Luke Littler Banned From PDC Event After Winning World Darts Championship
Littler is not the only player affected by the rule.
Luke Littler is ineligible to play in a PDC event next year despite winning the 2026 World Darts Championship.
Littler reached the final at Alexandra Palace for a third consecutive year, facing fellow youngster Gian van Veen in this last match of the 2026 competition.
Despite initially falling 1-0 behind as Van Veen made a promising start to the match, Littler showed why he's the best in the world as he comfortably went on to win the match 7-1.
After enjoying a sudden rise right to the top of darts, the 18-year-old remains world number one, ahead of former rival Luke Humphries and fellow 2026 finalist Van Veen.
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The Englishman initially earned his PDC tour card for 2024 by finishing in second place in the Development Tour behind Van Veen.
Two years later, Littler and Van Veen met in the final of the World Championship on Saturday night.
But after his dominant performance in the Ally Pally, Littler immediately became ineligible to compete on the Development Tour, despite the event being open to players under the age of 23.
That is because all players who are ranked among the top 32 on the PDC's two-year Order of Merit are not permitted to play in Development Tour events.
However, Littler, who was 31st at the end of 2025 before further climbing the rankings, can still enter the World Youth Championship.
He entered the tournament this year, losing 6-5 in legs in the semi-finals to Beau Greaves.
Despite this, even if Littler was eligible to play on the Development Tour, it is almost certain that he would choose not to do so.
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The events are often held on the same week as Players Championship tournaments and, coupled with the Premier League schedule for Littler and potentially Van Veen, they would have to significantly increase their workload to compete in all three.
The highest-ranked player on the 2025 Development Tour, Cam Crabtree, earned £17,775 in prize money across the year solely from those events. That money, however, does not count towards the main Order of Merit.
Littler, by contrast, has earned £954,500 on the Order of Merit, a figure that could rise to as high as £1.354 million if he wins the World Championship.
Topics: Luke Littler, Darts, World Darts Championship
Ryan Smart