WHITE SLAMS EURO TOUR FORMAT AND REVEALS RETIREMENT PLAN

IAN WHITE has labelled the current Euro Tour qualification system “wrong” even though it has worked in his favour this season.

The top 16 in the world rankings now receive byes straight into the second round, whilst the top 16 from the ProTour Order of Merit enter in round one. 

For all other players, this means coming through three qualifying rounds just to reach the first round and then winning again to face one of the seeded players. 

White remains convinced that the system is not fair. 

He told Darts Planet TV: “The way they changed the system to get to these Europeans now, I don’t know, I think it’s wrong.

“They should have kept it the way it was and the people that turn up every tournament get rewarded for what they’re doing.  

“But if it had been the old way, I probably wouldn’t have gotten to the three tournaments that I’ve been in up to now because I’ve had call-ups. 

“It’s probably gone in my favour, even though I don’t like the system that it’s running at. 

“I’ve got another European coming up, I’m doing quite well this year. I’ve got through to a few, I’ve had three call-ups. So, everything’s looking rosy at the moment.” 

The Diamond has enjoyed a stellar career, winning 13 ProTour titles and reaching the quarter-finals of the World Championship. 

White will look to add to his tally when he competes at the Austrian Darts Open on May 8, having qualified through the Tour Card Holder Qualifier route. 

He added: “Winning them is success, I want to win them. 

“I think over the years that I’ve been up there, I play all these games and go on and win them. It’s harder now, so you just take each game at a time. 

“All the Europeans I have played in have been special. Sindelfingen last week, I’ve won that one before. At the time, there were top players that were playing good darts and I was one of them. 

“I really enjoyed everything that happened then. But now, there are a lot more good players, aren’t there?” 

The world No.55 reached the final in Graz back in 2019 but narrowly missed out on silverware as he fell 8-7 to Michael van Gerwen. 

He added: “It’s nice memories. I really love going back to these places and I think when you’re in the top eight, ten, twelve in the world and at these tournaments all the time, you just take it for granted. 

“Once you’ve come down the rankings, only get to certain events and turn up at places like Austria or Germany, you start appreciating it more and what you’ve done. It’s great to go back.” 

White has endured a difficult start to the season, failing to get past the first round in his last three Euro Tour events and not getting past the third round at a Players Championship.

But the Stoke-on-Trent thrower remains confident his form will soon turn around.

He continued: “It’s been slow this year, but it’s starting to pick up now, which I knew it would. It always does every year. 

“At the beginning, everyone’s turning up and playing good darts because you’ve got a first tour card.  

“Then, you just keep playing and getting better and better, and the season’s just getting better for me.”

White, 55, is one of the sport’s veterans, but the increased prize money could persuade him to extend his career for as long as possible. 

He said: “Of course! You can go and have a half-decent year and earn £50,000 to £100,000 a year. You know what I mean? 

“That’s good money for what we’re doing and a job that we all enjoy doing. All the dart players love playing darts, otherwise they wouldn’t be doing it. They’re not doing it just because they have to. 

“I want to stay there as long as I can and hopefully I can move away from where I am at the moment.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.