"We are missing characters now" - Ian White misses the times of Kevin Painter, Terry Jenkins and others

Ian White has been around for many years in the PDC. The now 54-year-old Englishman earned his Tour Card back in 2010 and looks set to retain it for at least another year at the end of 2024. Over the years, 'Diamond' has seen many things change and not necessarily all for the better.

White has built a successful career, including winning three European Tour tournaments and ten Players Championship events. At the big TV majors though, it has not gone as smoothly for him. Over more recent seasons also things have been a bit of a struggle, his last ranking title dates back to 2020. As such, in the world ranking list, he has now slipped to 59th place.

"I'm a bit lower down in the rankings, but I'm still going," a smiling White says in conversation with Online Darts. "I'm not worrying about it. I just go out and play darts. Last year I finished number 64, so that was a bit twitchy, but this year I'm defending nothing and I wasn't even in the Worlds two years ago, I wasn't in the Players Championship Finals, so it will all go onto my rankings. Hopefully we can qin a game or two there."

In Minehead though, the experienced Englishman has a tricky opening round tie. "Van Gerwen is the first hurdle to get over," he assesses with a wry smile. "But if we can win a couple games, it would end off the year nicely."

As mentioned, White has seen a lot of changes over the years; for example, there are a lot more tournaments now than there used to be, not only on the Pro Tour. "These kids now, they're playing in academies, they're building them up from the age of 6! You know, we've got a lad at the moment (Luke Littler ed.), he's good but how long will he carry on for? He's already missed a few tournaments," White assesses. "This year I just think it's crammed. There's that many tournaments now people are having to pick and choose. Everyone wants to go and watch Gary Anderson, everyone wants to go and watch Luke Littler. They're not going to be there every tournament."

Finally, White also paused to reflect on Steve Beaton's farewell. "Steve has been around for a long time and we're all good mates. We've got plenty of stories," he explains. "We are missing characters now. If you go back over the years you know, your Terry Jenkins and Kevin Painter's, they were all characters. To me it just seems to have gone now."