Following extensive consultation with the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), the World Darts Federation (WDF) can convey a player eligibility update for the 2023 WDF Lakeside World Championships.
The PDC's Board of Directors have informed us that they will not allow anyone that plays at Lakeside between December 2nd-10th 2023 to also compete at the 2024 PDC World Championship later in the month. As such, players, both male and female, and including youth players, that qualify for both tournaments will have to make a decision on which World Championships they intend to play in.
The WDF will, over the coming weeks, communicate directly with those players that qualify for both tournaments in order to determine their decisions. Should a player decline their Lakeside invitation, they will be replaced using the following process.
- If one of the player's routes of qualification for Lakeside was through the WDF Regional Tables, the WDF will extend the invitation to the next highest ranked player only from that Regional Table as of Monday October 30 2023. If the next highest ranked player only has already qualified for Lakeside or they decline their invitation, the invitation will be extended to the highest ranked eligible player in the Main Ranking Table that has not qualified as of Monday October 30 2023.
- If the player did not qualify through the WDF Regional Tables, their invitation will be extended directly to the highest ranked player from the Main Ranking Table that has not qualified as of Monday 30 October 2023.
Should any player(s) deemed as a seed on 31st December 2022 decline their invitation for the 2023 WDF World Championship, the highest ranked player(s) from the WDF Main Ranking Table on Monday 30 October 2023 not already recognised as being seeded shall be declared as the lowest ranked seed(s).
Should any player that qualified for the final stages of either of the youth World Championships subsequently decline their invitation, they will be replaced by the highest ranked player(s) from the relevant WDF Main Youth Ranking Table on Monday 30th October.
WDF Secretary General Nick Rolls said: "We were very disappointed to receive the PDC's ruling.
"It has continually been the belief of the WDF that players should be eligible to play in both tournaments as they have met the qualification criteria for both tournaments. We have made this case to the PDC, particularly for the female players who we believe should have the opportunity to play in their own World Championships.
"We know that both Beau Greaves and Luke Littler have already qualified for both the WDF and PDC World Championships and we have been in communication with them both about their decisions.
"While Beau is taking some more time to consider her options, Luke has indicated to the WDF that he has chosen to play in the 2024 PDC World Championships. As he has declined his Lakeside invitation, we will follow the rules detailed on the WDF website to determine his replacement. These rules have been structured to ensure that the regions and countries that support the WDF system are suitably represented in our World Championships.
"When decisions are made by any other players concerned, we will share these publicly at the earliest opportunity."
On confirming that he has chosen to play in the 2024 PDC World Championship, Luke said "I want to say a massive thank you to the WDF for the opportunities I've had to play around Europe and on the Lakeside stage in the 2022 World Championships. I think the experience I've gained through playing in and winning tournaments with literally hundreds of entries will set me up nicely for my career in darts.
"It is sad that I won't be able to take up the challenge of playing in the WDF Lakeside World Championships, but I wish all of the players and the WDF team every success at Lakeside and in the future".
The WDF Executive would like to wish Luke every success in his future darting endeavours and is very proud to have played a part in the development of a player that could quite literally go to the very top of the sport that we all love.
Further information about the 2023 WDF Lakeside World Championships, including the date of the draw and the prize fund, will be revealed during the WDF World Cup in Denmark on Monday, September 25th.
