Wessel Nijman will make his World Matchplay debut next month after qualifying via the ProTour Order of Merit.
With just two Players Championship events left before the cut off, the Dutchman is already mathematically assured of a first appearance at the Winter Gardens in July, having accrued £125,000 in prize money on the ProTour during the qualification period.
Nijman will be joined in Blackpool by the reigning World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker, who has also confirmed his spot in the field. The Belgian number one is back for a second World Matchplay campaign after making his debut in 2023.
The complete 32-player field for the World Matchplay will be confirmed following Players Championships 20-21 in Leicester next week (July 8-9). Ryan Joyce currently holds the 16th and last provisional ProTour spot, with Ritchie Edhouse and Martin Lukeman close behind in the race to Blackpool.
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Four players from Team Mission represented their respective countries at the PDC World Cup of Darts in Frankfurt earlier this month.
Oskar Lukasiak made his third consecutive appearance in the pairs tournament for Sweden, partnering up with Jeffrey de Graaf, and the Swedish duo made it through the group stages before bowing out 8-4 to Hong Kong in the last 16.
Elsewhere, Michele Turetta (Italy), Madars Razma (Latvia) and Mike De Decker (Belgium) all exited in the group stages.
The previous weekend, Razma and Lukasiak were both part of a trio of Team Mission players competing in the Nordic Darts Masters in Copenhagen.
Razma pushed the world number one Luke Humphries all the way to a last-leg decider, with ‘Cool Hand’ prevailing 6-5, whilst Lukasiak and Viktor Tingstrom also lost out in the first round.
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The most recent block of Players Championships saw Team Mission well represented at Events 17 and 18 in Leicester a few weeks ago.
Wessel Nijman made the last 16 of Players Championship 17, whilst the following day Cam Crabtree enjoyed his best run since becoming a PDC tour card holder as he reached the quarter-finals of Players Championship 18.
Mike De Decker also made the quarter-finals on the same day in a run which included four consecutive 100+ averages, and Alan Soutar won his board in a run to the last 16.
The ProTour action in Leicester concluded with a double header of tour card holder qualifiers for European Tour events later in the year.
Martin Lukeman completed a qualification double as he secured his spot in the Baltic Sea Darts Open (ET9) next week and the Flanders Darts Trophy (ET10) at the end of August.
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Robyn Byrne will make her second appearance in the Women’s World Matchplay next month after finishing fifth on the final Order of Merit.
The Irishwoman will take on four-time women’s world champion Lisa Ashton in the quarter-finals of the tournament, which takes place at the iconic Winter Gardens in Blackpool on July 27.
A busy stretch on the oche for Byrne continued this past week as she took part in the latest Women’s Week at the MODUS Super Series.
The 28-year-old narrowly missed out on the title as she lost 3-2 to Gemma Hayter in Saturday night’s final at the Live Lounge in Portsmouth.
The eight-player field for the 2025 @Betfred Women's World Matchplay has been confirmed!
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) June 9, 2025
Reigning champion Beau Greaves will begin her bid for a third consecutive title against Finland's debutant Kirsi Viinikainen!
Full Story 📝👉 https://t.co/mc27oqbbeO pic.twitter.com/uDaAuHXzAc
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Llew Bevan reached a pair of finals at the recent Six Nations Cup weekend in Merthyr.
The Welshman dropped just three legs on his way to the final of the Charity Men’s Singles event, where he lost out 5-2 to Jimmy van Schie.
Bevan was also part of the Welsh team that made the final of the men’s team competition, just missing out on home glory as they were beaten 13-7 by England in the decider.
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Archie Self caught the eye with a run to the semi-finals in the WDF-ranked England Open men’s singles earlier this month.
The 15-year-old, who also made the last 16 in the England National men’s singles and the quarter-finals in the youth singles events on the same weekend, was denied a place in the final after losing 4-1 to Chas Barstow.
Elsewhere, Cam Crabtree almost added another title to his haul for 2025 on Saturday, as he was edged out 5-4 by Scott Walters in the final of the Hampshire Open.
Daniel Stephenson and Sam Jackson both appeared in the quarter-finals in Event 2 of the EDO Youth Grand Prix on Sunday.
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Lex Paeshuyse finished third in the ranking table at the end of his first season on the JDC Advanced Tour.
The 2024 JDC world champion capped off his debut campaign on the Advanced Tour with a quarter-final in Event 17 and a final in Event 19 to finish on 43 points.
Last year’s ranking table winner Archie Self finished the season strongly with a pair of quarter-finals and a semi-final during the final weekend, whilst Daniel Stephenson signed off from the Advanced Tour with a semi-final run in Event 19.
Meanwhile, the first ever JDC Power League concluded on Sunday with the end of season finals where Paeshuyse and Self were both in action.
The Mission Academy duo both lost out in last-leg deciders in the quarter-finals, as Self lost 5-4 to Tergel Khurelkhuu and Paeshuyse was beaten by Mitchell Lawrie by the same scoreline.
Paeshuyse also had a late call up to play in an exhibition in Belgium, with the 13-year-old replacing the former world champion Gerwyn Price and making an impression in his match against PDC star Dirk van Duijvenbode.
Kyle Davidson has secured his place in the Scotland A team for the JDC World Cup of Darts in Gibraltar later this year.
The final block of qualifiers took place over the weekend, with the 14-year-old also confirming his spot in the Scottish team for the Host Nations in Wales.
Picture: PDC