It has also been a busy week for players confirming their PDC World Championship berths. Owen Bates and Charlie Manby sealed their qualification via the Winmau Development Tour last weekend, as the 2025 season came to a close in Wigan.
Beau Greaves has dominated the PDC Women’s Series, securing top spot with several events to spare and earning her Alexandra Palace place through that route. The announcement ends any speculation that she might return to Lakeside to defend her world title and instead confirms her place in the North London showcase.
Cameron Crabtree topped the Development Tour rankings after a year of consistent excellence. The 22-year-old had already guaranteed his World Championship spot through the PDC ProTour, opening an additional place for another Development Tour representative. His close friend Bates, who finished third, will join him in London, while emerging English prospect Manby will make his World Championship debut after a breakout campaign.
Manby, supported by our friends at Pinnacle Darts captured his first Development Tour title in September, having previously made headlines with a 130.7 average in February. His fine form continued into the Winmau World Youth Championship, where he narrowly lost to reigning World Champion Luke Littler in a thrilling last-16 match.
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Meanwhile, the upcoming World Youth Championship Final will feature Gian van Veen and Beau Greaves. As both players have already qualified for the World Championship through other means, the extra place has reverted to the Development Tour standings. As a result, talented Dutch youngster Jamai van den Herik, who finished fifth, will make his Ally Pally debut in December.
The women’s game will once again be well represented. Fallon Sherrock has confirmed her sixth World Championship appearance after qualifying through the PDC Women’s Series. The top three players on the 2025 circuit earn automatic places, and with Greaves having already qualified via the Development Tour, Sherrock’s position is now mathematically secure.
The 2026 tournament will also see two new nations represented. Argentina’s Jesús Salate and Kenya’s David Munyua have both made history by booking their World Championship debuts.
Salate, who helped guide Argentina to the last 16 of the World Cup of Darts, finished top of the Championship Darts Latin America & Caribbean Tour, edging out Bahamian favourite Rashad Sweeting. Munyua clinched his place at last month’s African Darts Group Qualifier, defeating South Africa’s Cameron Carolissen 8–6 in a gripping final to secure his spot in the record books.
New Zealand’s Jonny Tata will also make his first appearance at Alexandra Palace after a superb season on the DartPlayers New Zealand circuit, where he won five of the last seven events and even landed a nine-darter.
Representing India for the fifth time will be Nitin Kumar, who sealed his return by winning the final IDC Qualifier last weekend. Sweden’s Oskar Lukasiak also confirmed his place following Teemu Harju’s victory at the inaugural PDC Nordic & Baltic Championship. Since Harju had already qualified via the Nordic & Baltic ProTour, his triumph ensured that Lukasiak – third in the rankings – would join Harju and fellow Scandinavian Andreas Harrysson at Ally Pally.
The international qualification process continues next weekend with the CDC Continental Cup in Philadelphia, while the PDC Women’s Series concludes in Wigan (October 18–19), alongside the closing rounds of the Hungarian Super League.
Further qualifiers for the 2025/26 World Darts Championship remain open, including:
– UK & Ireland Tour Card Holder & Associate Member Qualifier – November 1, Wigan
– Netherlands & Belgium Qualifier – November 15, Maaspoort, Den Bosch
– South-East Europe Qualifier – November 15, Nové Zámky, Slovakia
– Mediterranean Qualifier – November 16, Segovia, Spain
– Czech Qualifier – November 16, Darts Club AJETO, Prague
——ENDS——
Images: PDC
