The race to the WDF World Championship at the iconic Lakeside Country Club is heating up, with 27 players now assured of their places at the 'home of World Darts' following the Philippines Open. The tournament, set for 27.11.2026 to 06.12.2026 in Frimley Green, serves as a precursor to the PDC World Darts Championship as one of two main title tilts this season. However, a large part of the field remains open, with dozens of spots for the Open qualifiers still to be filled, and several spots in the women’s and youth events also up for grabs.
In the men’s field, sixteen players currently sit on a qualifying path via the provisional Open Race Ranking, led by Scotland’s Mitchell Lawrie, winner of the Denmark Open. Behind him are Jenson Walker, Paul Krohne, Moreno Blom, Corne Groeneveld, Ross Montgomery, James Beeton, and Leonard Gates. Chris Lim is also certain of Lakeside after winning the World Masters, with Neil Duff, Kaya Baysal, Andras Borbely, Mursel Yavuz, Jarno Bottenberg, Daniel Zapata, and Belgian Brian Raman completing the top sixteen. Several players have also booked their tickets through victories at key WDF events: David Davies, Jason Brandon, Jack Drayton, Jeff Smith, Ryusei Azemoto, Mark Cleaver, Blake Hatchett, and Terry Jun Hao Tan. The winner of the Hungarian Masters will likewise receive a direct place. The regional ranking tables will add more qualifiers, with Ryuta Arihara, Christian De Los Reyes, Raymond Smith, Declan Bailey, Jean-Michel Legault, Franko Giuliani, Haupai Puha, and Caleb Hope currently on course. Berry Pater has qualified, Stefan Schröder is also on track, and Liam Maendl-Lawrance is among those in position via the last-chance qualifier.
The women’s event is taking shape as well, with twelve of the 24 spots now filled. Deta Hedman tops the provisional qualifying list, having won the WDF World Championship 2025 and several major WDF events in 2026. Priscilla Steenbergen, Maria Carli, Rhian O'Sullivan, Paula Jacklin, Kirsi Viinikainen, Gemma Hayter, and Nicole Regnaud are also set. Among the regional qualifiers are Joanne Hadley, Jitka Cisarova, Cali West, and Dutch player Lerena Rietbergen, while Aileen de Graaf, Irina Armstrong, Emine Dursun, Paula Murphy, Anca Zijlstra, and Eve Watson are on qualifying pace.
The youth will also take to the big Lakeside stage. In the boys’ event, Mitchell Lawrie and Benjamin Dopfer are already in as winners of the World Championship and World Masters respectively, with Kaya Baysal, Kai Burger, Jack Nankervis, Mason Teese, Mika Donnevert, and Zsolt Csajbok likewise on course to qualify. In the girls’ event, Zehra Gemi and Ruby Grey are assured of participation, while Paige Pauling and Macy Gibbons currently hold the two places via the ranking.
The qualifying battle is far from over. The WDF ranking calendar continues at full pace in the coming weeks, with new ranking events scheduled from 10.09 to 13.09 in India, Canada, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand, and the United States. The WDF will keep updating the provisional entry list weekly until the end of the season on 02.11, after which it will be clear who will travel to the legendary Lakeside to contest the world titles.
