ANALYSIS: Big trouble for Jose de Sousa, Italy, Denmark and New Zealand also risk losing their only PDC Tour Card holder

There are thirteen countries that have two or more players with a PDC Tour Card this year. In addition, there are several countries that have one PDC Tour Card holder each. Earlier, we discussed Australia. Today, we take a quick look at the situation of the other countries - which include Portugal, Italy and New Zealand - to see how they are doing a little over halfway through the year.

We start with Portugal. That country has had a PDC Tour Card holder with Jose de Sousa since 2019. De Sousa then made history, as he was - and still is, by the way - the only Portuguese to ever capture a PDC Tour Card.

De Sousa made his mark almost immediately, winning two Players Championships that same year. A year later he added a European Tour title, among others. De Sousa really came into his own at the Grand Slam of Darts 2020. In coving time, i.e. behind closed doors, De Sousa defeated James Wade 16-12 in the final. Good for his first and, as it would later turn out, only major title of his career.

A year later, however, De Sousa was close to a second major title. However, in the final of the Premier League Darts he was up against Jonny Clayton, who won 11-5. Meanwhile, De Sousa had worked his way up to the top 10 of the world rankings, only at the World Cup of Darts it didn't exactly go smoothly as no Portuguese could be found to match the level.

De Sousa was quickly nicknamed "The Special One," and not unjustly so. Because of his weak math skills, he had to go through the strangest finishing routes to finish a leg. Moreover, he was also not afraid to sell some show, for example, he went for three tops on a 120-finish and a 150-finish was once thrown out with three bullseyes.

In recent years, however, De Sousa suffered a serious crisis of form and dropped further and further down the world rankings. For example, he is currently ranked 55th, but in the provisional world rankings at the end of this season - which take into account the prize money lost and start money counted for the first round of a major for which the player is qualified - he is only 86. The 51-year-old Portuguese, therefore, has an extraordinary amount of work ahead of him in the coming months if Portugal is not to lose its only PDC Tour Card holder next year.

Where De Sousa made history for Portugal in 2019, Michele Turetta did so for Italy in 2024 by becoming the first player from his country to capture a PDC Tour Card. That same year, he reached the quarter-finals at the World Cup of Darts alongside Massimo Dalla Rosa.

However, Turetta never managed to impress on the Pro Tour over the past year and a half. He is currently ranked only 109th in the world rankings. Provisionally, the situation looks even more dire with 119th place at the end of this year. It will take a miracle for Turetta, who has not yet qualified for any major this fall, to secure his PDC Tour Card for next year. Italy, like Portugal, risks being without a PDC Tour Card holder next year.

Then we end up with New Zealand and Haupai Puha. He earned his PDC Tour Card early last year, but has not had much fun doing so. The 40-year-old New Zealander, nicknamed "Hopes," currently dangles in 94th place in the world rankings.

Provisionally, Puha is even a bit lower at 102nd place. He too is tentatively unseeded for any major this fall and, without a miracle, will lose his PDC Tour Card at the end of the year.

There is also little good news to tell about our next PDC Tour Card holder. Thibault Tricole became the second Frenchman ever to capture a PDC Tour Card early last year. Whereas Jacques Labre, who was the first Frenchman to accomplish that, has since disappeared from the scene, Tricole is well on his way to securing his PDC Tour Card for next year.

Tricole, a former WDF World Championship finalist, is very regular and is currently 54th in the world rankings. Real peaks are currently missing, but even provisionally 'The French Touch' is in the same place and a lot has to happen for his PDC Tour Card to be in danger this year.

Madars Razma should hardly be introduced anymore, the 36-year-old Latvian is still the only player from his country to ever capture a PDC Tour Card and has been hovering between 30th and 60th in the world rankings for a while now. Currently ranked 46th, Razma can now already sleep on the fact that he will still be active on the Pro Tour next year.

Razma, like Tricole, is not the man of outliers, but performs very consistently. 'Razmatazz' is also a rather slow player, whom no one really likes to play against.

Who in all likelihood we are not going to see back on the Pro Tour next year is Benjamin Reus. The 26-year-old Dane captured his PDC Tour Card early last year, but since then failed to submit any appealing results.

Reus is currently 93rd in the world rankings, provisionally even only 100th. Moreover, he is not yet seeded for any major this fall. As such, he seems to be facing a hopeless task in securing that coveted PDC Tour Card after all.

Then, finally, we have Croatian Pero Ljubic, Dutch Norwegian Cor Dekker and Czech Karel Sedlacek. They are only in the first year of their PDC Tour Card, so they still have some time to climb into the top 64 of the world rankings by the end of next year. Ljubic in particular has not had an easy time in his debut year, winning his first match on the Pro Tour only after 15 consecutive defeats. He is currently ranked 145th in the world rankings.

Dekker is one place higher in 144th place. By contrast, Sedlacek, who lost his PDC Tour Card late last year but immediately recaptured it at Q-School, is doing a lot better. He has now climbed to 80th place and is well on his way to climbing up to that coveted top 64.