Is a Players Championship location rethink needed? Over 15 players withdraw from Hildesheim as big names dodge ProTour once again

The Players Championship series is seen as the best 128 players in the world but is that really the case when a huge cluster of players don't turn up and there is mass struggle to fill the spots on offer especially this week at Events 13 and 14 between May 4-5?

Luke Littler, for instance, has not played all season on the ProTour and is unlikely to, it seems, as he previously mooted that he would only play the tournaments close to his house, aka Wigan. Still, he has not done that either, only turning up to a ProTour recently to get a gift off Justin Hood.

There is also the issue that leaves the PDC slightly red-faced that they decided to give all the top 16 back door entries into European Tours only for most of them not to bother under the premise that the fans want to see the big names, but during the Premier League in particular, only a smattering turn up. Michael van Gerwen, who plays this week in both Austria and Hildesheim, is kind of an anomaly to this rule, as he has often said that he wants ranking points, with a huge drop imminent towards the World Darts Championship, and doesn't care massively about the Premier League.

This in itself shows that Van Gerwen is only playing really to fight for his ranking survival over the likes of Littler who can decline the invite safe in the knowledge that they are fine for all but the tournaments that require this route of qualification. E.g the Players Championship Finals.

But others are showing that perhaps change might be needed. Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen, Gerwyn Price, Jonny Clayton, Josh Rock and Stephen Bunting all decided not to play in Hildesheim and apart from Van Veen and Rock won't play in Austria either. Overall 15 players at least have decided before play begins over the last two days not to play. These are also Ryan Searle, Nathan Aspinall, Daryl Gurney, Cameron Menzies, Bradley Brooks, Oskar Lukasiak, Greg Ritchie and Carl Sneyd.

Ryan Joyce didn't play on Monday, but he has on Tuesday. He was also out to start the week. Often, Hildesheim has been blamed for this, with player fields often depleted, which ironically leads to the same names still performing. Chris Dobey and Wessel Nijman have dominated this year, whether Littler, Humphries, Van Gerwen, and others have played or not.

Kevin Doets, winning the title yesterday by defeating Luke Woodhouse, was a first-time winner, but both have been regular latter-stage stars on the tour for a while. Doets, in particular, is part of a new crop of Dutch stars under MVG and Van Veen, including Zonneveld and Wattimena, who have made exponential strides.

Jonny Clayton famously said at the World Grand Prix that he dodges Hildesheim and doesn't think the tour should go there, and notoriously, it is one of the destinations that poses issues in getting there from certain parts of Europe, including the UK. “You know I didn’t go to Germany for the Pro Tour events in Hildesheim simply because I don’t think we should have them there," he said last year. “But those are the only ones I missed — I try to get to everything else."

But also, there is often the riposte of the amount of Tour Card holders needing to travel to the UK for the vast majority of events so it is very much a conundrum whether it shifts to an easier destination in Germany or Europe as a whole or sticks being an issue.

Gary Anderson, for instance, also showed his discontent towards the situation as a whole in Europe due to issues with passport control. “It’s hard enough having to travel now, but standing in queues for three and a half hours… I can’t do that," he said to Online Darts. "If it’s another three and a half hours, you won’t see me.” So there is also that to contend with.

Even in call-ups, though, it poses a problem, as players very low down on the Challenge Tour were asked to deputise over the past two days after their call-ups were rejected due to not getting to Hildesheim in time, seemingly. Albeit this has opened the door for the likes of Joe Hunt, Nathan Potter and Jack Tweddell, some of the best off the Challenge Tour to shine.

On the other hand, in the case of Bradley Brooks for instance, he is perhaps one of the only players who withdrew who actually wanted to play this week. Brooks was at the airport and had already checked his bags when he was told he couldn't board. "No Germany for me for the next few days. Had 7 months left on my passport… but didn’t know as soon as it’s 10 years from when it was issued you can’t use it!," he said on social media.

"My own fault really… just a bit s*** they let me check in, took my bag and waited until I was boarding to tell me." This in itself is a problem, as with the issues already surrounding the red tape when it comes to the new entry exit system, it could pose further issues down the road.

With burgeoning nations such as Belgium or even Poland rising in the darting world, could the answer be to go to an easier destination or are darts players shouting into the void? There is also, especially for English players, something that perhaps will lead to a further boycott, including of European Tours, and that is lost luggage and passport queues. A lot of players, including Dobey, Aspinall, and Clayton, have had gripes with the new entry and exit system and have also lost their luggage in some cases.

This, in itself, has led to some mooting that they might boycott further events. Hildesheim has long been a staple on the calendar, but the number of withdrawals this week does pose the big question. Is it time to move the ProTours, or are players being too protected so they don't play events that in years gone by were very much must-play?