Raymond van Barneveld to miss Players Championship Finals
Van Barneveld faces a make-or-break end to the campaign (credit:Lawrence Lustig/PDC)
Raymond van Barneveld will miss out on the 2018 Players Championship Finals after opting out of entering the final two ProTour events of the season.
The five-time World Champion has racked up just £3,000 in prize money from his six Players Championship appearances this year, leaving him 116th on the Players Championship Order of Merit.
Following the final double-header of events in Barnsley from October 20-21, the top 64 players from the Players Championship Order of Merit will qualify for November’s Players Championship Finals in Minehead.
Van Barneveld will be one notable name missing from the ITV4-televised major after opting not to compete in either of the two remaining ProTour events.
The popular Dutchman dropped to 14th in the main Order of Merit following the recent Unibet World Grand Prix and has featured in only a handful of ranking tournaments this year, notably failing to qualify for any European Tour event.
He is defending Semi-Final prize money at this year’s World Championship and could tumble to as low as 26th with an early exit at Alexandra Palace.
Heading in to the final two Players Championship events, the likes of Vincent van der Voort, Paul Nicholson, Alan Norris, Kevin Painter, Terry Jenkins and Jamie Caven all find themselves outside of the projected cut-off.
In total, 37 players have guaranteed their place in the main event, leaving a number of players facing a nervy weekend at the Barnsley Metrodome.
