Darts Star Retires Days Before World Championship After Dig At PDC President
A former darts star has announced his retirement from darts before the start of the 2026 World Darts Championship.
The tournament gets underway at Alexandra Palace on December 11.
Reigning champion Luke Littler will play on opening night as he gets his defence of the Sid Waddell Trophy underway against Darius Labanauskas.
There are 128 players competing for the world crown, with a record £5 million prize pot - including £1 million for the winner - on offer.
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One player who will not be there is Dutch star Vincent van der Voort, who lost his PDC tour card in 2024.
Prior to failing to qualify for the 2024 tournament, he had competed at every World Championship since 2008.
In 2011, he reached the quarter-finals before losing to eventual champion Adrian Lewis, before losing to Phil Taylor at the same stage in 2015.
The 49-year-old, who has been playing on the Seniors tour since dropping off the PDC tour, announced last month that he would not enter the qualifying stage for this year's World Championship.
Speaking on his podcast, 'Darts Draait Door', Van der Voort explained: "I've played a couple of demos in recent weeks and then I just notice that I have too much trouble with the body.
"I'm not going there [the qualifiers] because I like it so much, or because I want to see all those people. So then we're just going to follow it."
Now, the Dutchman has officially called time on his professional darts career.
He told De Telegraaf: "I just noticed that the pain came back quickly from my back, knees and neck while I had a lot of rest. I don't feel like playing with pain anymore.
"I had hoped to be able to come back, but apparently the body is too rickety.
"I told my wife and Michael van Gerwen, who was also with me. He saw how much pain I was in. He thinks it's a shame, of course, but that's the way it is.
"It's not the easiest decision, because I've done it all my life. I started playing darts when I was about nine years old. I'm used to being under pressure and playing matches.
"The realisation that I have stopped for good may still have to sink in a bit, but I am at peace with it."
Last year, 'The Dutch Destroyer' took aim at the sport's organisers, Matchroom Sport, and their president Barry Hearn, who was chairman of the PDC up until 2021.
On Hearn, he said: "He's a great businessman. He has really been an icon for the sport of darts. In terms of business, we couldn't have wished for a better one.
"But as a person, a bigger ashtray does not exist. On a personal level he is a terrible person, I think."
Hearn, 77, would later respond: "I can honestly say I have no bloody idea why he's said this.
"I don't think I've spoken to Vincent for at least two or three years anyway. I appreciate he's coming to the end of his career, and I wish him, God bless, in anything he does."
But in May, Van der Voort again criticised the Matchroom chief, telling Pluto TV (via Daily Express) that he is 'full of himself' and suggesting he should take the opinions of PDC players on board more often when making key decisions.
Topics: Darts, World Darts Championship
Ryan Smart