European Championship race: Chisnall, Bunting and Reyes on the bubble as Basel decides who makes Dortmund

[Craig95]

The Swiss Darts Trophy matters for more than prize money this weekend, Darts World explains. It is the second to last European Tour event of the year, and the top 32 on the European Tour ranking qualify for the European Championship. That event runs from 22 to 25 October at the Westfalenhallen in Dortmund, live on ITV4. For players near the cut off line, every win in Basel counts

Ross Smith has been the dominant force on the European Tour this year with two titles. Wessel Nijman is second on the ranking. Both are comfortably through. The interest is further down the list

Several well known names are on the bubble. Dave Chisnall is 30th, Stephen Bunting is 31st and Spanish number one Cristo Reyes holds the final qualifying place in 32nd. Joe Cullen is 33rd and Sebastian Bialecki is 34th, just outside. Kim Huybrechts is 28th but did not qualify for Basel, so others can catch him

Friday's results already shifted things. Chisnall survived against Alan Soutar and Reyes beat Cameron Menzies, so both picked up valuable money. Cullen lost to Tom Bissell and Bialecki lost to Karel Sedlacek, which is a blow to both. Gary Anderson has withdrawn from Basel, so he cannot add to his total this weekend

Missing the European Championship would be a big loss for any of these players. It is a televised major with a big prize fund and ranking money. Bunting missing out would be especially surprising given he is the defending Swiss Darts Trophy champion. The final European Tour event will settle it, but a good weekend in Basel could make it much easier

Who do you think sneaks into the last few spots? And does the European Tour ranking system work well for deciding the field?

Chasing Pack Pursue European Championship Berths | Darts World Magazinedartsworld.com

[Sentinel54]

Ranking systems like this are fair enough, but it rewards players who enter lots of events. Players who skip European Tour weekends for rest or family suffer. That is their choice, of course. But it means the field is not always the best 32 players. Rewarding participation is part of how the tour works, to be fair

[Metropolis65]

Chisnall and Reyes both winning on Friday helps them a lot. Cullen and Bialecki losing makes their job much harder. I think the current top 32 mostly holds now

Bunting just needs one or two wins this weekend. The last event will still bring drama for the borderline names