Field Austrian Darts Open 2025: Michael van Gerwen, Luke Littler, Luke Humphries all skip European Tour

Monday, 31 March 2025 at 09:59

A bummer for Austrian fans, as no fewer than five (former) world champions have not registered for the Austrian Darts Open. The complete top four of the world rankings are missing from the Euro Tour tournament in Premstätten, which will take place from Friday, April 25 to Sunday, April 27.

Luke Littler will not attempt to defend his title in Austria after winning his second Euro Tour title there last year. Besides Littler, Michael van Gerwen, Luke Humphries, Rob Cross and two-time world champion Gary Anderson are also missing.

The Austrian Darts Open is considered one of the most difficult tournaments to get there by transportation. It is virtually impossible for English players to get to Premstätten without a stopover. It seems to be the main reason for the top players not to participate in the Austrian Darts Open, and instead play some exhibition events.

Due to the absence of the aforementioned names, Jonny Clayton leads the seeds. 'The Ferret' himself has had successes in Austria, as he managed to win the Austrian Darts Open in 2018 and 2023.

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The top-16 players in the world rankings, supplemented by advancing players, will enter the tournament from the second round. In addition to Clayton, Stephen Bunting, Damon Heta, Nathan Aspinall, Chris Dobey, Dave Chisnall, James Wade, Gerwyn Price, Peter Wright, Danny Noppert, Josh Rock, Ross Smith, Ryan Searle, Dimitri van den Bergh, Mike de Decker and Martin Schindler have been given this status.

In addition, the sixteen best Pro Tour players may also compete in the Austrian Darts Open, but they must start the tournament from the first round. This group of players includes Joe Cullen, Raymond van Barneveld, Daryl Gurney and Cameron Menzies.

The field of participants is supplemented by 16 winners from various qualifying tournaments. Ten of these spots will be distributed at the qualifying tournament for Tour Card holders. This qualifier will be played on Wednesday, April 2, in Leicester.