31 players lose PDC Tour cards in brutal cull after World Darts Championship including two-time world champion

31 players have missed out on a PDC Tour Card following the World Darts Championship – and a two-time world champion makes the list.

Luke Littler, 17, is part of the eight-player roster for the Premier League Darts, which gets underway on February 6 and will run until May 29 with several venues in the likes of the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands and Germany.

Littler, Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, Rob Cross, Stephen Bunting, Gerwyn Price, Chris Dobey and Nathan Aspinall are the stars confirmed as this year’s participants.

However, 31 other stars were not so lucky and lost their Tour Card. The Tour Card relates to the top 64 players following a World Championship.

They then hold a one-year tour card, alongside 64 other players who are entering their second year of a two-year Tour Card. As a result, the PDC has 128 tour card holders annually.

Several big names such as Mervyn King and Simon Whitlock have lost their Tour Cards but a former two-time world champion is the biggest name to suffer the chop.

Adrian Lewis has dropped out of the sport’s top 64 after not competing at the latest World Championship.

The Stoke-on-Trent-born player won back-to-back World Championships in 2011 and 2012 but has lost his way in recent years.

Adrian Lewis has lost his Tour Card (Credit:Getty)

In September 2023, Lewis, 39, revealed the reasons behind his absence from several tournaments.

"Dear all, in particular my fans, I feel that your loyalty deserves an explanation for my absence from tournaments,” he wrote on social media.

“After 20+ years I feel I need a break from the professional circuit for now. Massive thanks for the support from my fans & sponsors. Also, I'd like to thank @OfficialPDC @PDPA--darts for the opportunity and last but not least my family. Cheers folks Ade."

However, given his past achievements, some fans suggested that Lewis should be given a free pass. But the 39-year-old insisted he did not want this to be the case.

"I'd never want any handouts and I'd never ask for one," Lewis wrote on X in response to Barry Hearn’s comments about Lewis having to go back to Q school.

Q school is a qualifying school which allows darts players aged 16 or over to compete to win a PDC Tour Card.

"I've taken 21 months off the PDC circuit for my own personal reasons hence why I aren't playing at this year's world championships," he added.

31 players without Tour Card

Karel Sedlacek

Boris Krcmar

Simon Whitlock

Lee Evans

Jamie Hughes

Jeffrey de Zwaan

Mervyn King

Maik Kuivenhoven

Adam Gawlas

Rowby-John Rodriguez

Daniel Klose

Keegan Brown

Jeffrey Sparidaans

Graham Hall

Vincent van der Voort

Arron Monk

Graham Usher

Jurjen van der Velde

Pascal Rupprecht

Josh Payne

Owen Roelofs

Danny van Trijp

Callum Goffin

Adam Warner

Geert Nentjes

Adam Smith-Neale

Ronny Huybrechts

Robbie Knops

Christian Perez

Jacques Labre

Adrian Lewis