German darter Wenig disagrees with Van Barneveld: 'It would be nice if there were more tournaments like this'

Raymond van Barneveld recently spoke out against the double-in format at the World Grand Prix. Fellow dart player Lukas Wenig, on the German channel DAZN, on the other hand, spoke out in favor of more such tournaments.

"It really appeals to me and it would be nice if a few more such tournaments were set up," he told Elmar Paulke on DAZN. "You end the leg with a double and you have to concentrate right after that, because you want to open with the double right away. Normally you can throw away the first three darts relaxed, but now the pressure is on right away. And it's really remarkable to see what that does to the players in the tournaments."

Unlike Van Barneveld, however, Wenig does not have a Tour Card and thus did not compete in the World Grand Prix. The German will, however, be in action on the Challenge Tour this tournament. However, he does not yet know whether he will compete in the final Challenge Tour tournaments of the season this weekend.

"I'm in 12th place right now. But the road to the top ten or top eight is still very far. I have to see if it makes sense to participate,'' he said.

"Besides, the costs are relatively high now with flying. In September I already participated in the Challenge Tour and the MODUS Super Series. Although I played fine there, the results were lacking. That is frustrating, of course. Then it's better to save energy for something else.''

In any case, Wenig will not bury his head in the sand. Among other things, he is considering the possibility of earning a Tour Card through the Q-School. "The way things have developed, I would have a chance at the Tour Card. In that case, I have two years to see what happens. Do I develop further? Do I realize that I have reached my limit? In any case, I will have measured myself against the best darters in the world. If it doesn't work out then, I won't have to blame myself. I am already much further along than I ever thought I would be. I keep seeing for myself in training what is still possible. The question, of course, is: can you call it even then?"

So the coming period is all about preparing for the Q-School. ''I'm going to try to train one or two hours every day. In addition, on the weekend you then have competition or a tournament. It's important for me to throw a few darts every day, keep the arm loose and keep the good feeling.''