Cancellation at World Series of Darts Finals has major consequences for Michael van Gerwen

There has been another change to the World Series of Darts Finals lineup with Asian talents Lourence Ilagan & Alexis Toylo having forced to withdraw due to Visa issues. In turn, they have been replaced by Daryl Gurney & Maik Kuivenhoven in the event that will take place in Amsterdam from September 17-20.

The two Filipino darters competed earlier in the year at the Bahrain Darts Masters and inaugural Saudi Darts Masters. Ilagan lost out twice to Nathan Aspinall while Toylo also failed to prevail against Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price.

Nevertheless, they still earned their spots in the World Series of Darts Finals, but their participation has now been scuppered and a golden opportunity to once again play against some of the best players in the world abolished due to events out of their hands.

The duo did not receive a decision for their Schengen Visa application before being required to travel to China for the final PDC Asian Tour weekend and Monday’s PDC Asian Championship. This has caused them to withdraw from the major event in the Netherlands.

As per PDC Rule 3.7, the fortunate darters to take their spots are Gurney and Kuivenhoven thanks to them being the highest-ranked players on the Reserve List following last month’s Tour Card Holder Qualifier.

The Northern Irishman reached the semi-finals back in 2017 but has only been involved in one edition between 2021 and 2025, coming in a quarter-final showing in 2024. He will participate for the seventh time with van Gerwen his opening test.

As for Kuivenhoven, it is a brilliant chance to play in front of a home crowd on the big stage and a chance to make a real impression, although there is no ranking money set to be earned from this. He debuted in 2021, culminating in the second round at the hands of van Gerwen. He will take Toylo's spot, which pitches him against the champion of the only year that he competed in, being Jonny Clayton.

World number one Luke Littler will lead the field as he looks to reclaim his title after losing in the final last year against van Gerwen. Luke Humphries and Gian van Veen will also challenge for the accolades on offer with former champions Gerwyn Price, James Wade and Clayton set to feature.