The last 16 of the PDC World Darts Championship will take place on Saturday, signalling that the end of the World Darts Championship is near. Only a few days to go before we know who the new world champion will be.
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"I will definitely give it a try. Hopefully without a splint. You can't play at all with a splint. The agreement is that I'll start moving after Christmas, get well taped and make sure I have a stable stance."
Should the Maximiser manage to return to the PDC circuit, he will be confronted with the new calendar, which stipulates that the floor tournaments will now take place during the week. A change that Hopp is in favour of: "I think it's good. Of course it will be more difficult for some people to juggle everything, but basically I don't think it's a bad move because it would give the players a weekend off and leave alternatives for other events at the weekend. At the moment it was really the case that you as a player didn't get anything out of the weekend. You see relatively little of your family and don't get much of a break."
However, Hopp also understands that the new schedule is not to the liking of all players: "Of course it would be a hindrance - and this is a situation that I might also have at some point - if you are no longer a full professional but have this semi-professional status, you work Monday to Thursday and then want to fly to the tournament. You just can't do that any more. You'll miss a lot of Pro Tour events and some might even give back their Tour Card or think twice about it. You could say that the decision has advantages for some pros, but also many disadvantages for those who aren't in the top 64."
However, should the German fail at Q-School, as he did at the start of 2023, he will not turn his back on darts. "I'll definitely be playing a lot, just staying in rhythm and getting plenty of practice."
"Then let's see what next year will be like, which tour I'll end up on," he emphasised.