Dave Chisnall breaks silence after missing out on 2025 Premier League Darts and makes feelings clear on PDC picks
Dave Chisnall has made his feelings clear after missing out on selection for the 2025 Premier League Darts competition.
The PDC announced the eight players that would be competing in this year's event on Monday, with Luke Humphries, Luke Littler, Michael van Gerwen and Rob Cross all chosen due to their position on the two-year Order of Merit.
The Premier League is not a ranking event, so the other four players were chosen by the PDC rather than strictly by the next four Order of Merit placings.
Had the latter been the deciding factor, Chisnall would be one of the eight players playing in the competition as he is currently in sixth place in the world rankings.
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But while rankings do have a significant part to play - they do, of course, signal how well a player has played over the last 12 to 24 months - a player's performance at the World Championship, darts' biggest stage, will likely have had influence too.
Chisnall was knocked out in round two at Alexandra Palace, alongside World Grand Prix winner Mike De Decker - who was scathing of the PDC's decision not to select him for the Premier League.
Dimitri van den Bergh, meanwhile, won the UK Open and had an largely strong season in majors elsewhere - a significant exception being the worlds, where he was knocked out in round three in straight sets by Callan Rydz and never looked like challenging.
The other four players selected for the Premier League were Stephen Bunting, Chris Dobey, Gerwyn Price and Nathan Aspinall - with all four reaching at least the quarter-finals of the World Championship.
While Bunting and Dobey both enjoyed successful seasons, there were question marks by some fans over the inclusion of Price and Aspinall due to their lack of success in 2024.
And Chisnall has weighed in with his thoughts on the situation.
In his column for betting agency Kwiff, 'Chizzy' - who lost to Ricky Evans at Ally Pally - explained: "The Premier League line-up was hardly surprising this week, but you'd have to be gutted if you were someone like a Mike De Decker or Damon Heta.
"I never expected to get a phone call - despite being world number six - because of how poor I've been on TV this year, but Mike can feel let down after his great run at the World Grand Prix.
"Damo is another who I think can feel unlucky, whilst it's good to see Chris Dobey and Stephen Bunting rewarded with a spot."
He continued: "It seems like something of a changing of the guard with no Michael Smith and no Peter Wright, whilst Nathan Aspinall and Gerwyn Price can both feel a bit lucky in my opinion to be involved this year.
"Gezzy has had a lot going on and struggled in 2024, while Nathan has done similarly.
"His [Aspinall's] run to the quarter-finals of the worlds probably got him involved, that and everybody loving his Mr Brightside theme song.
"It's a great entrance, but it should be about the darts, and not your walk-on that gets you involved in these big competitions.
"Nothing against them personally, as they're both great lads and [I] get on well with [them], but it should be about your actions on the dartboard, not on a song and a dance."
Full 2025 Premier League Darts line-up
The following eight players will be competing in the Premier League Darts competition, which gets underwa yin February and runs for 17 weeks.
- Luke Humphries (England)
- Luke Littler (England)
- Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands)
- Rob Cross (England)
- Stephen Bunting (England)
- Gerwyn Price (Wales)
- Chris Dobey (England)
- Nathan Aspinall (England)
Topics: Darts
Ryan Smart