Morecambe darts star in last-gasp World Matchplay qualification

Morecambe’s Dave Chisnall has secured his place at the World Matchplay at the very last opportunity.

Thanks to two strong performances at the Players Championship events in Leicester, Chizzy claimed the final available spot for the tournament in Blackpool later this month.

The tournament is contested by the top 16 PDC seeds, and the 16 highest earning players on the Pro Tour.

After a difficult season which has seen him slip to 27^th in the PDC rankings, Chisnall calculated that he may need to earn around £20,000 in prize money to qualify, ahead of the two tour events in Leicester this week.

In the end, with £7,750 in prize money, he still claimed the final World Matchplay qualification place, edging out Daryl Gurney by doing so, after he lost his match 6-5 to Madars Razma.

Chisnall was taking on Greg Ritchie and opened up a 4-0 lead before being pegged back and winning the final two legs and finally booked his spot in Blackpool.

The result means the 45-year-old four time quarter finalist has qualified for the event every year since 2011.

"I’m not going to lie, today was one of the most pressure-filled days I’ve felt on the oche in some time, and it’s from all my own doing," he said in his Kwiff column.

"Whether it was blind faith, or being a perennial optimist, I’d always fancied my chances of getting to Blackpool for this year’s World Matchplay. Even when results hadn’t gone right at the start of the season, I’d keep telling myself that the aim was to get to Blackpool.

"For some of the lads who are clearing a lot of money, it will be nowhere near their list of achievements throughout the season, but today was one of the few good ones where I can give myself a bit of a pat on the back. Professional darts is hard, and the standard from a depth perspective is so strong these days.

‘’Even when you’re playing the first round qualifiers on the Euro Tour – there are no mugs about anymore."

"Hopefully I can bring that level of darts to Blackpool now. Fingers crossed the draw smiles kindly on me. I’m hoping that now we’ve booked our ticket, we can stay a few days!’’

The World Matchplay gets underway at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens on Saturday, July 18.