AN incredibly dramatic final day of the Development Tour ended yesterday, with multiple World Championship & Tour Card spots still on the line in the final hour of the final event! One of the tightest races in recent history, with just £150 between second placed Jurjen van der Velde on £12.35k, and Jack Drayton on £12.2k in fifth!
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Having won an incredible 6 titles, including a run of four in a row, Sebastian Bialecki wrapped up top spot comfortably, despite only being eligible for 15 of the 24 events due to his ranking going into the Top 64.
He would’ve almost certainly have qualified anyway with his Players Championship Title, but winning the Development Tour is a cherry on top, and the first Easter-European to do so. He will make his debut in Wolverhampton next month.
World Championship Qualifiers
Sebastian Bialecki obviously would have claimed the first World Championship spot, but he has already qualified through the ProTour, so his spot gets passed down the Order of Merit.
Jurjen van der Velde finishes in second place on the Development Tour but needed a run to the final of the last event to secure even a top 5 finish. A massive Semi-Final win of Duyane Decena was enough to see him book a second appearance at Ally Pally after making his debut in a 3-1 defeat to Danny Noppert last year.
In third place is Cam Crabtree, who will also return for a second appearance at the World Championships in December, having lost to Andrew Gilding on his debut last year. Cam won the Development Tour in 2026 and has now produced back-to-back top 3 finishes.
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Taking the third and final spot is fourth place Jamai van den Herik. A lot of symmetry here, as Jamai also made his debut last year in defeat to Madars Razma. He will be looking to pick up his first win of any kind in a PDC Major in December.
Worth pointing out, Crabtree is currently sat in 41st spot in the World Championship race with the top 40 qualifying. Should he move into the top 40, Owen Bates will take his spot as the next in line on the Development Tour. Owen Bates is also sat in 42nd spot, should he also move into the top 40, Jack Drayton will take the World Championship spot. The same goes for Leon Weber if Jurjen van der Velde moves into the top 40 too, with Jurjen sat in 47th spot on the ProTour race.
Finally, the World Youth Championship winner also gets a spot at the World Championships. If the winner is already qualified, that spot will also pass down the Development Tour Order of Merit.
Tour Card Winners
Having won the Development Tour, Bialecki would therefore get the first Tour Card on offer. However, after such a brilliant season, the Pole is sat in 39th spot in the Tour Card race, with the top 64 being safe. He is 100% safe for a Tour Card in 2027, so this spot gets passed down the Order of Merit.
Jurjen van der Velde is sat in second spot, but he is already in the first year of a two-year Tour Card, having won one at Q-School in January.
This means the first Tour Card goes down 3rd spot Cam Crabtree. Cam won his first Tour Card at the start of the 2025 season through Q-School and is now coming to the end of his second year. As it stands, he will keep his Tour Card (currently sat 63rd in the race), but should this change, he now has a new Tour Card safe for the 2027/28 season.
The second Tour Card goes to fourth places Jamai van den Herik, who will join the PDC ProTour for the first time in his career for the 2027/28 seasons. He has reached a Players Championship Quarter-Final before, having come off the Challenge Tour on multiple occasions in the last two years.
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Should Crabtree remain in the Top 64 on the Order of Merit by January 3rd, the next in line for a Tour Card through the Development Tour will by Jack Drayton, but Owen Bates also being in the first of a two-year Tour Card.
Other spots
The top eight eligible players on the Development Tour also secure qualification for a couple of events in 2027 – the UK Open, the Preliminary Round of the World Masters, and qualification for Stage Two of Q-School. With this skipping 2027 Tour Card Holders, and Archie Self who has already qualified for the same things through the Challenge Tour, those eight players are the following:
Jack Drayton
Leon Weber
Dominik Grüllich
James Beeton
Henry Coates
Dylan Slevin
Kaya Baysal
Nathan Potter
Sam Jackson
Should Drayton eventually get the Tour Card, Angelo Balsamo is next in line for one of these spots.
If any of those players win a Tour Card at Q-School, the next in line are Lenny Schlüter, Nunjo Dewaele, and David Fidler.
The 2026 Development Tour has been hugely successful in 2026, producing more 100+ averages then ever before. The youth are more successful then ever, with 23 players under the age of 18 on the PDC Order of Merit. The 2027 Development Tour will kick start in Wigan on the 19th February.
Images: PDC Europe
