GIAN!

Had very bad night's sleep on Friday so wasn't able to get the data entered in time for the last sixteen (and as a consequence, later rounds), but doubt anything of much value was lost. I guess maybe it would have thrown up Aspinall to lose again? Who knows. In any case, it's a huge result for Gian to jump up to number six in the FRH rankings, right into the middle of a cluster between third and seventh with less than a PC win between them all. Although, with that being said, with only Bunting and Wade actually playing this week, van Veen will have to wait to get the Dutch #1 spot, with van Gerwen only being in that group on account of his semi final. Noppert moved up to 8th with his semi but is some way behind that pack. Joyce and Gurney gained a couple of spots, while Pietreczko (who had a Pietreczko > Littler last longer) jumps back into the top 32 and could go a bit higher with Cullen just a few hundred points away. I'll put a full update in after the last PC.

Bellmont claimed the Challenge Tour in other things that happened this weekend, so that'll get him onto the tour, which is a welcome addition, but unlike some other CT winners it does feel like maybe a bit of a wasted Grand Slam spot, Stefan's fine but doesn't really seem like a top 64 level player or someone that'd jump out as someone who'd retain his card for sure. In terms of Slam spots, there's now confirmed as two spots for Pro Tour wins, at the moment it's Dobey and Heta, but Smith (Ross), Searle and Cullen all have two wins as well and can force themselves in, while there's another eight that'll have a chance if they bink back to back this week. More interesting is the race to get into the worlds - Bates appears the last man in who could do with staying in for additional Dev Tour spots, quite a few interesting players just outside as of right now but there is more than a first round win gap between Bates in 40th and Hunt in 41st so I guess for those looking to break in, the hope is that 35th to 40th are all separated by less than a grand, so what are the chances that none of them go 0-2 this week and give someone a chance? You can drop down to 49th and still have someone that can get above with a semi final run ot s couple of board wins - if that for some of them. I may do a bit more of a deeper dive on Wednesday when a lot of the permutations have been sorted. It's not as if I don't have the time.

As an aside, looking back at the next new winners post from February (it was either just before or after the UK Open, I think before). How bad was that list?