Grand Slam Spot on Offer in PDC Summer Series + PDC Rankings Update
The winner of the 2020 PDC Summer Series Order of Merit will receive a place in this year's Grand Slam of Darts, while the PDC can also confirm that next month's five events in Milton Keynes will be ranked.
PDC tournaments have been suspended since mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the innovative PDC Home Tour providing unranked competition during the enforced break.
The PDC Summer Series from July 8-12 in Milton Keynes will see the sport's stars return to competition in-person with five one-day Players Championship events being staged behind closed doors at the Marshall Arena.
Confirmation that the events will be ranked means that the PDC Summer Series will comprise the final five tournaments to count towards qualification for the Betfred World Matchplay, which will take place from July 18-26.
In addition, the winner of the PDC Summer Series Order of Merit, based on prize money won across the five events, will be awarded a place in the 2020 Grand Slam of Darts.
Following discussions with the PDPA, the following has been confirmed in relation to rankings:
* Prize money which would naturally have lapsed from the PDC Order of Merit and ProTour Order of Merit between March 16 and July 8 will be removed ahead of the start of the PDC Summer Series.
* The seedings for PDC Summer Series Day One (PC9) will be based on the ProTour Order of Merit at July 8, with 52 weeks of prize money included.
* The seedings for PDC Summer Series Days Two-Five will be based on that day's ProTour Order of Merit, with previous days' prize money included.
* Qualification for the Betfred World Matchplay will be confirmed following PDC Summer Series Day Five, with the cut-off date amended from the original date (Sunday July 5) to Sunday July 12. This will be based on 104 weeks' prize money for 16 qualifiers from the PDC Order of Merit and 52 weeks' prize money for 16 qualifiers from the ProTour Order of Merit.
* A place in the 2020 Grand Slam of Darts will be awarded to the winner of the PDC Summer Series Order of Merit.
PDC Chief Executive Matt Porter said: "There is understandably a lot of anticipation for players ahead of the PDC Summer Series and confirmation of the situation around rankings will give them all clarity as they prepare to return to action.
"We thank the PDPA for their constructive support during recent months as they represented the interests of all their members during an unprecedented time."
The PDC Order of Merit and ProTour Order of Merit have now been updated to reflect this situation, and can be seen at the following links:
PDC Order of Merit - https://www.pdc.tv/order-of-merit/pdc-order-merit
ProTour Order of Merit - https://www.pdc.tv/order-of-merit/protour-order-of-merit
Each day’s play in the PDC Summer Series will commence at 1200 BST, with coverage from two boards simultaneously broadcast through PDCTV and bookmakers’ websites worldwide.