Новости Unicorn

Jouannet went into the last Grand Prix event in Sydney four points behind big rival Anthony Fleet – knowing if he achieved a better result, he would qualify for Purfleet.

But ‘China’ was beaten by Fleet in the semi-finals……and he claims the prized place at the World Championships. Jouannet, who has already appeared twice at the World Championships, can still return to Essex in December…..but he must now win next month’s Oceanic Masters tournament.

The race is hotting up for those six automatic spots in the 2007 Premier League. After a thrilling weekend in Wales, which saw Phil Taylor win both the PDPA Players Championship event and the UK Open Regional, it seems a dozen players can still win a place in the coveted top six.

The Unicorn duo of Taylor and Colin Lloyd are already guaranteed their spots – and although Ronnie Baxter remains in 3rd place in the latest rankings, ‘The Rocket’ is under threat because he is defending a lot of points between now and cut off point – after the SkyBet World Grand Prix at the end of October.

The big winners from the weekend in Newport are Dennis Priestley and Adrian Lewis. It has been a remarkable achievement for Priestley, who has been in blistering form over the last 18 months…..and Lewis’ run to the UK Open Welsh Regional Final has taken him up to No.8 in the rankings.

Peter Manley, Kevin Painter, Wayne Mardle, Roland Scholten appear to be the other contenders for top six places.

The biggest mover is Andy Hamilton. The Unicorn new boy reached the latter stages of both tournaments and he goes up from 28th to 22nd in the world. James Wade remains 16th but he’s closed the gap on the likes of Walsh, Dudbridge and Ovens.

In the latest Order of Merit money list – which of course takes over from world ranking points in 2007 – Team Unicorn holds five of the top six positions.

Latest World Rankings:

1..Colin Lloyd 564
2..Phil Taylor 533
3..Ronnie Baxter 447
4..Dennis Priestley 436
5..Peter Manley 426
6..Wayne Mardle 424
7..Roland Scholten 418
8..Adrian Lewis 416
9..Kevin Painter 412
10..Terry Jenkins 411
11..Andy Jenkins 405
12..Mark Dudbridge 397
13..Denis Ovens 390
14..Mark Walsh 381
15..Chris Mason 377
16..James Wade 356

Selected others:

17..John Part 325
22..Andy Hamilton 289
24..Wes Newton 286
25..Bob Anderson 285
42..Raymond Van Barneveld 158
46..Michael Barnard 148

Latest Order of Merit:

1..Phil Taylor - £253,663
2..Colin Lloyd - £94,160
3..Peter Manley - £84,299
4..Wayne Mardle - £60,085
5..John Part - £54,688
6..Adrian Lewis - £52,692
7..Dennis Priestley - £51,073
8..Raymond Van Barneveld - £50,885
9..Roland Scholten - £50,419
10..Ronnie Baxter - £48,790
11..Mark Walsh - £44,744
12..James Wade - £41,820
13..Kevin Painter - £40,230

20..Andy Hamilton - £31,456

BY STUART PYKE