Vincent van der Voort will take a temporary break from professional darts in 2025. TOTO, the main sponsor of the Dutch Darts Masters in Den Bosch, would have liked the 49-year-old to say goodbye next weekend in the Netherlands. However, the PDC thought otherwise.
The TOTO Dutch Darts Master is scheduled this coming weekend on Friday, January 24 & Saturday, January 25. During the World Series tournament, eight PDC representatives will compete against eight players from their "home country.
This year's Benelux representatives include Danny Noppert, Dimitri van den Bergh, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Gian van Veen, Raymond van Barneveld, Jermaine Wattimena, Kevin Doets and Richard Veenstra. TOTO, however, would have liked to see Vincent van de Voort's name among them.
"The people at TOTO liked the idea of me playing my last match here, but the PDC didn't think it was necessary," explained 'The Dutch Destroyer'. The reason given was that he currently no longer holds a Tour Card. "Everyone who knows me a little bit knows that it doesn't make bother me at all so I don't think it's such a disaster, but that reason ... It doesn't make any sense at all. I have more trouble with that."
"A few years ago Fallon Sherrock did everything at the World Series even though she didn't have a Tour Card. Last week in Bahrain, there are also eight guys without a Tour Card. There are so many darters without Tour Cards competing at the World Series. They then say it's nothing personal, but that's what it looks like. Just be honest. Just say: we think someone else is more entitled to it," continued the Dutchman.
"As a matter of fact, I think so myself. Sports-wise it's totally justified, but don't say it's about a Tour Card when it suits you. Or one of those bullshit stories of 'it's nothing personal'... Nonsense. In the end, it is. Just say how it is, because I seriously don't care"
Still, Van der Voort secretly would have enjoyed competing in the tournament in Den Bosch. "Of course it would have been nice to play one more time in front of my own audience, but I never assumed that. Ultimately the PDC decides and not the sponsor," he concludes.