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Michael van Gerwen topped the Order of Merit after winning five of the eight ranked Speedy Services UK Open qualifiers, as fellow Premier League stars James Wade, Robert Thornton, Simon Whitlock and Raymond van Barneveld all booked their places at the Bolton tournament.

van Gerwen won the final event of the 2013 series on Sunday, when the field of qualifiers for June’s finals were confirmed.

As one of the top 32 in the final Order of Merit, ‘Mighty Mike’ gains automatic entry to the third round on Friday June 7 along with reigning champion Thornton, Whitlock, van Barneveld, Paul Nicholson and Mark Webster.

Andy Jenkins qualified for the second round on Thursday June 6 as he collected £1,800 in prize money and returned to the top 64 in the world rankings.

Joining ‘Rocky’ in round two are Co Stompe, John Henderson and Arron Monk, while Wade, Chris Aubrey, Vincent van der Voort and James Hubbard all also qualified for the tournament and will compete in the first round on the Thursday.

 

 

Robert Thornton secured a brilliant McCoy’s Premier League double in Birmingham, where Simon Whitlock defeated Michael van Gerwen on Thursday evening.

Thornton kept up the heat on the top four with victories against Andy Hamilton and Adrian Lewis at the NIA.

“It was an important couple of wins for me,” admitted the Scotsman, who faces Phil Taylor next week in Liverpool.

“I have slipped up a bit in the last couple of weeks but I’ve kept myself in it and I’m looking forward to the challenge of reaching the play-offs.

“I’ve had the better of Phil in our last few matches so if that continues then I’ve got a great chance of closing the gap.”

Whitlock was denied a double when he lost out to Taylor after seeing off league leader van Gerwen earlier in the evening.

Raymond van Barneveld came out on top in his match against James Wade, while Lewis lost to Taylor in the other match of the night.

By Chris Murphy

Image courtesy of Lawrence Lustig/PDC

Further match reports and reaction can be found on the players’ official websites:

www.jameswade.co.uk    www.simonwhiltock.tv    www.michaelvangerwen.tv    www.robertthornton.tv    www.barneyuk.tv

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