After the PDPA qualifying tournament on Nov. 27, the field of participants for the World Darts Championship is complete. For a number of players who did not qualify for the World Championship, it is already certain that they will lose their status as professional darts players at the end of this season.
Players who have a PDC Tour Card will have two years to secure a position in the top-64 of the world rankings. If a player falls out of the top-64 after that period, that player must return to Q-School to try to earn back his Tour Card.
The highest ranked player on the world ranking list who is already certain of losing his Tour Card is Nathan Rafferty. The 23-year-old Northern Irishman was very successful on the Development Tour with 10 titles in recent years, but was unable to continue this success on the Pro Tour, as was Ted Evetts, who won the PDC World Youth Championship in 2021 and has 14 Development Tour titles to his name. Danny Jansen, who won a Players Championship in his first year on the Pro Tour, is also certain to lose his Tour Card.
One of the notable names already certain of losing his Tour Card is Devon Petersen. The South African had continually managed to keep his Tour Card since 2015 and has 8 World Darts Championship entries to his name. Petersen had a top year in 2020, in which, among other things, he managed to win a Euro-Tour, reached the semifinals of the European Championship and entered the top 32 of the world rankings. Since then, however, things have gone downhill for the South African, who is currently ranked 83 in the world rankings.
Jeff Smith also is set to lose his Tour Card, which he captured in 2020, at the end of this year. The former Lakeside finalist is outside the top 64 and failed to qualify for the World Championship via the Pro Tour rankings. Although the Canadian won the PDC North American Championship this year, new rules prevented him from qualifying for the World Championship via this route as a Tour Card holder. The Silencer has already announced he will not participate in Q-school in 2024. Darius Labanaskas, who has been part of the professional darts circuit since 2018, like Jeff Smith, was not allowed to qualify for the World Championship through a regional tour as a Tour Card holder, and will therefore miss out on another Alexandra Palace appearance and lose his Tour Card.
Scott Waites, Richie Burnett and James Wilson have already lost their Tour Card several times, but managed to earn it back each time. They will have to try again next January at Q-School. John O'Shea and Ross Montgomery made their move from the BDO to the PDC two years ago, but also failed to achieve enough success on the Pro Tour to keep their Tour Card.
Other players already certain of losing their Tour Card are Brian Raman, Jimmy Hendriks, George Killington, Bradley Brooks, Jose Justicia, Kevin Burness, Nick Fullwell, Joe Murnan, Tony Martinez, Shaun Wilkinson, Damian Mol, Luc Peters, Jamie Clark, Lewy Williams and Vladimir Andersen.