DARTS ACE BLASTS WHITLOCK INCLUSION AT WORLD SERIES FINALS
01/09/2025 By Aaron Nijjar
VINCENT VAN DER VOORT has blasted the PDC’s invitation policy for the World Series of Darts Finals.
Former UK Open finalist Van der Voort believes the current invite system “makes no sense at all” and claimed the event lacks credibility outside of the sport’s biggest names.
The playing field of the major includes the top eight of the World Series of Darts rankings, and a further 16 players, which are a mix of invited players by the PDC and qualifiers.
But the Dutchman reckons spots are being wasted on names like Simon Whitlock.
He said: “It makes no sense at all.
“You don’t take your own tournament seriously.
“Take Simon Whitlock, for example – he gets an invitation despite not having achieved anything.
“It’s just about the eight top names; the rest is pure padding.”
Former European champ Whitlock lost his Tour Card after missing out on this year’s World Championship – ending his 15-year run at Alexandra Palace.
‘The Wizard’ endured a horror 2024 campaign, failing to reach a single ProTour quarter-final and crashing out of the qualification race for five PDC ranked televised events.
Aussie thrower Whitlock switched focus to the Seniors Circuit before it folded, but his campaign at the 2025 World Seniors Championship ended in a 3-1 first-round defeat to Paul Hogan.
Whitlock competed in the New Zealand Masters and Australian Masters last month but was knocked out at the first hurdle in both competitions.
The World Series Finals kicks off on September 12 in Amsterdam, with Luke Littler heading in as the defending champion.
Image by Taylor Lanning.
