New tour card holders so far

Ten events in, how are the new players doing?

Pretty straight forward table. The points per turn is through the first ten events of the season, similarly for the money won. I can't spell Zonneveld and I'm not going to correct it.

I don't think anyone would be particularly surprised to see Durrant and Hughes up there at the top of the tables - Durrant has obviously binked an event and finalled another, which is giving him a clear lead in terms of money won, Hughes and Razma being the only players in this list to hit the last 32 in the UK Open making sure that it's a huge gap. Bear in mind that Hughes missed the first two Pro Tours, so could easily have been a bit closer. If we then read down a bit, we get some surprising names here and there. Boulton I wouldn't have expected to be quite so high up, but he did have a very good run last time out and has won another board elsewhere, he'll have a shot at adding some decent cash in Europe next weekend. The two Baltic lads follow next, Labanauskas throwing good stuff but not really translating it into money - he's not had any brutal draws, just running into players doing alright on the day. Rowby and McGeeney you would expect to see there, but Gavin Carlin's had a very good start, while Ward and Baker have a good combination of scoring and money in the bank. Clark, Bunse and Pallett can consider themselves a little unfortunate not to have had a better return so far, at least Dave has a Euro Tour next month to add.

At the other end, god knows what is up with Michael Barnard. he doesn't even have any future European qualification to fall back on. Robinson did alright in the UK Open hence the money, then we've got a couple of veterans who got through on the Q-School points table who may end up making up the numbers. van Duivenbode and Zonneveld haven't been able to cash, maybe it's getting used to senior match play.

Probably going to have a look at the tour card race later in the week, and project who might be in real trouble of losing their card after 2019 is done.

van Gerwen wins again

Quick one this, van Gerwen defeated Rob Cross to claim the first title, very decent evening session which I'd recommend digging up on whatever source you have - van Gerwen earlier hit a nine darter with a cheeky T19-bull-D20 147 out against Suljovic in the semi final, Peter Wright being the other semi finalist. Quarter finals were full of mostly the usual suspects plus Justin Pipe, the bets didn't do great as neither of my picks won a leg (Wattimena against van Gerwen we expect that to be within range, Dimitri against Gurney, maybe not so much, oh well). Still a creditable 0.6 unit return on 3.6 invested for around what we're making so far this season, so I'll take it (plus personally I had Cross each way for the title). You also need to check out the final leg of the van Gerwen/Wattimena game, if only for the weirdest Robin Hood I've ever seen (you'll see why when you see it).

New FRH rankings:

1 Michael van Gerwen
2 Rob Cross
3 Gary Anderson
4 Michael Smith
5 Gerwyn Price
6 Daryl Gurney
7 Peter Wright
8 James Wade
9 Nathan Aspinall
10 Mensur Suljovic
11 Dave Chisnall (UP 1)
12 Simon Whitlock (DOWN 1)
13 Ian White
14 Jonny Clayton
15 Adrian Lewis
16 Darren Webster
17 Joe Cullen
18 Stephen Bunting
19 Mervyn King
20 Steve West

That's all the changes, Chizzy didn't need to do a great deal to overcome a greatly deteriorating Simon Whitlock, Suljovic was close to overtaking Aspinall but couldn't quite get there, while Price and Gurney are separated by less than a Pro Tour final. Wade isn't too far off Wright but Peter was able to pad the difference a little bit. Not really much happening given that all the cake went to the top, Pipe's in a small bubble so didn't actually climb at all but just solidified a top 60 position, similar with Ross Smith. Wattimena is now within a thousand points of West and it is surely just a matter of time before he's back in the top 20.

More sometime next week with the aforementioned early new tour card holders report, before we continue with more European Tour action next weekend.

Leverkusen last 16

We're coming into the bizarre situation where the afternoon session matches are worth two grand to whoever wins them, but then if you win the first match of the evening session, that's only an extra 1500 quid? If you've got an extra five grand to allocate, why not give the last 16 losers an extra 250 each (3k to 3250), the quarter finalists an extra 500 each (4k to 4500) and then the semi finalists an extra 500 each as well (6k to 6500)? It's a smoother increase that goes up each round by either the same or a larger amount. Oh well, they did something equally silly in the UK Open qualifiers (there I think the prizes per round went 250 - 1000 - 1500).

Most seeds got through safely, Ian White was the biggest casualty in terms of seeding (but we thought that might happen), Michael Smith the biggest in terms of FRH rankings (and we definitely thought that might happen, what a game from Ratajski), while Lewis and Whitlock were the only others - Dimitri's good, so not unexpected, and Whitlock's no longer good, so also not unexpected. What have we got today?

van Gerwen/Wattimena - We're denied the first PDC v BDO champion matchup, which we've been waiting for since 2014 if ochepedia's right - Jermaine came from behind to edge Durrant in a decider, while van Gerwen easily dealt with a way below par Mervyn King. This match between two players who could well be national team partners in a few months could be closer than the market suggests - 0.1u Wattimena 6/1, it's surely just a matter of time before Jermaine finally breaks through and beats a big name in one of these, could it be today? I'm seeing this as 66/34 on 2019 form, such is how Jermaine's playing and how Michael isn't his other worldly best. Over the last twelve months it's a lot closer to the line but Jermaine would be at 18% which is still fine to bet.

Ratajski/Price - Krzysztof put in a great display to beat Michael Smith, but oddly had to survive match darts to do so after running up a big lead, it's a great game, go and check it out if you can. Price easily put away Taylor, a bit swingy early but he closed it out well enough. Price ought to be about a 2/1 favourite on current form, maybe not so much on the last twelve months where it's roughly 60/40, maybe a bit closer, the line's about at the last twelve months level. If you don't think Ratajski maintains that form from yesterday, take the 4/6 on Price.

Suljovic/Cullen - Mensur got through a surprisingly decent and close match with Dennant, while Cullen blew away van der Voort in easily his best match of the season. Are we seeing another year of Joe ripping up the European Tour? As far as bets go I won't be bothering, twelve month sample looks about 65/35 in favour of Suljovic, which is roughly where the line is, on 2019 form it's more 70/30, but with Mensur barely better than 1/2 in the market I can pass this, particularly if yesterday was a warning sign that Cullen will repeat the situational trends he had in 2018.

Wade/Chisnall - Potential good one this, both got through with good showings against Plaisier and Evetts respectively, they've met twice on the floor already this year and Chisnall's won both of them. Bit of a differential in form guide - twelve months worth of data reckons 60/40 Chizzy, but in 2019 it thinks it's a coinflip. The bookies can't separate the two, I won't bet it, it seems counterintuitive that Chisnall's won two events this year but he only becomes favoured when you look at all the data I have. Then again Wade has picked it up massively in the last six months.

Pipe/Webster - Justin took out Ian White coming from 5-3 down to reach the last sixteen, nothing spectacular but solid throughout, Webster took down Jirkal but Pavel didn't really show up here. There's a huge disparity in stats here. Over the last twelve months, Darren is strongly favoured - 70/30 in fact, but in 2019 where he's struggled a bit and Pipe's shown some occasional signs of getting his game together, they can't be split. Line's 11/8 Pipe, could be sneaky value if you're unconvinced with Darren.

Cross/Clayton - Rob had no trouble opening up a big lead on Beaton and seeing it out, Clayton meanwhile was in a bit of a scrappy game with Adam Hunt but was similarly able to get an early lead and hold after getting a fourth leg break. I think there's almost value on Clayton, he's available at 12/5, the projections I have on 2019 form see him having a one in three shot, actually going up 5% over the last twelve months, but I think this could be one where the stats are deceptive, as Clayton has a fairly large differential in winning and losing points per turn compared to Cross, so I'll leave this one alone.

van den Bergh/Gurney - Dimitri took out Lewis in a game featuring a weird incident where nobody seemed to know what was going on, Gurney beat de Zwaan in a game with a comedy opening leg but got better and he pulled away from 2-2 to win 6-2. The market has this fairly close with Dimitri being slightly odds against. Not sure why really, Dimitri had a fantastic game with Adie where he broke Lewis three times in four visits, Gurney was merely OK, on 2019 stats I've got Dimitri over 60% to win and it's still 55/45 over a twelve month sample. 0.25u van den Bergh 5/4.

Wright/Smith - Both players did exactly what I thought they would against Huybrechts and Whitlock respectively, their speed to win legs was the same in their games, it's just Ross lost more legs with a bit of a lower average in them. Wright's 1/3 in the market, which I think is being a bit unfair on Ross, but it's not one of those where it's enough to bet Ross at 3/1, I'm only seeing 29% chances on 2019 form, which rises slightly over a twelve month span but not to the point where he's got a one in three shout. If you want to fire on Ross I certainly wouldn't blame you.

Leverkusen day 2 bets, brief day 1 summary

I think most things went as expected yesterday. Was a bit surprised to see Razma throw that game away, although to be fair Dennant played well, Kim Huybrechts is a very lucky boy, nobody really stood out as putting in a great performance - Adam Hunt maybe? A lot of the new players and those returning for a while didn't really do it, maybe it's nerves and we'll give them a pass. A couple of things I picked up on:

Note Dimitri's fourth visit here. I think a lot, lot more players should do this when needing 68 with two darts remaining - go just about as far towards the double as you think you can safely go without going out of the board. If you hit it, great, you're on double 16, which is a much nicer breakdown at least than double 7, you can't say that it's a nicer double as they're right next to each other. That he did this with Edhouse not on a finish is bizarre, but we'll leave that. Also this:

I love love love Barney going 25 on the first dart here. Recognising that Beaton isn't on a finish that he's guaranteed to get, he takes the route that gets him down to tops if he just hits singles - if he went something like 20-17-10 he'd still need to waste a dart next visit if he returns to be on a double. Of course, he went out anyway, but at least the thinking is right.

So today, what have we got?

Webster/Jirkal - Pavel didn't need to do much at all against a pretty disappointing Borland, this isn't a bad draw but I think Darren, even though he's not started that well this year, should be strong enough. This is one of three games that isn't listed on oddschecker for some reason so I'm just checking bet365, Webster's 2/7 which is probably about right.

Wade/Plaisier - James is huge odds on here, this seems fine, neither Plaisier or Artut played well and only one leg was finished in fifteen darts, and it wasn't by Plaisier. At shorter than 1/8, just put it as a banker and move on.

White/Pipe - Justin came through Ryan Meikle in an OK game yesterday, he's playing well enough that he's not a complete outsider, but there's no bet - Ian's started off the floor season well, he's 2/5 and I'm reading it as 70/30 so next game please.

Price/Taylor - Also oddly not on oddschecker. Price is around 2/9, I don't think there's value there, Scott's not a complete bunny but a lot of the legs he's won both yesterday and at the UK Open were fairly slow, which Price will jump all over.

Chisnall/Evetts - Probably the first interesting game, Ted got past Atkins but it wasn't a pretty game, I'm seeing this as identical to the White game in how it might play out - Evetts not completely dead and having around a 30% shot, so the line looks right.

Clayton/Hunt - Not a bad performance from Adam yesterday at all, all but one leg in fifteen darts, 6/7 on doubles as well is nice. Clayton should be a step up in class from van Trijp who did fine really, it's nearly close to Hunt value though, I'm seeing his win chances at 38% on 2019 form, 36% over the past twelve months - we're seeing 7/4, which I don't think is quite enough, although if you watched his game and think he's on his game, then don't let me stop you punting.

Smith/Ratajski - First of two intriguing games to end the session, Krzysztof got into a little bit of a pickle against Edgar, needing a deciding leg, and will clearly need to play better here. We're seeing 9/5 as the price on the Pole - on 2019 form he's just short of 43% to take this. Over the last twelve months he's at 36% which is a lot closer to the line. I'm not up to date as to whether there is still any lingering issue with Smith and his leg, but if there is that's only a bonus, the average in the Premier League on Thursday tips the balance for me - 0.25u Ratajski 9/5.

Gurney/de Zwaan - Jeffrey came through Josh Payne with ease, but wasn't spectacular, similar to all of 2019 really. 2019 stats see this as a flip with Daryl having the tiniest of edges - to show how far Jeffrey's off the pace, over the last twelve months I'm seeing it 60/40 in favour of de Zwaan. Jeffrey's 5/4 and I can pass this, 2019 form says this looks right, and Daryl's right off the back of the biggest confidence boosting performance you can get.

Lewis/van den Bergh - Evening session now, and a real tasty one to start which the bookies can't split, Adie just being favoured at 5/6 compared to 11/10 for the Belgian. Dimitri was alright yesterday against Edhouse who was a touch disappointing. Full twelve month stats say this is a flip, 2019 stats reckon stab at Dimitri, seeing him as a favourite in the high 50's percentage wise. I'll pass though - Adie's got to be hugely confident following winning a title, and there is a heck of a lot of variance in Dimitri's stats, his winning average is nine points higher than his losing average, which is enormous (Lewis is at four and as such, despite being behind in winning average which is giving Dimitri the edge on projections, on overall points per turn Lewis is a point ahead). Let's just enjoy this one.

Wattimena/Durrant - I talked about this one a bit in the preview, Glen's got here comfortably enough despite Rosenauer putting up a fair bit of a fight to start to pull it back. Glen's around the odds I thought it would be, a best price of 4/7 with a mid-60's win percentage projection doesn't interest me.

Cullen/van der Voort - Vincent was safe enough in seeing off Wayne Jones 6-2, continuing a run of good form with a fine performance, Jones only really threatening in one leg where he left 16 after nine darts. Cullen is somehow the favourite - he was good in Europe last year, sure, but this is a fresh start, over twelve months I've got Vincent at just over 60% to win, and he gets a couple of points higher on 2019 stats. 0.25u van der Voort 13/10.

van Gerwen/King - Quick one to analyse this, 0.1u King 13/2, over a short race King should claim this one time in four. Sure there's a possibility that van Gerwen decides to avenge his UK Open loss to King and steamrollers him, but this is a huge price where King has a win over a longer distance this month. Mervyn's going to have to play a lot better than yesterday though.

Cross/Beaton - Steve got past van Barneveld in a fairly close one where Raymond had his chances, I can't see Steve repeating this though. He's just longer than 3/1 and on 2019 data Cross should win about three in four. Move on...

Suljovic/Dennant - No real data on Dennant to project, he did OK yesterday and might not be completely dead, but Suljovic ought to be too strong. Mensur at 1/4 or there abouts feels right.

Whitlock/Smith - Whitlock is the favourite? Really? On 2019 form I'm seeing this as 65/35 in favour of Smudger. 0.25u Smith 6/5.

Wright/Huybrechts - 0.5u Wright 2/5, this is all about recent form. Over the last twelve months this looks about right, but in 2019 I'm seeing Snakebite up above 80% on chances to win. Peter's been playing great in 2019 as was highlighted in the season so far post earlier in the week, and this price looks tempting against someone who gave up seven match darts to a relatively unknown German qualifier.

Hopefully something to take your fancy there. Back probably tomorrow morning with last 16 info.

Leverkusen round 1 bets

One thing that is an improvement this year is that the qualifiers the day before are on Dart Connect, so I can get a bit more of a read on random players (which should pop up a lot more this season, at least on the evidence of yesterday). Sadly, they still seem to be using the awful dartsdata/sportradar service for the main event, which seems to think Rob Cross and Gerwyn Price called in sick yesterday, so we can't have that many nice things it seems.

Pipe/Meikle - I'm seeing this fairly close, but with Pipe having a bit of an edge in 2019, full sample it's a straight coin flip, 11/10 is tempting but it's not quite enough.

Jirkal/Borland - Who knows. Borland 6-1'ed Lennon to make it with a decent average, we don't know what Jirkal did in his qualifier but he wasn't overly hot at Q-School on the averages. Could end up missing obvious Borland value but too unknown really.

Dennant/Razma - 0.25u Razma 4/6, Dennant's done little to suggest Madars doesn't win this 60% of the time.

Herz/Taylor - Taylor ought to be very safe given Herz's 70's to low 80's averaging in the qualifier, but he's 1/5, so no.

Smith/Williams - 0.5u Smith 2/7, this is a bit more of a safer proposition, Ross has been good for some time now and the 80-something Ricky was averaging in the challenge tour really shouldn't threaten.

Hunt/van Trijp - Similar line, but 0.1u van Trijp 3/1, Danny was, final round aside, scoring decently in the qualifier to the point where winning one in four doesn't seem a ridiculous option.

Evetts/Atkins - Nothing here. Atkins' scoring in the Challenge Tour was alright, line's about 70/30 Ted so I think Evetts has enough form that the line seems fair.

Plaisier/Artut - 0.25u Plaisier 21/20, this is purely based on Wesley averaging consistently more than Jyhan did in their respective qualifiers.

Edgar/Ratajski - Into the evening session, 0.5u Ratajski 4/11, the Pole's at 80% year long and 90% in 2019 on projections, love Edgar TV but I think it might be cancelled after one episode this season.

de Zwaan/Payne - No bet, if de Zwaan was showing whole year form lumping on him at slightly odds on would be automatic but 2019 they're showing opposite ends of their form guide to the point where I see no advantage to betting on Jeffrey.

Huybrechts/Kurz - Kim's strongly odds on, Nico didn't show anything in the qualifier (mid-80's plodding the last three games, mid-70's nail fest in the first couple) to make me think it's wrong.

Wilson/King - Mervyn's shorter than 1/3, this should be safe for an accumulator I'd think, but Jason's doing just enough on the Challenge Tour that I don't think this is completely automatic.

Rosenauer/Durrant - There's a rogue 2/13 on Glen on Sportingbet. If you don't think that gets palped, go with it, but it probably does, everywhere else Glen's unbackable.

Edhouse/van den Bergh - 0.25u van den Bergh 1/2, he's tracking at a nearer 1/3 clip in 2019, and that's on the floor. Ritchie's playing well but this seems a real bad draw.

Beaton/van Barneveld - Market's remarkably close. I think it should be the other way around, but maybe Barney's got just enough confidence in the last week that he'll outperform his stats. Beaton did blob both Pro Tours at the weekend to be fair.

Jones/van der Voort - 2/1 line looks just about perfect on a full year sample. It oddly might be a bit closer on 2019 stats, but that seems counter intuitive so I'll avoid the game.

Leverkusen preview

I think I'll put off doing a look at how the new tour card holders are doing until after this event, 10 events played rather than nine seems a much nicer number. Draw is out, they're just going through the Euro associate and home nation qualifier now, the former's nearly done while the latter's still three rounds away from finished.

Top quarter:
Michael van Gerwen v Jason Wilson/Mervyn King
Jermaine Wattimena v Glen Durrant/HNQ2
Michael Smith v Matt Edgar/Krzysztof Ratajski
Gerwyn Price v Scott Taylor/HNQ1

Oh boy, is this section (and the half as a whole, but we'll come on to that later. van Gerwen's got a rematch against King from the UK Open, which should happen, Wilson wasn't bad in 2016 but has been off the radar since then and was merely alright on the Challenge Tour in the first weekend. Wattimena's a tricky last 16 opponent if it goes with seedings, but Jermaine's got one of the toughest potential draws in Glen Durrant, who should have way too much class for any of the home nation qualifiers, and probably be near a 2-1 favourite in the Saturday game. Then the two other seeds in this section also occupy positions in the top five of the FRH rankings. Michael Smith's got a tricky tie against whoever comes through from Edgar or Ratajski, really can't see Krzysztof losing that on current form and it's close to evens between Smith and Ratajski if we see that match up. Gerwyn Price however should be fine, Scott Taylor had a good run at the UK Open and ought to be solid enough to get through the opening round, but while he cashed as a qualifier, he didn't do anything that makes me think he'd threaten Price in current form.

Second quarter:
Mensur Suljovic v Matthew Dennant/Madars Razma
Joe Cullen v Wayne Jones/Vincent van der Voort
James Wade v EQ1/HNQ4
Dave Chisnall v Ted Evetts/Martin Atkins (Leeds)

It doesn't get any easier here. Suljovic has been perfectly fine when he has played, but Razma's had an excellent start to the year with a points per turn score nearing 90, so should take out Dennant with ease given Matt's 2019 form, and maybe threaten the Austrian. Joe Cullen could have problems here, his floor form has been anywhere from mediocre to awful and is a good couple of points per turn behind van der Voort, who's off the back of two quarters in one weekend and ought to be playing well enough to handle the Wolverhampton native in the opening round. We have no idea who Wade'll be playing but I can't see anybody from the qualifier troubling him, then we've got Dave Chisnall, already with two titles this year, against either Ted Evetts, who can be extremely dangerous on his day, or the Yorkshire strain of Martin Atkins, who's at the other end of his career on the first half of two straight European Tour appearances. Would think Evetts should get through it though.

Third quarter:
Ian White v Justin Pipe/Ryan Meikle
Darren Webster v Pavel Jirkal/William Borland
Rob Cross v Steve Beaton/Raymond van Barneveld
Jonny Clayton v Adam Hunt/EQ2

A real mixed bag of games. Ian White's started the season just fine, but has a dangerous opponent whoever he plays - Pipe's not been at the races for a while, but last weekend he threw some great darts in two defeats, while Meikle's very recently claimed a Development Tour title. The next games may not be that great, Webster's had a poor start to 2019 in terms of results and is barely scoring 90 a turn, while his opponent is a wildcard whoever he faces - Jirkal's from the Czech Republic and could be any standard really, while Borland's a young Scot who qualified from nowhere really, making two Development Tour quarters on the Sunday in the first weekend. Next game is world championtastic, Rob Cross facing either Steve Beaton, who's qualified for every Euro Tour possible so far, or Raymond van Barneveld, who had his best result in ages last Sunday in reaching a tour final. Cross should easily handle either, but the first round game is too close to call. Finally we've got Jonny Clayton, in and around the top 20 for scoring this season, against either Adam Hunt, who's been doing alright but has been a bit hit and miss in 2019, or an associate qualifier, would think Clayton ought to advance from this one.

Fourth quarter:
Adrian Lewis v Ritchie Edhouse/Dimitri van den Bergh
Daryl Gurney v Jeffrey de Zwaan/Josh Payne
Peter Wright v Kim Huybrechts/HNQ3
Simon Whitlock v Ross Smith/Ricky Williams

Some good ones here. Adrian Lewis is back in the winners circle for the first time in a long time, but will need to be on his game whoever he plays, Edhouse has started like a train on the Challenge Tour and is only a couple of points behind Adie on scoring, while Dimitri's in the middle of the two, having a bit of a disparity between winning and losing average. Gurney's the potential seed Adie would play in the last sixteen, but will also have a tough ask - Payne has started out very well this season, being only half a point behind Gurney on scoring, while de Zwaan's ability isn't to be questioned, even if he has had a slow start to 2019. Peter Wright will face Kim Huybrechts if the Belgian is able to get past a domestic qualifier, Wright showing a top five game so far this year which he's been showing in the Premier League as well to occupy a playoff place as things stand, Kim's game still appears to be a fair chunk off his best to the point where on 2019 form it's around an 80/20 shot. Finally we have a good opportunity for Ross Smith - Ricky Williams didn't get close to a tour card and took a huge chunk of 2018 off by the looks of things, and Simon Whitlock's form in 2019 has been well documented, he may not be favourite in the market based off name value if he gets through Williams, but Smith projects 65/35 against Whitlock on 2019 form. If he gets to Sunday, who knows from there?

I don't know if the Dart Connect draw order coincides with the numbering of who goes where, but it looks like in the Euro qualifier we'll get one from Wesley Plaisier, Jimmy Hendriks and Danny van Klompenburg getting through, then one from Danny van Trijp, Paulo Ferreira and Michael Rasztovits making it. I don't think it's the ex-Chelsea player. In the German qualifier, they're only just reaching the last 32 on some boards with the winners of quarters making it so it's a bit too much to go through everyone. Bets to follow later.

The season so far

Let's have a quick look at who, out of all tour card holders, are in the top 16 and bottom 16 of points per turn, also listing leg won/loss record and money won after eight Players Championship events and the UK Open:

1 Gerwyn Price (96.46, 254-156, 48.5k)
2 Michael van Gerwen (96.38, 142-82, 25.75k)
3 Peter Wright (95.33, 111-94, 8.75k)
4 Rob Cross (95.22, 197-135, 50k)
5 Michael Smith (95.21, 135-94, 25.25k)
6 Ian White (95.13, 164-115, 16k)
7 Krzysztof Ratajski (94.60, 139-107, 14.5k)
8 Glen Durrant (94.37, 169-128, 21k)
9 Kyle Anderson (94.10, 121-96, 10.25k)
10 Jamie Hughes (94.07, 103-79, 7.5k)
11 Max Hopp (93.96, 86-68, 8k)
12 Mensur Suljovic (93.77, 80-62, 8k)
13 James Wade (93.64, 146-104, 15.5k)
14 Dave Chisnall (92.71, 206-140, 33k)
15 Chris Dobey (92.31, 135-106, 10k)
16 Daryl Gurney (91.84, 139-98, 14.5k)

I was going to include a minimum legs played qualifier to exclude Anderson on sample size, but he's not there anyway, just outside in 17th. Aspinall is 18th. Now for our bottom 16:

1 Michael Barnard (76.82, 16-54, 0k)
2 Gary Eastwood (78.47, 23-62, 1k)
3 Kevin Burness (79.41, 21-54, 0k)
4 Tony Newell (81.83, 30-54, 0k)
5 Reece Robinson (82.26, 67-77, 3.5k)
6 Barrie Bates (82.31, 50-65, 2k)
7 Eddie Dootson (82.38, 52-71, 2.5k)
8 Terry Temple (82.74, 23-57, 0.5k)
9 Adrian Gray (83.03, 42-68, 1.5k)
9 Ryan Harrington (83.78, 28-48, 1k)
10 Mike van Duivenbode (84.23, 35-54, 0k)
11 George Killington (84.52, 20-45, 1k)
12 Alan Norris (84.84, 46-72, 3.5k)
13 Dawson Murschell (85.23, 24-58, 0.5k)
14 Nathan Derry (85.29, 62-77, 3k)
15 Pete Hudson (85.46, 57-78, 4k)
16 Ronny Huybrechts (85.49, 58-66, 3.5k)

Richard North's worryingly just outside, Mickey Mansell is one place higher, then there's a group of quite a few new tour card holders. It's a tough school.