand qualifier at the Circus Tavern.
Three players - Gerry Convery, Darin Young and Yasuhiko Matsunaga - have qualified for the second successive year, and they will be joined by a number of newcomers, including US number one ranked player John Kuczynski.
Jan van der Rassel will make his second appearance in the tournament after finishing at the head of the DDF rankings, and he will be joined by fellow Dutchman Erwin Extercatte.
Patrick Bulen was the furthest Belgian to be placed in the two PDPA Players Championship events which were held in Holland.*
Barbados' Winston Cadogan will succeed Anthony Forde in qualifying after winning last weekend's Carib Caribbean & South American Masters tournament.
The incredible success of televised PDC darts in Germany, following the introduction of coverage by the leading broadcaster DSF last year, has led to the inclusion of German players for the first time in the history of the event.
The players ranked first and second in Germany, Tomas Seyler and Andree Welge, will have the honour of representing their country in the biggest and best tournament in World Darts.
John Magowan won a place in the tournament as the highest ranked Irish resident in the PDC rankings on 28 November 2005.
"We have made no secret of our desire to spread the professional game worldwide," said PDC Chairman Barry Hearn.
"The exciting development in the Ladbrokes.com World Championship to move to 64 players has enabled us to double the number of International Representatives at the Circus Tavern, all of whom will be competing for a share of the £500,000 prize fund.
"This has meant that we can now offer greater chances for players in countries where darts is a developing sport to play in such a prestigious event.
"It is a measure of the progress darts is making in countries such as Ireland, Belgium and Germany that we have rewarded them with places, and it is our intention to hold separate qualifying events in such countries in future years."
Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship - International Representatives
| Brian Roach (Australia) | Australian Grand Prix Winner |
| Warren Parry (New Zealand) | DPA Oceanic Masters Champion |
| Gerry Convery (Canada) | Canadian National Champion |
| Ken Woods (Canada) | Runner-Up Canadian National Championships |
| Ray Carver (USA) | Furthest North American in Las Vegas Desert Classic |
| Darin Young (USA) | Second Furthest North American in Las Vegas Desert Classic |
| Liu Cheng'An (China) | Winner of Coors Chinese Qualifying Tournament |
| Yasuhiko Matsunaga (Japan) | Winner of Japanese Qualifying Tournament |
| Jan van der Rassel (Holland) | Leading Player in DDF Rankings at 12 November 2005 |
| Erwin Extercatte (Holland) | Second Placed Player in DDF Rankings at 12 November 2005 |
| Patrick Bulen (Belgium) | Furthest Belgian in two PDPA Players Championship events in Holland |
| Winston Cadogan (Barbados) | Carib Caribbean & South American Masters Winner |
| Tomas Seyler (Germany) | Leading Player in German Ranking List |
| Andree Welge (Germany) | Second Placed Player in German Ranking List |
| John Magowan | Highest Ranked Irish Resident (outside top 32) at 28 November 2005 |
| John Kuczynski | Number One Ranked In America |
As two events were being staged in Holland in November, it was felt the fairest way was to base this place on merit, in particular on players performances in these two events.
However, the entry level did not meet the anticipated numbers and as such a number of players had byes.
This could therefore make it possible for a player to gain a place at Purfleet without having played in a game.
It was therefore decided to award the place to whichever player won the most games over the two events - this was communicated to all the relevant players from Belgium prior to the first event on Saturday.
At the end of Sunday this resulted in a three-way tie. These three players then played for the final spot, which was won by Patrick Bulen.