This weekend marks the grand finale of the 2025 PDC Challenge Tour, as the final four events play out in the tungsten-fuelled trenches of Wigan.
It’s been a gruelling nine-month grind for those hovering on the professional fringes – a season that began way back in January at Milton Keynes and now finally reaches its conclusion at Robin Park, where the rewards for talent as well as persistence will be handed out.
Leading the way is Lithuania’s Darius Labanauskas, sitting pretty on £9,700 – just over £1,500 clear of nearest rival Stefan Bellmont. If the standings stay that way, both men will secure those coveted PDC Tour Cards. The top three also earn a place at Ally Pally – not to watch, mind you, but to play, complete with a guaranteed £15,000 payday for the privilege.
Labanauskas has already made good use of Pro Tour call-ups this season and currently occupies a World Championship qualifying position via that Order of Merit. Still, the Challenge Tour provides a handy safety net – and come Sunday, he will know if he can avail of it. Likely he should be able to.
As things stand, that means Switzerland’s Bellmont would also book his Palace ticket, along with third-placed Ted Evetts. SuperTed hardly needs reminding of his unwanted place in the history books under the Alexandra Palace lights (clue: Fallon), while in fourth place sits Jamai van den Herik – though he’s already qualified for the Worlds via the Development Tour.
That, in turn, brings the next man into play: none other than the ever-familiar Mervyn King. The 59-year-old veteran now faces a delicate equation. For King to make yet another appearance at Ally Pally, two things must happen: he needs to stay fifth or higher, and Labanauskas must avoid relying on the Challenge Tour as his fallback route.
The only real danger to that plan? Jack Tweddell, lurking just £625 behind in sixth. The 30-year-old, who’s already claimed a Challenge Tour title this year, poses the most immediate threat on the ranking table.
Behind them is a tightly packed chasing group all sitting just below the £5,000 mark – headed by Scott Waites and including Alexander Merkx, Danny van Trijp, Michael Unterbuchner, Carl Sneyd, and Graham Hall. All are capable of going deep, picking up titles and shaking up the leaderboard.
Realistically, it’s hard to see Labanauskas slipping out of the top two – or even the top three – unless disaster strikes or the PDC’s ranking algorithms decide to throw a tantrum. Barring that, he looks set to head to Ally Pally as both a Tour Card holder and, more than likely, as the Challenge Tour champion, which would also hand him a Grand Slam spot next month. That’s another few thousand guaranteed no matter how he gets on in Wolverhampton.
By Sunday evening, between the jigs, reels, and last-leg deciders, we’ll know exactly who’s heading where. As ever, expect tension, drama, and a few players frantically doing maths in their heads before someone finally shouts, “I’m in!”
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
