Five spots down, 43 to go! As we move under 100 days away from the beginning of the show piece event the sport of darts has to offer, all eyes turn to the next Ally Pally cult-hero.
Over the last week, Mal Cuming has added his name to the list of qualifiers, having won the inaugural Trans-Tasman Championship in Brisbane, downing Raymond Smith in the Final. Cuming joins the likes of Lisa Ashton, David Cameron, Jesus Salate and Adam Sevada (pictured) already confirmed for the World Championships in December.
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There will be a few more spots up for grabs over the next month, particularly in Oceania and Asia. The DPNZ (New Zealand) Tour comes to an end over the first weekend in September (5th-6th), with the winner of that Order of Merit qualifying for the Alexandra Palace. As it stands, Ben Robb sits in position after 10/12 events and only needs a handful of wins to confirm this. Jonny Tata sits in second, and will be desperate to at least maintain this, giving himself a chance at spot offered through the ANZ Premier League.
The ADA (Australian) Tour also comes to an end in September, with the final four events being played over the 11th-13th. Brody Klinge leads the way in Australia, currently sitting $1,550 ahead of Raymond Smith. With $1,600 on offer to the winner of each event, there is still all to play for when the ADA Tour hits South Australia. The ANZ Premier League also begins in September, with Night 1 being played on the 26th.
Moving up a few thousand kilometres, the Asian Tour also comes to an end in September. The final four events of the tour are played in China across the 12th-13th September, where the top 5 will all qualify for the World Championships. As it stands, Motomu Sakai sits in these spots, so sixth place will also qualify. The spots are currently occupied by Christian Perez, Ryuta Arihara, Haruki Muramatsu, Man Lok Leung and Paolo Nebrida.
This will be directly followed by the Asian Championship on the 14th September. The finalists of the Asian showpiece event both qualify for the World Championships, adding to the five already qualified. If these have already qualified through the Asian Tour, the spots will go down the Order of Merit, with Lok Yin Lee and Yuya Fukuchi sat in the next two spots. The top seven (down to Lee) are all fairly close on the Asian Tour, so it is likely all seven of them will make it to Ally Pally. Reminder that the Asian Championship Winner also qualifies for the Grand Slam of Darts in November.
Speaking of the Japan Tour, this also comes to an end in September, with the final block of events being played over the 22nd-23rd. Motomu Sakai currently leads the tour by almost 300 points, with 80 points on offer to the winner of each of the final four events. It is almost certain that Sakai will win this tour, and hence freeing up another spot through the Asian Tour.
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There’s also a series of direct World Championship qualifiers in September, headlined by the one of the highest anticipated events on the calendar – the Northern African Qualifier. After the incredible victory from David Munyua (above) at least years World Championships, the PDC made the decision to give Africa two spots at Ally Pally, a Northern and a Southern qualifier.
This allows for more unknown players from nations such as Kenya and Uganda to reach the world stage, rather than just the influx of South Africans. The favourites will be the likes of Munyua, Wachiuri and Ocheng, and the qualifier will be played on the 20th September.
The Challenge Tour also comes to an end over the 26th-27th September, where the final four events will nominate the three qualifiers for the World Championships. Derek Coulson has almost certainly done enough to be there, followed by Daniel Klose and Tommy Morris, who still have a lot of work to do in Wigan. Joe Hunt does sit in second, but he will qualify through the ProTour race, hence the spot is passed down the Challenge Tour order of merit.
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The UK and Ireland Tour Card Holder & Associate Member Qualifier will also be played this month, following the final weekend on the Challenge Tour, on Monday 28th. This event can be entered by anyone who either has a Tour Card or went to Q-School in 2026. Due to it being played much earlier than last year, there will not only be a lot more Challenge Tour entries, but also a lot more Tour Card holders attending, due to being unsure whether they will reach the World Championships through the ProTour. If a ProTour qualifier does win this event, the spot will be passed down to #41 on the ProTour race.
Larsson Leads Scandi Darts Race
Finally, the final weekend of ProTour events on the Nordic & Baltic Tour is played over the last weekend in September (26th-27th) in Estonia. After 10/12 events, it is tight at the top of this race, with Daniel Larsson sat on $5.6k, followed by Cor Dekker on $5.3k. With the top two qualifying, and $1.3k on offer for the winners of the final two events, the likes of Jani Haavisto, Oskar Lukasiak and Darius Labanauskas will likely have to win a title to put themselves in the conversation.
Also worth mentioning, the top 24 all qualify for the Nordic & Baltic Championship played at the start of November, with the winner of that qualifying for both the World Championships and the Grand Slam.
So, 5/48 at the start of September jumps to 22/48 by the end of September, as the field for the World Championships starts to fill up. Check back in DartsWorld Dedicated Numbers Game Area for regular updates.
Images: PDC
