World Darts Championship crucial for some players to retain PDC Tour Card: Who will be able to prolong stay as a professional dart player?
PDC
From December 15 to January 3, the 2024 World Darts Championship will take place at Alexandra Palace in London. For some participants, this tournament could be crucial to maintaining their status as professional dart players.
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Players who have a PDC Tour Card are given 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.
Mario Vandenbogaerde, Kevin Doets and Ian White need a first-round victory to be sure of retaining their Tour Card. If they lose their first match, they are dependent on the results of other players. Florian Hempel and Steve Lennon, with reaching the second round, would also do good business for retaining their Tour Card, but with reaching the third round at the World Darts Championship are completely certain of extending their status as professional darts players.
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Mervyn King failed to qualify for the World Darts Championship this year for the first time since 2008, but is still within the top 64. King could still lose his Tour Card, however, if the aforementioned players all manage to achieve good results and retain their Tour Card. A similar scenario happened to Paul Nicholson during the 2019 World Darts Championship.
Radek Szaganski will have to reach the third round at the World Darts Championship to retain his Tour Card. For the Pole, retaining his Tour Card would be of great benefit as his good results on the Pro Tour in recent months mean that he is currently in a good position to qualify for the World Matchplay next year. Connor Scutt could also retain his Tour Card by reaching the third round, but would still depend on the results of other players.
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Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, Krzysztof Kciuk and Jules van Dongen need at least a run to the quarterfinals at the Alexandra Palace to extend their Tour Card for a third year. Darren Webster, who managed to qualify for the World Darts Championship via the PDPA qualifying tournament at the last minute, will even need to reach the semifinals to avoid going to Q-School next year.
World Championship participants without a Tour Card, such as Stowe Buntz and Fallon Sherrock, can earn a Tour Card for next season, by reaching the semifinals to get into the top 64 in the world. Berry van Peer and Owen Bates are already assured of a Tour Card, having finished at the top of the Challenge Tour this year. The same goes for Luke Littler and Wessel Nijman, who after Gian van Veen performed best on the Development Tour.
PDC Tour Card Race (source: Dartsrankings.com)
| Rank | Name | Prize money |
| 1 | Michael van Gerwen | 1097.25 |
| 2 | Michael Smith | 1086.25 |
| 3 | Luke Humphries | 1010.5 |
| 4 | Nathan Aspinall | 637.5 |
| 5 | Gerwyn Price | 627.25 |
| 6 | Danny Noppert | 527.75 |
| 7 | Peter Wright | 511.25 |
| 8 | Rob Cross | 505.5 |
| 9 | Jonny Clayton | 470 |
| 10 | Damon Heta | 458.25 |
| 11 | Dave Chisnall | 454.5 |
| 12 | Dirk van Duijvenbode | 438.75 |
| 13 | Joe Cullen | 420.75 |
| 14 | Dimitri Van den Bergh | 408 |
| 15 | Ross Smith | 361 |
| 16 | Andrew Gilding | 358 |
| 17 | Stephen Bunting | 351.25 |
| 18 | James Wade | 349 |
| 19 | Chris Dobey | 343.75 |
| 20 | Ryan Searle | 324.75 |
| 21 | Josh Rock | 324.5 |
| 22 | Gabriel Clemens | 311 |
| 23 | Martin Schindler | 290.25 |
| 24 | Krzysztof Ratajski | 288.5 |
| 25 | Jose de Sousa | 274 |
| 26 | Daryl Gurney | 249.25 |
| 27 | Gary Anderson | 247.25 |
| 28 | Brendan Dolan | 224 |
| 29 | Raymond van Barneveld | 210.5 |
| 30 | Kim Huybrechts | 186.75 |
| 31 | Callan Rydz | 170.75 |
| 32 | Madars Razma | 165.75 |
| 33 | Martin Lukeman | 156 |
| 34 | Luke Woodhouse | 150.25 |
| 35 | Ryan Joyce | 143.75 |
| 36 | Ricardo Pietreczko | 139.75 |
| 37 | Mike De Decker | 131.5 |
| 38 | Gian van Veen | 122.5 |
| 39 | Keane Barry | 121 |
| 40 | William O'Connor | 120.75 |
| 41 | Jim Williams | 120.25 |
| 42 | Alan Soutar | 118.5 |
| 43 | Scott Williams | 113.25 |
| 44 | Simon Whitlock | 112.75 |
| 45 | Rowby-John Rodriguez | 111.5 |
| 46 | Jermaine Wattimena | 106 |
| 47 | Steve Beaton | 103.75 |
| 48 | Adrian Lewis | 101.25 |
| 49 | Ricky Evans | 98 |
| 50 | Vincent van der Voort | 97 |
| 51 | Matt Campbell | 95.75 |
| 52 | Mensur Suljovic | 94 |
| 53 | Ritchie Edhouse | 89.5 |
| 54 | Cameron Menzies | 87 |
| 55 | Ryan Meikle | 87 |
| 56 | Adam Gawlas | 86.5 |
| 57 | Mickey Mansell | 86 |
| 58 | Boris Krcmar | 84.25 |
| 59 | Jamie Hughes | 83.75 |
| 60 | Mervyn King | 81.75 |
| 61 | Ian White | 80.75 |
| 62 | Martijn Kleermaker | 80 |
| 63 | Kevin Doets | 76 |
| 64 | Mario Vandenbogaerde | 75 |
| 65 | Steve Lennon | 70.5 |
| 66 | Nathan Rafferty | 69.25 |
| 67 | Florian Hempel | 69.25 |
| 68 | Radek Szaganski | 66.5 |
| 69 | Connor Scutt | 62.75 |
| 70 | Danny Jansen | 59.25 |
| 71 | Darius Labanauskas | 51.25 |
| 72 | Richard Veenstra | 50 |
| 73 | Scott Waites | 49.5 |
| 74 | Richie Burnett | 48.5 |
| 75 | John O'Shea | 47.75 |
| 76 | Jules van Dongen | 46 |
| 77 | Niels Zonneveld | 44 |
| 78 | Ted Evetts | 43.5 |
| 79 | Dylan Slevin | 42.75 |
| 80 | Jeff Smith | 42.75 |
| 81 | Rusty-Jake Rodriguez | 41.75 |
| 82 | Lewy Williams | 40.25 |
| 83 | Krzysztof Kciuk | 40 |
| 84 | Christian Kist | 38.75 |
| 85 | George Killington | 38.5 |
| 86 | Lee Evans | 37.5 |
| 87 | Brian Raman | 36.75 |
| 88 | Jimmy Hendriks | 36.5 |
| 89 | Stowe Buntz | 36 |
| 90 | Bradley Brooks | 35.75 |
| 91 | Jose Justicia | 35.5 |
| 92 | Keegan Brown | 32.75 |
| 93 | Joe Murnan | 32 |
| 94 | Maik Kuivenhoven | 29.75 |
| 95 | James Wilson | 28.75 |
| 96 | Jeffrey De Zwaan | 28.5 |
| 97 | Berry van Peer | 28.25 |
| 98 | Stephen Burton | 27.25 |
| 99 | Daniel Klose | 26 |
| 100 | Ross Montgomery | 25.25 |
| 101 | Chris Landman | 24.25 |
| 102 | Tony Martinez | 23.5 |
| 103 | Darren Webster | 22.5 |
| 104 | Shaun Wilkinson | 22.5 |
| 105 | Andy Boulton | 22.25 |
| 106 | Karel Sedlacek | 22 |
| 107 | Owen Bates | 21.5 |
| 108 | Devon Petersen | 21.5 |
| 109 | Damian Mol | 21.25 |
| 110 | Arron Monk | 20 |
| 111 | Jurjen van der Velde | 19.75 |
| 112 | Luc Peters | 18.5 |
| 113 | Robert Owen | 18 |
| 114 | Jeffrey Sparidaans | 18 |
| 115 | Pascal Rupprecht | 18 |
| 116 | Cam Crabtree | 17 |
| 117 | Kevin Burness | 16.75 |
| 118 | Jamie Clark | 16 |
| 119 | Graham Usher | 15.75 |
| 120 | Fallon Sherrock | 15.5 |
| 121 | Josh Payne | 15.5 |
| 122 | Graham Hall | 15.5 |
| 123 | Marko Kantele | 13.75 |
| 124 | Nick Kenny | 13.75 |
| 125 | Adam Smith-Neale | 13.75 |
| 126 | Thibault Tricole | 13.5 |
| 127 | Geert Nentjes | 13.5 |
| 128 | Wesley Plaisier | 13.25 |
| 129 | Darryl Pilgrim | 12.75 |
| 130 | Haruki Muramatsu | 12.5 |
| 131 | Ronny Huybrechts | 12.25 |
| 132 | Dom Taylor | 11.25 |
| 133 | Owen Roelofs | 11 |
| 134 | Nick Fullwell | 10.25 |
| 135 | Jeffrey de Graaf | 10 |
| 136 | Dragutin Horvat | 10 |
| 137 | Luke Littler | 10 |
| 138 | Adam Warner | 10 |
| 139 | Danny van Trijp | 9.5 |
| 140 | Vladimir Andersen | 9.5 |
| 141 | Jelle Klaasen | 9 |
| 142 | Robbie Knops | 8.75 |
| 143 | Beau Greaves | 8 |
| 144 | Callum Goffin | 7.75 |
| 145 | Nico Kurz | 7.75 |
| 146 | Alex Spellman | 7.5 |
| 146 | Ben Robb | 7.5 |
| 146 | Bhav Patel | 7.5 |
| 146 | Darren Penhall | 7.5 |
| 146 | David Cameron | 7.5 |
| 146 | Haupai Puha | 7.5 |
| 146 | Lourence Ilagan | 7.5 |
| 146 | Man Lok Leung | 7.5 |
| 146 | Mikuru Suzuki | 7.5 |
| 146 | Norman Madhoo | 7.5 |
| 146 | Paolo Nebrida | 7.5 |
| 146 | Reynaldo Rivera | 7.5 |
| 146 | Sandro Eric Sosing | 7.5 |
| 146 | Simon Adams | 7.5 |
| 146 | Tomoya Goto | 7.5 |
| 146 | Wessel Nijman | 7.5 |
| 146 | Xiao Chen Zong | 7.5 |
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Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- And why should he listen to you?Deduce635807-11-2026
- Ultimately it is a bye for whoever draws Barney. It will be another stroppy and sulky performance once he goes behind. Barney was excellent but really must completely call it a day now.richieburnettrocks07-11-2026
- I'm disappointed he was not able to secure a spot at the Grand Slam. With Carl Sneyd taking care of Daryl Gurney, he would have had to beat Andy Boulton before facing the winner of Sneyd vs Mensur Suljović for a Grand Slam spot. Unfortunately, after beating Filip Bereza comfortably, he succumbed to Boulton, and the board would ultimately be won by the highly inconsistent Carl Sneyd. Since he could instead have been drawn against the likes of Cristo Reyes, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Stephen Bunting, I think once Gurney was out of the picture he would have been favourite to win his board, and it seems like a massive missed opportunity to put 5 grand on his ranking and seal another major TV appearance ahead of the Worlds. The highs and lows of following Raymond van Barneveld!Deduce635806-11-2026
- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026