Players Championship Darts 20: Michael Smith at risk of not qualifying for World Matchplay after round-one exit

08.07.2025, 21:21 skysports.com

Former world champion Michael Smith is in jeopardy of not qualifying for the Betfred World Matchplay on July 19-27 after losing in the first round of Players Championship 20 in Leicester.

Smith, the 2023 world champion, on Tuesday lost 6-4 to Belgium's Kim Huybrechts and now must reach at least the semi-finals in Wednesday's Players Championship 21 at the same Mattioli Arena venue to book a place at the Winter Gardens, where he was runner-up to Rob Cross in 2019 and has appeared every year since 2014.

This week's double-header in Leicester is crucial to determining the final qualifying spots at the World Matchplay when it starts next week, live on Sky Sports.

The top 16 players from the PDC Order of Merit will be seeded at the Winter Gardens, where they be joined by the next-best 16 qualifiers based on the 12-month ProTour Order of Merit.

Smith, who spoke openly in January about suffering from arthritis in his right hand, his throwing hand, is currently ranked 21st in the world and started the day £4,250 outside the additional 16 ProTour qualifying places on offer.

The first round was also noteworthy for two nine-darters - Josh Rock against Sebastian Bialecki and Leon Weber against Tytus Kanik.

Rock ultimately lost in the quarter finals 6-5 to Rob Cross, who was then on the receiving end of a nine-darter himself from Stephen Bunting in their closely-fought semi-final. which the latter won 7-6.

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Bunting plays Damon Heta in Tuesday night's final after the Australian beat Gerwyn Price 7-5 in their semi-final.

More to follow...

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