“We shouldn’t even be waiting one more year” - PDC urged to lower youth age limits and bar top-64 stars from World Youth Championship

Luke Littler can enter the PDC World Youth Championship as the sport’s world number one, while Mitchell Lawrie is still too young to play on the Development Tour despite winning senior international titles at 15.

After Monday’s action in Wigan, the DartsNews Podcast panel is calling for lower age limits across the youth system and a World Youth Championship restriction on top-64 players, who are already excluded from Development Tour events. In Tuesday’s discussion, Kieran Wood, Nicolas Gayer and Samuel Gill questioned whether the existing rules still serve the players these competitions should be helping.

Littler’s 6-5 semi-final defeat to Cam Crabtree attracted much of the attention on Monday, as Crabtree and Germany’s Jan Schmidt secured their places in November’s final. Gill, however, was more interested in the eligibility rules that brought the field together.

“I think a rethink is needed for the Development Tour and the World Youth in general, because Littler’s only doing what he can do,” he said. “If he was outside the top 64, he could have played on the Development Tour. He’s only doing what he can do on paper. He’s not breaking any rules. But whether or not those rules need changing, I don’t know.”

The World Youth Championship allows age-qualified Tour Card holders to compete, with its leading seeds drawn from the main Order of Merit. Alongside Littler, Monday’s field included Sebastian Bialecki, Keane Barry, Owen Bates and Jurjen van der Velde.

“The debate always rolls on every single year,” Gill continued. “Not only Littler, but you had Sebastian Bialecki, who cannot play on the Development Tour anymore. He won it, but he’s in the top 64 now, so he cannot play on the Development Tour anymore.

“Keane Barry, who feels like he’s been in the youth system for years, and other players like that managed to get into the tournament as high seeds, despite the fact that they now play on the ProTour, they play majors consistently and European Tours. It’s a bit unfair, perhaps, on some of those other players who play the Development Tour only.”

Development Tour players can enter from their 16th birthday. At the other end of the age range, eligibility for the 2026 season required players to be 23 or younger on 4 January, allowing them to continue competing after turning 24 during the year.

Wood questioned whether that range still reflected the age at which players were now reaching the professional game. “I think the youth tour and Development Tour are a bit old, a bit outdated in darts, because it’s not that long ago that a 30-year-old was a young dart player when everyone was around 50-odd. But now it’s a completely different game,” he said. “There are so many around 30 years old who are at the top end now. Maybe, would you say just teenagers who aren’t in the top 64? Something like that?”

Gill wanted the review to extend to the minimum age as well. Lawrie had won the WDF Europe Cup open singles title for Scotland on Saturday, beating Zvonimir Lesic 7-4 with a 101.26 average in the final, but remains below the Development Tour’s entry threshold.

“Yeah, I’d even lower the limit, because you have players like Mitchell Lawrie who have to wait. He has to wait to play on the Development Tour,” Gill said. “Of course, the system’s in place for a reason, but you’ve got people like him going over to the Europe Cup, going there and winning the singles title.”

Monday also provided opportunities to assess players just entering that age range. Lewis Cook averaged 100.40 against Littler in the last 64 before losing 6-4, while Kaya Baysal reached the quarter-finals, having beaten van der Velde in the previous round.

“For me, it should be more focused on players like that, Mitchell Lawrie, Kaya Baysal, all those sorts of players who are young enough to still play in the format, not filling up space because they can’t use their Tour Cards and win on the ProTour,” Gill argued. “For me, you’ve got players even younger who could make even more of a splash. Of course, you’ve got to think about safeguarding, I guess, at that age. But you should lower the age limit, both on the low end and the high end, and stop players playing until they’re 24.”

His criticism also extended to the repeated movement between the senior and development circuits. Players outside the top 64 can retain access to the Development Tour while holding a Tour Card, with World Championship places and further Tour Cards available through its rankings.

“The Development Tour is a bit of a talking point as well, because you will have players like Crabtree, van der Velde, who will not do much on the tour. It’s disingenuous for me to say that, but they won’t do as much on the tour throughout the year, and then they will suddenly qualify for the World Championship through this route,” Gill said.

“Players like Owen Bates, who are good enough to get onto the ProTour, but they’re not good enough to stay there yet. They could be in about two years’ time. Crabtree the same.

“Certain players have made a career of doing that. Ted Evetts, I think, has won tens of tournaments. He’s the most successful player on the Development Tour ever, and he made a career almost of yo-yoing from the tour to the Development Tour and then back again. I’d say lower the age limit on both ends, but that’s a talking point for the PDC.”

Gian van Veen did not enter Monday’s event, passing up the opportunity to pursue a third successive World Youth title. His continuing eligibility nevertheless featured prominently in Gayer’s assessment of the rules.

“I can only agree, because I think Kieran has put it perfectly: it just feels outdated,” he said. “You just have to look at two names you’ve both mentioned, Mitch Lawrie and Gian van Veen.

“You have Lawrie, one of the upcoming talents and one of the faces of the youth generation, who can’t play yet because he has to wait to fit into the age bracket. Then you have Gian van Veen, who’s a European champion, who’s been in the World Championship final, who is 24 years old, has played in the Premier League, is one of the faces of the sport already, sitting in third position in the world rankings, and he can still play.”

Gayer acknowledged how far youth darts had developed as he pressed the PDC to revisit its framework. “For the first time in the history of the sport, we literally have a youth game. We have a youth structure as we do now. So I think that’s totally fair enough and totally okay to concede that and see that now we have to change something," he said. “But I think it should be happening now. We shouldn’t even be waiting one more year. It should be happening now. There are obvious signs that change is needed, so I hope that will happen soon.”

The discussion stopped short of settling on a precise replacement age range. Wood floated a teenage competition with a top-64 restriction, while Gill advocated lowering both age boundaries and acknowledged the safeguarding considerations involved in admitting younger players.

Monday’s other finalist, meanwhile, gave Gayer reason to celebrate what the competition can offer an emerging player. Schmidt beat Bialecki, Henry Coates and Charlie Manby in successive rounds to reach the final, earning a Grand Slam invitation along the way.

“He’s got a good technique, he’s a good scorer, and he doesn’t look like he’s afraid of big stages or big matches,” Gayer said. “A big surprise, of course. A big, big surprise still, but pretty much one of the best and most positive things to happen in German darts this year.”

Schmidt will face Crabtree at Minehead on 29 November. Crabtree has already secured his place at Alexandra Palace through the Development Tour; for Schmidt, victory would bring a World Championship debut as well as the youth title. Should those opportunities remain open to every age-qualified player, or should reaching the senior top 64 close that door?