Lewis explains why he is snubbing Q-School

ADRIAN LEWIS has ruled out going back for a Tour Card as he plots a gradual return to competitive darts.

The two-time world champ has been out of the professional game since April 2023.

Lewis, 41, has since returned to playing exhibitions and represented England alongside Steve Beaton at last year’s International Pairs on the MODUS Super Series.

Jackpot insists he does not want to make the trip to Q-School in Milton Keynes in January, preferring instead to test himself on other PDC secondary tours.

He told Oche180: “I haven’t got any fully fledged commitments. I think what I am doing at the minute is just building myself back up.

“Even if I could go back and get my Tour Card, I don’t really want to do that at this time.

“What I would rather do is build myself back up doing Challenge Tours and just working my way back into the competition side again first.

“And just enjoy it. I don’t want to get a Tour Card and be like, oh, in six months’ time I regret my decision.

“I want to play in the competition side of things again first and just see how I fare and where my game is at.”

Lewis revealed there were several factors behind his decision to step away, including the pressure on his family.

He added: “It was a number of things really. One, I think I needed a break mentally. That was important to me.

“As people know, my wife has got an incurable kidney disease, so we spent a lot of time in hospital.

“My daughter has got a number of things from ADHD to autism, high-level needs. I was away five or six days a week and sometimes I would think, what am I doing here.

“That was off the bat as well. So I thought, right, I need a break and then we will put the reset button on and push on from there.

“It was tough because it was the only thing I knew when I first left the building trade from school.

“That is the only thing I have ever known, so it was tough. I knew mentally at that time I needed a break.

“To be fair, a couple months before I stepped away I won a ProTour and that is no easy feat.

“I wasn’t like my form was bad. I was just too in and out because my mind was too up and down.

“It’s not great now, but I am just battling on really.”

Adrian Lewis is an ambassador for Target Darts

Words: Aaron Nijjar

Image: Taylor Lanning