Fabian Schmutzler came from nowhere this past weekend to book a spot at the PDC World Darts Championship via the
Development Tour.
Schmutzler only made his debut during this past weekend due to being too young to play the first six tournaments. On Friday he reached the final and on Saturday, he won a tournament.
On Sunday afternoon, the 16-year-old German won another European Development Tour tournament, taking over second place in the ranking from Geert Nentjes. His second place was no longer in danger during the closing tournament of the Development Tour.
At sixteen, he is the second youngest after Mitchell Clegg during the 2007 tournament but this was at the Circus Tavern. Schmutzler will become the youngest ever at Ally Pally and from Germany.
This is due to Max Hopp making his debut at 16 years and 117 days old in 2012.
Leighton Bennett is the youngest World Championship participant of all time. He was only fourteen years and 4 days old in 2020 when he made his appearance at the BDO World Championship.