Van Duijvenbode plays down Premier League talk, believes it's a 'waste of energy' to discuss it: "If I was in, I wouldn't play afternoon session"

Despite coming through a brilliantly entertaining 2nd round encounter with Karel Sedlacek at the PDC World Darts Championship, Dirk van Duijvenbode is playing down the chances of making a Premier League Darts debut. "If I was in, I wouldn't play afternoon session."

In a rollercoaster matchup, van Duijvenbode had spells where he never looked like missing, including missing double 12 for a nine-dart leg. There were also periods during the game where it looked like the Dutchman had gone off the boil, expressing his frustration at the inconsistency, van Duijvenbode said "I lost some focus in set 2 after the first two legs I got it back but it was too late, it wasn't that good."

As always during the World Championship, one of the background stories is the battle for the Premier League spots. With the top 4 in the world guaranteed to be there, the remaining spots are up for grabs. For a couple of years now van Duijvenbode has been touted a potential Premier League player, however he's been overlooked and the Dutchman doesn't believe that's likely to change any time soon.

"I don't mind about the Premier League," he says. "If I was a potential Premier League player I wouldn't have played the afternoon session. Ask me the question again if I'm in the semi final or final and then I'll say 'I've got a good chance'. Look at Luke Humphries, he's in. He's number 5 in the world and he's playing in the evening session."