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Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Darts, Luke Littler
James Taylor
A current Premier League Darts star could be stripped of his spot in the next edition of the competition after a disaster at the World Matchplay at Winter Gardens.
Luke Littler triumphed in Blackpool, firmly establishing himself as the dominant force in darts.
His 18-13 victory over James Wade in Sunday's final meant he became just the fifth player ever to complete the darts Triple Crown.
Still just 18 years old, Littler has already won the Matchplay, Premier League and the World Championship.
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Although Littler continued his impressive rise at the weekend, not all of the game's star players had a successful time at the World Matchplay.
Nathan Aspinall, who finished third in this year's Premier League league table, suffered a shock early exit in the first round.
His loss to Wessel Nijman proved costly and seen him drop 16 places in the PDC rankings, and he now sits 23rd in the world.
For Aspinall, who has reached the Premier League semi-finals and won two European Tour competitions this year, the drop is a significant setback.
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The ranking slide leaves him with a lot of work to do if he wants to qualify for next year's Premier League.
Qualification for the Premier League is a combination of automatic spots and discretionary picks.
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The top four players on the PDC Order of Merit earn automatic qualification.
The order is determined by prize money earned over the previous two years.
The remaining four spots are then at the discretion of the PDC and broadcasters.
Although they tend to choose players who are among the best in the world, they consider other factors such as personality and marketability.
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For the 2025 competition, Luke Humphries, Littler, Michael van Gerwen and Rob Cross were automatic qualifiers.
The four wildcard entries were Gerwyn Price, Stephen Bunting, Chris Dobey and Aspinall, who was a controversial pick at the time as he was ranked 11th in the world.
It meant higher ranked players missed out, including Dave Chisnall, who was ranked sixth and Damon Heta who was ranked eighth.
Given Aspinall's drop to 23rd in the PDC Order of Merit, his chances of being selected are slim if he is unable to improve his form in the second half of the year.
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Currently his prize money stands at £333,250, which is significantly behind the current world number 11 Josh Rock, who has earned £481,750.
It leaves Aspinall in a difficult spot if he wants to return for next year's Premier League.