Gian Van Veen was crowned Darts youth world champion recently, winning the title for the second year running, but his title sparked debate.
The PDC Development tour has an age range of 16-24, but despite it being a tour for ‘developing players’, tour card holders who are ranked top 64 and above are allowed to play if their age range fits.
Despite this, all players in the correct age bracket can participate in the Youth World Championships, meaning top 64 players whose are align automatically qualify with a seeded place in the tournament.
In this piece i speak to Professional Darts commentator Henry Deacon about his opinions on the matter.
As well as deacon, I sat with PDC Development tour title winner Tyler Thorpe, who ranked 19th on the tour this year and made it to the last 16 of the worlds, eventually losing out to three time womans world champions Beau Greaves.
The final player i spoke to was Falkland Island resident Temis Smith, who will be making his debut on the tour in 2026, he welcomed the challenge by saying “there’s players who are in the environment for the first time, playing the higher caliber players helps you improve.”
Listen here!
