"For their sanity, their mental health": John Part speaks out in defence of top players who skip tournaments

The international darts calendar is becoming increasingly crowded, but according to three-time world champion John Part, that is not necessarily a problem. The Canadian believes top players should be given the freedom to skip certain tournaments.

He also sees a major obstacle for players from North America, Asia and Oceania who want to make the step up to the professional circuit. In an interview with Online Darts, Part discussed the busy calendar, Luke Littler's dominance and the further internationalisation of the sport.

The PDC now organises tournaments virtually throughout the entire year. Alongside the major televised events, dozens of Players Championship tournaments, European Tour events and other competitions feature on the schedule. This provides plenty of opportunities to compete, but it also places considerable demands on players, particularly those who want to participate in everything.

According to Part, it is therefore important that darts players can decide for themselves which tournaments they compete in.

"I think there's too much darts if one has to play every single dart, play every tournament, do everything. I know it's a bit of a talking point right now with some top players not wanting to do certain things or whatever, but I think they need to have some leeway."

Part particularly highlighted the mental strain that comes with such a packed calendar.

"I mean, it is a lot to play all that stuff and to have some sort of a life. For their sanity, their mental health, whatever you want to call it, right? I think that you do need to have reasonable room to pick and choose. I think sometimes that can get over-abused, perhaps."

The absence of big names such as Luke Littler regularly sparks debate. Particularly on the European Tour, there are tournaments where not all the leading players are in attendance. Part understands that this can disappoint some supporters, but believes the current standard of darts is high enough to compensate.

"Ultimately, I think there's so many good dart players now. We don't miss the people that choose not to go most of the time."

Part acknowledged that some supporters might specifically purchase tickets to see a particular star, but argued that they would still be entertained by the other competitors.

"I mean, sure, there's people buying tickets in, say, a Euro event somewhere in Germany, and maybe they really want to see a Luke Littler or something, but at the end of the day, they're going to get thoroughly entertained by dart players."

The former world champion also pointed out that buying a ticket does not guarantee that a particular player will remain in the tournament for long.

"And that's the only thing a sale of a ticket guarantees, is all the people that bought tickets for this Grand Prix found out. Because he's here once."

Part stressed that the tournament had still delivered plenty of entertainment despite the early elimination of the world number one.

"At the end of the day, though, there's been a hell of a lot of entertaining darts here this week, past the exit of this number one seed, and that's always the case. I mean, the world of darts is really healthy right now, in fact."

The early elimination of a major favourite naturally creates opportunities for other players. However, Part believes it is not as simple as the remaining competitors automatically becoming more comfortable.

In fact, the Canadian thinks the pressure can increase when the leading title contender exits the tournament. "Of course, but it's more pressure."

Part explained that players can suddenly feel compelled to take advantage of the opportunity in front of them. "You think, oh, happy days, it's easy now, but you're pressuring yourself to make the most of it, if you have any sense."

He recognised that feeling from his own career. Back then, Phil Taylor was the dominant force on the professional circuit for many years. When 'The Power' was eliminated early, his rivals had a rare opportunity to claim a major title. "You've got to figure, I mean, anybody, they all know the beast, what he's capable of doing, and our beast was Phil, and if Phil went out and there was an opening, I mean, there weren't a lot of them, so you did your best to take that one. So, same thing now, yeah."

According to Part, the same principle applies today when Littler is knocked out early. Nevertheless, the Canadian believes it would be excessive to automatically accuse every player who subsequently fails to win the title of wasting a golden opportunity. "Well, I think there's got to be some context on how they lose."

He added: "Yeah, I mean, you can only give it your best shot, and of course, you're playing somebody who has the same opportunity you have, and, you know, that's a contest, right?"

Part expects players who consider themselves among the very best in the world to view such situations as opportunities to demonstrate their status. "But I think the ones that truly believe that perhaps only the world number one is more dominant than they are, if they believe that enough, they will be dominant."

A defeat does not necessarily have to lead to major frustration, in his view.

"But, yeah, I don't think anyone's going to be punishing themselves for not getting it if they don't, of the four tonight, if they don't take the title tonight, but they will see it as a missed opportunity, yes. But they won't be ruining it."

That changes when a player has come particularly close to winning.

"Unless it's some kind of, like, you know, someone has match starts, and once you have match starts in a major and you don't end up winning, yeah, you're kicking yourself a long time."

Alongside the packed calendar and the pressure on top players, Part also discussed the further internationalisation of darts. For players from North America, Asia and Oceania, making the transition to the European professional circuit can be financially difficult.

According to Part, there are plenty of talented players in those regions who can compete with some of the existing PDC Tour Card holders. The problem is that they do not always have the financial resources to travel to Europe regularly.

Part believes the solution starts with increasing the money available to players in North America. "Yeah, well, I think for us, we need more money. We need more prizes, more prize funds, a little more, you know, like sort of the top 16 are carried and actually making a few dollars on it to save to put towards trips over here."

The Canadian also pointed out that there are now more opportunities than just the regular PDC tournaments. North American players can also compete in events organised by MODUS and the Amateur Darts Circuit (ADC). "Because there are other opportunities aside from the PDC as well over here that a lot of North Americans take up with MODUS and I guess the amateur ADC."

He continued: "Yeah, they're branching to Canada now, probably the U.S. I'm not sure, but, you know, so there's lots of opportunities, but it costs money to come over."

Part acknowledged that some of these initiatives offer financial assistance, but believes it is not enough to make regular trips to Europe sustainable for most players.

"You know, and I'm sure they build some support into those things, but it's never really truly enough to do it all the time."

Part believes the Championship Darts Corporation (CDC), which provides a competitive circuit for North American players, has an important role to play in the sport's continued growth. "So, yeah, I think basically since the stalwart part of Pro Darts is the CDC, once the prize funds can build to a point where it's just staying, you know, a really healthy group of players who have ready money to go compete over here, then that's where we'll really start making more of an impact."