Following his recent qualification for the PDC World Championship, Ben Robb has informed the WDF that he will be declining his Lakeside invitation in order to play at Alexandra Palace.
After making his decision, Robb said: “I’d like to thank the WDF for all they’ve done to help me push my game forward.
"I got the chance to play at the WDF World Cup in Denmark recently and came away with New Zealand's first ever Men's Pairs Gold medal along with my great friend Haupai Puha. We were also delighted to pick up a Silver in the Men's Overall category alongside Darren Herewini and Brian Corbett.
"It’s a real shame that I can’t play at both Lakeside and at the Ally Pally, but I’ve chosen to play in the PDC as I feel it’s the right thing for where I’m at in my career."
As one of Robb's Lakeside qualification routes was through the New Zealand regional table, WDF rules state that the first port of call for replacing him in the tournament is through the next highest ranked player only in that table.
With only one tournament in the region to go this season, Jonny Tata has an unassailable lead in third place. As Tata has already qualified for the 2023 WDF Lakeside World Championships, Robb's replacement in the field will now be the next highest ranked eligible player from the Main Ranking Table on Monday, October 30th.
Robb, like Luke Littler, was set to be a seed at Lakeside. In accordance with the WDF's rules, the highest ranked players from the WDF Main Ranking Table on Monday 30 October 2023 not already recognised as being seeded shall be declared as the lowest ranked seeds.
That means that there are currently six places up for grabs from the main table and as of today, October 12th, those spots are occupied by:
Liam Maendl-Lawrance
Danny Porter
Berry van Peer
Leonard Gates
Jordan Brooks
Aaron Turner
However, with 11 events still to go before the end of season cut-off on October 30th, there's still a lot to play for.
