The race for the 2026 World Grand Prix comes to a close in Antwerp this weekend, with the Flanders Darts Trophy representing the final event counting towards the qualification for Leicester.
The double-in event is a standout in the PDC calendar, the major with by far the most drastic format change. Along with the World Matchplay, it is one of the toughest ranking events to qualify for, with only 32 elite arrow smiths making the cut.
The qualification process is fairly simple. The top 16 players on the Main Order of Merit qualify as the seeds, placed into their positions before the draw is done. They are then joined by the next best 16 from the ProTour Order of Merit, counting prize money only from Players Championships’ and European Tours’. This particular Order of Merit is done over a rolling one-year system, rather than the two-year system done for the Main Order of Merit. This allows for in-form players such as Kevin Doets and Cristo Reyes to have a shot, despite not being towards the top of the world rankings.
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As the Flanders Darts Trophy comes around to finish off this Grand Prix race, there are already 27 names confirmed to be making the trip to the Mattioli Arena next month, including the likes of defending champion Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and Gary Anderson, but there are still a few spots to fight over.
The Main Order of Merit has one spot left to be decided. Jermaine Wattimena sits in seventeenth position, £19,250 off Nathan Aspinall in sixteenth. “Machine Gun” would have to win the title to jump over Aspinall, but in the process could also catch Chris Dobey and Ross Smith. All four of these players are guaranteed to qualify for the Grand Prix, it’s just a fight over the final seeded positions.
The real fight comes on the ProTour Order of Merit. The top eleven are already mathematically safe, this being Woodhouse, Doets, Wattimena, Ratajski, Gilding, O’Connor, Cross, Heta, van Duijvenbode, Zonneveld, and Joyce. Cameron Menzies sits in twelfth, £10,750 above the current cut-off, so while he isn’t 100% confirmed, it would take a miracle to knock him out.
The final four spots are where the fight begins. Dave Chisnall sits in thirteenth, £6,000 safe, but Chizzy hasn’t qualified for the European Tour this weekend, meaning his fate lays out of his own hands. He will fancy his chances, as four players below him would need to make deep runs to knock him out of the spots.
Niko Springer sits in fourteenth, £5,500 above the cut-off, and will take on Host Nation debutant Jaimy Jacob in the first round tomorrow. A win here would add another £3.5k to his prize money, almost certainly securing his qualification for the Grand Prix.
It begins to get very tight from here onwards, as Joe Cullen sits in fifteenth, just £1,250 above the cut-off. “Rockstar” will take on the trickiest of the Host Nation Qualifiers in Andy Baetens in Round One, desperately needing a win. Having qualified automatically, the £3.5k prize money would likely be enough, but a loss means that a win from Cristo Reyes would knock him out of the spots.
Cristo Reyes sits in the final provisional spot for the Grand Prix. The Spaniard has enjoyed an incredible return to life on the Tour and is looking to return to the Grand Prix for the first time since 2017! He sits just £500 above the cut-off and has the very tricky test of Rob Cross in the First Round in Antwerp. A win here is vital to qualify, as he is guaranteed to get knocked out of the spots should he not win, due to circumstances I’m about to move onto.
Kim Huybrechts and Sebastian Bialecki sit in the next two spots, Huybrechts £500 off Reyes, and Bialecki £1,500 off. The pair have been drawn against each other in the opening round in Antwerp, meaning one of them will be guaranteed to reach the Second Round. Having automatically qualified, Bialecki only receives prize money with a win, so would get £3,500 and move above Huybrechts, and potentially Reyes and Cullen with a win. Huybrechts qualified as a reserve, so already received £2k in prize money, meaning a win would be worth another £1,5k, enough to see him overtake Reyes and/or Cullen, should they lose.
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Karel Sedlacek then follows sat in nineteenth. The Czechia #1 needs minimum a run to the Quarter-Finals to make a debut at the World Grand Prix, with the likely route there being Hansen-Wattimena-Rock. Martin Schindler is in the same position, but he comes into the Flanders Darts Trophy as a seed, meaning he only needs to pick up two wins to reach the Quarter-Finals, which could see a very important match with Cristo Reyes on the way. His likely route to the Quarter-Finals is Cross/Reyes-Wade.
Finally, there are a few players needing almost miracles to reach the Grand Prix. Beau Greaves needs at least a run to the final, while Jeffrey de Graaf, Mickey Mansell, Gabriel Clemens and Brendan Dolan can only break in with the title.
It’s certainly going to be an intriguing weekend in Belgium, with many players having more on their mind then just picking up a win on the European Tour. Action comes from midday on Friday, running through to the final on Sunday evening.
The World Grand Prix runs from the 28th September to the 4th October.
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Images: PDC
