World Darts Championship: Simon Whitlock, Steve Beaton miss out in Tour Card Holder Qualifier for Alexandra Palace

Simon Whitlock will miss the Paddy Power World Darts Championship for the first time in 15 years after failing to earn a last-minute spot via a Tour Card Holder Qualifier.

The former world championship runner-up was in action at Robin Park Leisure Centre in Wigan, where the final four places for this year’s event were up for grabs ahead of the tournament taking place at the Alexandra Palace from December 15 – live on Sky Sports.

Whitlock, the fifth seed, was beaten 6-5 by Germany’s Paul Krohne in the last-32 – his opening match of the day – to leave the Australian absent from the World Championship line-up for the first time since 2009.

Jeffrey de Zwaan, Rhys Griffin and Dylan Slevin secured their World Championship spots, defeating Krohne, Adam Hunt and Marijn Dragt respectively, while Canada’s Matt Campbell beat Mervyn King in a final-leg decider to claim the last spot on offer.

Steven Beaton – the 1996 BDO world champion – will see his run of 33 consecutive World Championships ended after a final-leg loss to Darren Beveridge in the last-32, denying him a farewell appearance before retirement at the end of this year.

Former Grand Slam of Darts champion Jose de Sousa also suffered an early exit after losing 6-4 to Rhys Griffin, while World Cup of Darts runner-up Rowby-John Rodriguez and fourth seed Boris Krcmar were among the others unable to secure a spot.

Jurjen van der Velde, who missed five match darts before losing to Gian van Veen in Sunday’s PDC Winmau World Youth Championship final, saw his qualification hopes ended with a 6-2 defeat against De Zwaan.

Two-time world champion Adrian Lewis elected not to feature in the qualifier and is set to see his PDC Tour Card expire at the end of the year, meaning he will need to head to Qualifying School in January if he is to feature in PDC events next season.

When will the World Darts Championship take place?

The tournament gets under way at the Alexandra Palace on Sunday December 15, with three first-round matches and one second-round match on the opening evening.

There will be live darts over each of the following eight days, including seven afternoon sessions, with the usual three-day break from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day before returning with the third round and a double session on December 27.

The third and fourth rounds will be completed by December 30 before a night off on New Year’s Eve, with the quarter-finals held across two sessions on New Year’s Day ahead of the semi-finals on January 2 and the final on Friday January 3.

The full day-by-day schedule for this year’s tournament can be found here.

Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match exclusively live from December 15-January 3 on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.