These are all the debutants at the 2024 World Darts Championship: Including youth sensations Luke Littler and Gian van Veen
PDC
On December 15, the PDC World Darts Championship will begin at the Alexandra Palace. The field consists of 92 players including 24 debutants.
Arguably the most hotly anticipated of these debutants, is World Youth Champion, Luke Littler. Both he and Wessel Nijman qualified for this edition of the World Darts Championship via the Development Tour. Littler finished second on the Development Tour with five titles. Wessel Nijman won three Development Tour titles this year and finished third on the Development Tour Order of Merit. Because Gian van Veen already qualified for the World Darts Championship via the Pro Tour, Nijman will make his debut at the Alexandra Palace.
Van Veen himself is another debutant. He, and fellow Dutchmen Richard Veenstra and Kevin Doets secured a starting spot through the Pro Tour. In particular, Gian van Veen, the crown prince of the future of Dutch darts, had a fantastic season in his first year as Tour Card holder, with a final on the floor, two quarter-finals on the Euro Tour and a semi-final at the European Championship. Richard Veenstra showed good form when he beat reigning world champion Michael Smith in the first round of the Players Championship Finals. Kevin Doets reached his first ranking final at this year's Players Championship 20. Belgian Mario Vandenbogaerde also secured his debut at the Alexandra Palace via the Pro Tour ranking.
The highest-ranked player in the world who will make his debut at the Alexandra Palace is Ricardo Pietreczko. The current world number 39 climbed strongly up the world rankings this year, mainly due to good results on the Euro Tour. The German closed the Euro Tour season with his first PDC title at the German Darts Championship.
Pole Radek Szaganski clinched his first PDC title this year by winning over Englishman Connor Scutt in the final of Players Championship 27. This surprising final allowed both players to ensure their World Darts Championship debuts. Lee Evans and Dylan Slevin secured qualification for the World Championship on the Pro Tour in their first year as Tour Card holders.
Dutch American Jules van Dongen, in his second Tour Card year, also secured his World Darts Championship placement through the Pro Tour. The other two American debutants are Stowe Buntz and Alex Spellman. Buntz placed as number two in the CDC rankings, the ranking where Alex Spellman managed to finish as number one, however Buntz recently impressed at the Grand Slam of Darts with a run to the quarterfinal.
Berry van Peer topped the Challenge Tour ranking with four titles, forcing his debut for the World Darts Championship. Owen Bates took one title on the Challenge Tour this year, but managed to reach the final at the last tournament, finishing second on the ranking and forcing his own debut at the last minute.
The top four ranked players of the PDC Asian Tour received an invitation to the World Darts Championship. Japanese Tomoya Goto and Filipino Reynaldo Rivera will make their debut at the Alexandra Palace via this route. Filipino dart player Sandro Eric Sosing also has an Ally Pally debut to look forward to. In addition to the two finalists of the PDC Asian Championship, the highest-ranked Japanese would also qualify for the World Darts Championship. Because the PDC Asian Championship got a Japanese winner with Muramatsu, that spot went to the number five on the PDC Asian Tour Order of Merit, Man Lok Leung, who therefore also gets to travel to Alexandra Palace for the first time in December.
Darren Penhall grabbed 13 titles on the DPA Tour this year and thus dominated the Australian circuit. As the No. 1 on the DPA rankings, he will debut at the Alexandra Palace. Other international qualifiers who will debut at the Alexandra Palace are Bhav Patel, who benefitted from the suspension of Prakash Jiwa, and Simon Adams, who won the South African qualifying tournament. Thibault Tricole became the first Frenchman ever to qualify for the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace by winning the Western European qualifying tournament.
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- Missed that as was working. Damon must be absolutely gutted. Will be interesting to see Premier League players.ListerAnderson28-12-2024
- What a top class match that was, gutted for Cullen. Great to see them both play so well. One of the matches of the year.ListerAnderson28-12-2024
- He is a legend and a very good set player, was great to see him play well.ListerAnderson28-12-2024
- And this should be the end of it. He was playing like a w****r and gestured as such. End of.Mysstree25-12-2024
- Cross will likely be No. 4 in the world after the world's. He's been in the quarter's or higher in 7 out of the 14 ranked TV majors in the last 2 years. Neither Williams or Cross played close to what they're capable of in this match.Matilda6224-12-2024
- Was a great match and am a fan of Scott, don't see much of him on TV. How the hell is Cross 5 in the world, he goes out almost immediately in every competition.richieburnettrocks24-12-2024
- He has Guillerme Barre Syndrome. Nerve damage due to autoimmune response. Could take him months to recover if at all.medinabello23-12-2024
- I have a nickname for him Ni I man.medinabello23-12-2024
- C'MON HEMPS!!medinabello23-12-2024
- He looks very healthy. I doubt he can run or anything. You need carbs for that. Carbs fuel your brain also. It is the preferred energy source for the brain. Carbs get broken down into glycogen fuel for your muscles. As a rider I totally need carbs. However for a dart player who doesn't need a brain or be fit this diet is perfect.medinabello23-12-2024