On the eve of the penultimate Winmau Development Tour weekend, the smell of opportunity is wafting through Wigan – though that could just be the Robin Park canteen. Either way, darts’ brightest young hopefuls are descending on the place, desperate to climb the rankings and grab themselves a few juicy prizes.
The juiciest carrot dangling in front of them? Finish in the top two and you earn the sport’s golden ticket – a two-year PDC Tour Card. That’s right, two years of travelling the country pitting your wits against the cream of the crop. If one of the top two already has a card, it trickles down to the next in line.
Currently, Beau Greaves is top of the pile (not a shock to anyone), with Cam Crabtree sitting second – though he already owns a card. Which means if it ended today, his close buddy Owen Bates would inherit the prize. Nine events remain, though, so there’s still time for somebody to stop the Ant & Dec of darts teaming up on tour.
Then there’s the little matter of Ally Pally. Three Development Tour players will bag spots at the 2026 Paddy Power World Championship – assuming they haven’t already qualified elsewhere. As it stands, those golden invites would go to Greaves, Jurjen van der Velde, and Charlie Manby. Not a bad Christmas present. The chasing pack, meanwhile, will be looking to catch the two boys with the Doncaster belle more or less out of view.
Beau, by the way, is also in line for the Grand Slam of Darts spot awarded to the top-ranked player on this table. Cam is currently eyeing it like a kid outside a sweet shop – and with the gap between him and Greaves being wafer thin, it’s up for grabs.
Still not enough dangling bait? Fine. How about the UK Open. The top eight eligible players not already in get Minehead tickets. Yes, the glamorous reward of three nights in Butlins, where you can play darts in a tent the size of Gerwyn Price’s hand.
This weekend in Wigan will set the tone, but the final quartet of events back at Robin Park next month will ultimately decide who wins what.
2025 PDC Development Tour (after 15 of the 24 events)
| 1 | Beau Greaves | £11,025 |
| 2 | Cam Crabtree | £10,875 |
| 3 | Owen Bates | £8,200 |
| 4 | Dominik Grüllich | £5,725 |
| 5 | Sebastian Białecki | £5,650 |
| 6 | Jurjen van der Velde | £5,625 |
| 7 | Charlie Manby | £5,250 |
| 8 | Jannis Barkhausen | £5,175 |
| 9 | Patrik Williams | £4,875 |
| 10 | Ryan Branley | £4,825 |
For those who miss out on all the shiny things, there’s always a shot at the World Youth Championship in November. And the best part for almost all of them? Luke Littler isn’t participating. He has already decided one of those t-shirts is ample.
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
