"I can’t remember ever playing in front of a flatter crowd" - Dave Chisnall not a fan of 'revamped' Winmau World Masters

Dave Chisnall has not had the best few weeks of his career. At both the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship and the recent Winmau World Masters, the current world number seven was sent home after an opening round defeat. Also at the first tournament of the Players Championship 2025 yesterday things went wrong quickly for 'Chizzy'.

At the Winmau World Masters, Chisnall went down against Cameron Menzies. "It wasn’t a fun first outing on the road this year, with the long trip to MIlton Keynes ultimately for nought and me going out in the first round of the Winmau World Masters," Chisnall told Kwiff. “Cam (Menzies) didn’t even have to play great, and I could never get into a rhythm on stage. It will get better, and easier, once the new season gets into the swing of things, but it’s still frustrating all the same.”

More than just the fact his darts didn't go to plan, Chisnall felt something was off in the venue. “The atmosphere was bizarre too, and I can’t remember ever playing in front of a flatter crowd for a big TV event," he recalls. "I don’t know whether it was the change of format, with the new two legs to win a set setup, but it just didn’t click down there. I know I sound like a bit of a fossil when moaning about the tinkering of formats, and I get the PDC are under pressure to try and reinvent the wheel, but if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

As mentioned, the 2025 Players Championship is underway, starting this week. Chisnall, for now, could not reverse the negative trend and again lost immediately in his opening match 6-4 against Carl Sneyd. Still, he is not panicking. "My game is in good nick, and I’ve got a good record in Wigan. I know my results towards the back-end of the season didn’t reflect it, but I thought I was actually playing OK. Most of the hard work is between the ears, so hopefully the right mindset will go a long way," he concludes. “I won a lot of cash on the floor 2023/2024, so have a bit of defend to keep myself high up on the Order of Merit.”