"I want to stay there as long as I can and hopefully I can move away from where I am": Ian White not contemplating retirement just yet

Ian White has made his ambitions for the upcoming European Tour crystal clear. The seasoned Englishman leaves no doubt: at the Austrian Darts Open in Graz, only one thing matters to him – winning.

The 55-year-old, nicknamed ‘Diamond’, remains hungry for success and doesn’t see participation as enough. "Winning them is success, I want to win them,” White said to Darts Planet TV.

White has been a fixture in professional darts for years, with an impressive résumé that includes multiple European Tour titles and numerous ProTour wins. His biggest European Tour successes came in 2018 and 2019, when he won three events. However, the competition has only intensified since then, something he is fully aware of.

"I think over the years that I’ve been up there, I play all these games and go on and win them. It’s harder now, so you just take each game at a time.

“All the Europeans I have played in have been special. Sindelfingen last week, I’ve won that one before. At the time, there were top players that were playing good darts and I was one of them.

“I really enjoyed everything that happened then. But now, there are a lot more good players, aren’t there?”

The Austrian Darts Open also brings back warm memories for White. In 2019 he reached the final there, narrowly losing 8-7. Despite that defeat, he looks back on the event with pleasure.

“It’s nice memories,” White said. "I really love going back to these places and I think when you’re in the top eight, ten, twelve in the world and at these tournaments all the time, you just take it for granted.

That shift in appreciation seems typical of the phase White is in. Where he once was a constant in the upper reaches of the world rankings, he now more often has to make fields via qualifiers or as a reserve. Yet he doesn’t see that solely as a downside. “Once you’ve come down the rankings, only get to certain events and turn up at places like Austria or Germany, you start appreciating it more and what you’ve done. It’s great to go back.”

His start to the 2026 season was anything but spectacular, but the Englishman feels his form is gradually improving. “It’s been slow this year, but it’s starting to pick up now, which I knew it would. It always does every year,” White said.

“At the beginning, everyone’s turning up and playing good darts because you’ve got a first tour card. Then, you just keep playing and getting better and better, and the season’s just getting better for me.”

Another strong field awaits him in Graz, but White isn’t overly concerned about potential opponents. In his view, it hardly matters who you face in today’s darts landscape. “It doesn’t make any difference at all. Anyone in that top 64 or even past that, they’re playing good darts,” he said. "A couple of qualifiers last week played well and knocked a few players out. So it doesn’t matter who you get."

He does acknowledge there are players currently in top form. “Yeah you want to stay away from the ones that are playing well a lot. Wessel’s playing well and your Jonny Clayton’s and stuff. But, they’re later on in the rounds, hopefully.”

Beyond his sporting ambitions, White also spoke about changes to the European Tour qualifying system. In recent years the PDC has placed greater emphasis on rankings, reducing the number of spots available through open qualifiers. White isn’t necessarily a fan of that. “The way they changed the system to get to these Europeans now, I don’t know, I think it’s wrong,” he said.

“They should have kept it the way it was and the people that turn up every tournament get rewarded for what they’re doing. But if it had been the old way, I probably wouldn’t have gotten to the three tournaments that I’ve been in up to now because I’ve had call-ups.

Still, he admits the new setup has helped him in some cases. “It’s probably gone in my favour, even though I don’t like the system that it’s running at."

Another key theme in modern darts is rising prize money. Tournaments are becoming increasingly lucrative, and that also impacts players’ career planning. For White, it’s extra motivation to keep going. "You can go and have a half-decent year and earn £50,000 to £100,000 a year. You know what I mean?

“That’s good money for what we’re doing and a job that we all enjoy doing. All the dart players love playing darts, otherwise they wouldn’t be doing it. They’re not doing it just because they have to.

A farewell doesn’t seem imminent. "I want to stay there as long as I can and hopefully I can move away from where I am at the moment.”

With that mindset, Ian White travels to Graz, where he hopes once more to mount a title challenge. Whether he can genuinely contend for the trophy will depend on his form and how the tournament unfolds. But one thing is certain: for ‘Diamond’, it is enjoying the game while he can.