Darts Player In Danger of Losing PDC Tour Card After World Championship Results

A darts player is in danger of losing his PDC tour card for 2026 after the latest set of World Championship results.

The tournament at Alexandra Palace is heading towards the quarter-final stage, with the likes of Jonny Clayton, Ryan Searle and defending champion Luke Littler already having booked their spots in the last eight.

There is a total prize pot of £5 million on offer at the tournament, with £1 million for the winner.

That allows players to make big gains in the world rankings, with the prize pot significantly higher for the World Championship than any other tournament.

It also represents the final opportunity for players lower down the rankings to either cement their place in the top 64 or make a late charge towards it.

The PDC operates a two-year Order of Merit system, meaning each result achieved after the 2024 World Championship counts towards the rankings.

That is a major help to newer players who didn't play in the 2024 tournament, and therefore do not have any prize money to 'defend' - but it can have the opposite effect as well.

Germany's Florian Hempel, for instance, was ranked 56th before the 2026 tournament got underway but suffered the double blow of both failing to qualify for the worlds and having his £25,000 earned from 2024 removed from the rankings.

That has meant that Hempel, who had been on the tour since 2021, slipped out of the top 64 before the tournament even started and will now have to go to Q-School to win his card back.

Andreas Harryson, who is not a tour card holder, could have earned his tour card with a win over Jonny Clayton on Tuesday but lost 4-2.

Jelle Klaasen, Matt Campbell, Steve Lennon and Jose de Sousa are among the players to have lost their tour cards, either by their lack of progress in the World Championship or by failing to qualify altogether.

There is now only one player that could still theoretically lose their tour card after the World Championship ends.

Welsh dartist Rob Owen currently occupies 64th place in the rankings, having been another player that did not make it to Ally Pally.

Owen could have been deposed much earlier in the tournament, but watched on from home as the likes of Darren Beveridge, Andreas Harrysson and Wesley Plaisier failed to overtake him.

His fate, therefore, depended the outcome of the last 16 match between debutant Charlie Manby and Gian van Veen.

Manby could have overtaken Owen with a win and caused him to lose his tour card, but he lost 4-1 to world number six Van Veen.

That means Belgium's Mario Vandenbogaerde is the first player outside of the top 64 set to lose his PDC tour card.

Vandenbogaerde qualified for the World Championship but lost 3-0 to David Davies in round one.

In an unusual scenario, however, his position in the top 64 could yet be saved.

That is because Dom Taylor, who is ranked at world number 60, earned £25,000 in prize money for reaching the second round.

However, Taylor was suspended from darts, and therefore the tournament, after it was announced that he failed a drugs test following his first round win over Oskar Lukasiak.

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The PDC are yet to announce whether Taylor will retain his prize money earned during the tournament.

If Taylor were to lose his ranking points, he would fall behind Vandenbogaerde and out of the top 64.

There is no previous precedent for action in World Darts Championship history, but the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA)'s rulebook, published in January 2024, states: "A Doping Offence in connection with a Tournament automatically leads to Disqualification of the individual result obtained by the Player in that Tournament with all resulting consequences, including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes."

The DRA stated on December 19 that Taylor had been suspended but confirmed it would be making no further comment pending the outcome of a confidential disciplinary process.