Dave Chisnall is facing a late Leicester fight to protect a World Matchplay appearance streak that stretches back to 2010, with the St Helens thrower £6,000 short of the final Blackpool places.
Two more chances with next week’s Pro Tour tournaments to make enough prize money to get to The World Matchplay.
— Dave Chisnall (@ChizzyChisnall) June 27, 2026
The 45-year-old sits 17th on the ProTour Order of Merit on £76,000, behind Damon Heta on £81,250 and Cameron Menzies on £81,750, with two Players Championship events left to shape the Winter Gardens field.
Chisnall’s latest setback came at the Slovak Open, where he beat Adrian Dudek before a 6-3 second-round defeat to Jermaine Wattimena. He has not yet reached a PDC semi-final this season, turning the Leicester double-header into a direct pressure test rather than a routine ranking stop.
Leicester now decides Chisnall’s Blackpool run
Chisnall told The Sun that missed chances and short lapses of concentration had hurt him, but also pointed to progress after cutting a £15,000 gap earlier in the month.
That is the key tension. Chisnall’s scoring pedigree and 26 PDC ProTour titles make him a dangerous last-week qualifier, yet the margin is now brutally simple: he needs a meaningful Leicester run while either Heta or Menzies leaves the door open.
For a player who has been part of every Matchplay since 2011, missing Blackpool would be more than a ranking footnote. It would mark one of the clearest signs yet that the sport’s packed mid-table is squeezing established major regulars harder than ever.
