Dave Chisnall’s World Matchplay position has become one of the sharper subplots in the final push towards Blackpool.
The latest World Matchplay Race picture has Chisnall level with Dirk van Duijvenbode on 351.5 ranking units, behind Daryl Gurney and ahead of Cameron Menzies, with the cut-off listed for July 8.
That leaves Chisnall outside the comfort zone on the main Order of Merit race and reliant on the ProTour route tightening in his favour. The danger is not simply one rival catching fire. It is the cluster.
The numbers squeezing Chisnall
- Daryl Gurney: 363.5
- Dave Chisnall: 351.5
- Dirk van Duijvenbode: 351.5
- Cameron Menzies: 346.25
Kevin Doets, Joe Cullen, Ritchie Edhouse and Michael Smith all sit close enough to keep every Players Championship leg relevant. More rankings pressure is now packed into the final stretch.
Cross cushion still matters
Rob Cross is better placed at 426.5, but his name still matters to the story because the current table shows how quickly a Blackpool cushion can look thinner once the ProTour qualifiers are filtered in.
The PDC’s own World Matchplay tournament page confirms the 32-player field will be split between the top 16 seeds and the next 16 ProTour qualifiers. That format punishes drift.
Chisnall’s task is brutally plain: protect the floor money, avoid a dead Wigan spell and make the July 8 line without letting the chasing pack turn the race into a countback-style scramble.
For a player of his pedigree, missing Blackpool would land as more than a rankings footnote. The pressure is already there.
