AMID the excitement of the Premier League Darts line-up being unveiled, spare a thought for players at the other end of the PDC Tour.
New world champion Luke Littler leads the eight-star Prem selection – while in contrast 31 players have LOST their Tour card.
GettyTwo-time ex-world champ Adrian Lewis is the biggest name out[/caption]
GettyAussie ace Simon Whitlock is another well-known face bowing out[/caption]
Veteran Mervyn King held a tour card from 2007 until nowRex
The big drop from the sport’s top 64 means going back to school for many.
This month’s Q-School, to be precise – a second-tier tournament involving a mix of up-and-comers and coming-downers.
Suffering the Tour chop might be most cruel for those players who in just the last few weeks were competing in the World Championship.
But the biggest name exiting the elite is no surprise.
That’s two-time ex-world champ Adrian Lewis, who has pretty much stopped playing since April 2023 and didn’t feature at the Ally Pally this time around.
Lewis, 39, has spent time out to help care for his ill wife Sarah, but has also suggested he hopes to return to top-level darts at some stage.
In fact, this year he’ll contest the MODUS Super Series, a leading event for non-PDC players.
In all, 31 stars from the 2024 Tour have not made it this year.
FULL LIST OF WHO’S DROPPING OUT
HERE are the 31 players who were on the 2024 Tour but are not part of this year’s elite.
Karel Sedlacek
Boris Krcmar
Simon Whitlock
Lee Evans
Jamie Hughes
Jeffrey de Zwaan
Mervyn King
Maik Kuivenhoven
Adam Gawlas
Rowby-John Rodriguez
Daniel Klose
Keegan Brown
Jeffrey Sparidaans
Graham Hall
Vincent van der Voort
Arron Monk
Graham Usher
Jurjen van der Velde
Pascal Rupprecht
Josh Payne
Owen Roelofs
Danny van Trijp
Callum Goffin
Adam Warner
Geert Nentjes
Adam Smith-Neale
Ronny Huybrechts
Robbie Knops
Christian Perez
Jacques Labre
Adrian Lewis
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That includes Double Dutch woe – as Vincent van der Voort and Jeffrey de Zwaan miss out.
Aussie ace “The Wizard” Simon Whitlock has wandered off, the 55-year-old with the distinctive long beard having most famously reached the 2010 World Championship final.
Mervyn King, 58, a former World No 4 and on the Tour since 2007, has also been unseated.
Meanwhile, as many players dream of returning to the cream, they can cast an envious eye to the gr-eight group at the top end of the sport.
Alongside Littler in the 17-week Premier League will be 2024 world champ Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, Rob Cross, Stephen Bunting, Gerwyn Price, Chris Dobey and Nathan Aspinall.
Stay up to date with all the fallout from the World Darts Championship with SunSport’s LIVE blog
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