"I'm number four in the world, and I'm still not playing" - Nathan Aspinall calls for adjustment of World Cup of Darts format

The World Cup of Darts took place in Frankfurt last week. The tournament was won by England, which was too strong for Austria in the final, 10-6.

For England, Luke Humphries and Michael Smith were the world's number one and three players respectively. The young teenage sensation Luke Littler (25th) and Nathan Aspinall, ranked fifth in the world, were not selected.

Aspinall was especially annoyed about that. “Well, I've been number five in the world and I didn’t make the team, and this year, I'm number four in the world, and I'm still not making the team. So it's quite annoying for me, as an Englishman, that I'm number four in the world, and I'm still not playing for England.

Currently, each country's first two Tour Card holders in the world rankings are selected for the World Cup of Darts. However, Aspinall advocates changing the tournament format. "I believe there's scope to change that, to make it a three, four, five-man team. I'd love to see a Ryder Cup-style tournament as well, that would be class.”

However, the PDC does not seem to have any plans to change the format of the World Cup of Darts any time soon. After all, CEO Matt Porter recently revealed in an interview that he is satisfied with the tournament and also indicated that not too many changes should be expected in the coming years.