THE automatic qualifiers for the PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship have been confirmed.
The 2014 PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship's Last 64 will take place on Friday April 4 in Reading, with the final to be held during the Betway Premier League Darts Play-Offs at The O2 in London on Thursday May 22.
In line with the amendment of the PDC Unicorn Youth Tour to be open to players aged 16-21 this year, the 2014 World Youth Championship is also eligible to players in that age range.
The automatic qualifiers are the top 48 players (plus ties) from the 2013 PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour Order of Merit, with a total of 50 players qualifying by virtue of their performances last year.
Adam Hunt heads the eight seeds and is joined by Austria's Rowby-John Rodriguez, Welsh ace Kurt Parry - who hit a nine-darter in last year's World Youth Championship - Kent's Josh Payne, Holland's Dirk van Duijvenbode, Hull's Reece Robinson, Holland's Benito van de Pas and German teenager Max Hopp.
The 50 automatic qualifiers will be joined in the field for the Last 64 by a series of International Qualifiers, who will secure their places in due course. Details of individual nation's events will be posted below in due course.
All games in the PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship will be the best of 11 legs, with the final to be played between the semi-finals and final of the Betway Premier League Darts at The O2 in London on May 22.
Last year's event saw Michael Smith - who matched Parry in hitting a nine-dart finish during the qualifying rounds - defeat Ricky Evans 6-1 in the final, with Arron Monk and James Hubbard the previous winners.
2014 PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship
Automatic Qualifiers - based on 2013 PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour OOM
1 Adam Hunt
2 Rowby-John Rodriguez
3 Kurt Parry
4 Josh Payne
5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
6 Reece Robinson
7 Benito van de Pas
8 Max Hopp
Ryan De Vreede
Sam Hewson
Samuel Head
Dimitri Van Den Bergh
Jake Patchett
Keegan Brown
John De Kruijf
Tom Sykes
Dan Dean
Shaun Littler
Brandon Walsh
Arron Fairweather
Rhys Hayden
Ryan Hogarth
Aden Kirk
Lewis Venes
Sam Hill
James Thompson
Kevin Voornhout
Ben Songhurst
Nicholas Day
Jimmy Hendriks
George Killington
Paddy Meaney
Adam Smith-Neale
Curtis Turner
Lee Whitworth
Dean Finn
Shaun Lovett
Sean Ryan
John Seagrave
Sion Thomas
Dan Read
Anthony West
James Young
Lewis Hackett
Matthew Dicken
Jack Tweddell
Conor Mayes
Samuel Fuller
Jake Jones
Sergio Garcia