Two Premier League Stars To Miss Darts Tournaments as Full Entry List Announced

Josh Rock and Jonny Clayton will both miss the opening two tournaments of the 2026 season following their invitations to the Premier League.

Rock and Clayton were two of the four additional players invited to play in the Premier League, alongside Stephen Bunting and Gerwyn Price.

Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen and Michael van Gerwen all earned automatic entries via their position in the top four of the two-year PDC Order of Merit.

The first night of the Premier League takes place on February 5, which, in a departure from previous years, means it is played before the first Players Championship event of the new season.

In January, the World Series of Darts kicks off for 2026, with events in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

The events are all ranking tournaments, but use a separate ranking system to the main Order of Merit.

There is a total £100,000 prize pot on offer for each World Series event, with £30,000 going to the winner.

The World Series of Darts Finals event is held in September, offering £80,000 for the winner from a prize pot of £400,000.

It consists of the top eight players on the yearly World Series Order of Merit, the top four players on the PDC Order of Merit and a number of additional qualifiers.

The first events of the year are contested between eight PDC representatives - generally the majority of, if not all, the eight Premier League players - and eight representatives from the country or region that the event is being contested in.

The PDC have announced that neither Rock nor Clayton will be participating in Bahrain or Saudi Arabia.

World number 10 Danny Noppert and world number 14 Nathan Aspinall, who both missed out on Premier League selection, have been chosen to compete instead.

Ryan Searle (ranked at No.8) is a notable omission, while James Wade (ranked No.11) is also not on the list.

Eight Asian representatives have been invited to play in the two events, including the charismatic Motomu Sakai - who became a cult hero at the World Championship after his iconic walk-on - Laurence Ilagan and 71-year-old Paul Lim.

Local stars Abdulla Saaed and Basem Mahmood will play in Bahrain, before being replaced by Paolo Nebrida and Tomoya Goto in Saudi.

Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Darts Masters entrants

Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Darts Masters

• Luke Littler (PDC)
• Luke Humphries (PDC)
• Gian van Veen (PDC)
• Michael van Gerwen (PDC)
• Stephen Bunting (PDC)
• Danny Noppert (PDC)
• Gerwyn Price (PDC)

The 2026 Bahrain Darts Masters gets underway next week! 🌴

Here's confirmation of the 16 players that will battle it out from January 15-16, in the first World Series event of 2026! 🙌

👉 https://t.co/cQjewFXarj pic.twitter.com/8baB4QQejK

— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 7, 2026

• Nathan Aspinall (PDC)
• Alexis Toylo (Asia)
• Laurence Ilagan (Asia)
• Motomu Sakai (Asia)
• Ryusei Azemoto (Asia)
• Paul Lim (Asia)
• Man Lok Leung (Asia)

Bahrain only

• Abdulla Saeed (Asia/local)
• Basem Mahmood (Asia/local)

Saudi Arabia only

• Paolo Nebrida (Asia)
• Tomoya Goto (Asia)