Wesley Plaisier has spoken of his devastation after a painful end to his Players Championship season, narrowly missing out on World Championship qualification through both key rankings and losing his PDC Tour Card. The Dutchman took to social media to express his feelings, writing: “Deeply disappointed, feeling wronged and angry, and mentally broken. Those are the only feelings I’ll take away from this week.”
Plaisier finished 41st in the ProTour standings for World Championship qualification, with only the top 40 players earning a direct place at the tournament. He also narrowly missed out in the Players Championship Order of Merit, finishing 65th – one place short of the Players Championship Finals, which invite the top 64 players.
The second half of his season was particularly difficult, with his diabetes playing a significant role. He had to change his lifestyle and lost a lot of weight, while results at the oche were also hard to come by as he suffered eight consecutive first-round defeats. Plaisier accepts that his exit at the final Players Championship event was deserved, but still feels aggrieved about his match the day before. “On Wednesday, I was 5-4 up in the second round after playing well. I missed five darts to win the match,” he recalled.
A disputed incident followed. Plaisier was on 12 but then scored 6 and 3 before busting his score. However, the scorer ruled that his foot was already over the oche when he threw his final dart. The dart did not count, leaving him on 3. “If that had been the case, I would have accepted it, but I’m certain it wasn’t,” Plaisier said. He added: “I know I should simply have taken out the finish before that, but it feels unfair.”
Despite the setback, Plaisier’s hopes of reaching the World Championship are not over. Later this month, he will have two more qualifying events in which to secure a place. First, he will compete in Friday’s Grand Slam of Darts qualifier, before turning his attention to the remaining World Championship qualifiers and, ultimately, Q-School, where he will try to regain his lost Tour Card. “I’ll do my best at Friday’s Grand Slam qualifier, then I have two more World Championship qualifiers coming up. After that, I’ll try to recharge for Q-School,” he said. Finally, he thanked everyone who has supported him over the past two years: “Thanks to everyone for your support over the past two years.”
