Raymond van Barneveld will fail to qualify for the World Matchplay in his final season

The Dutch legend had been aiming to qualify for a farewell appearance on Blackpool's Winter Gardens stage during his final year on the PDC circuit but he still had plenty of ground to make up in the ProTour Order Of Merit to earn a spot.

With two Players Championship events and one European Tour event remaining before the cut-off, the world number 29 had no chance of getting into the top 16 of the main PDC Order of Merit while his hopes of climbing from 50th on the ProTour Order Of Merit into that top 16 were slim.

He has now withdrawn from the ProTour weekend due to "unforeseen circumstances", meaning that he can't now qualify for the the PDC's second longest-running tournament.

Van Barneveld had played in the event on 12 occasions since his debut in 2007, finishing runner-up to Phil Taylor in 2010 and also landing a nine-darter against Denis Ovens in that same year.

The Dutchman remains in a strong position to secure a final William Hill World Darts Championship appearance through the ProTour Order of Merit, having earned £20,000 so far in 2019.

The Betfred World Matchplay will be held from July 20-28 at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

Raymond van Barneveld roll of honour

PDC Televised Titles

• 2006, 2007 UK Open
• 2007 World Championship
• 2007 Las Vegas Desert Classic
• 2012 Grand Slam of Darts
• 2014 Premier League
• 2010, 2014, 2017, 2018 World Cup of Darts

Further Titles

• 1998, 1999, 2003, 2005 Lakeside Championship
• 2001, 2005 World Masters
• 1995, 2001, 2003, 2004 Zuiderduin Masters
• 2003, 2004 World Darts Trophy
• 2003, 2004, 2006 International Darts League
• 2007 Masters of Darts

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• 2019 Premier League darts results
• 2019 PDC event calendar & results
• 2018 PDC event calendar & results
• 2018 Premier League darts results
• Sky Bet's darts odds