Luke Littler's rise to superstardom means that he can no longer play on the Development Tour for at least the next two years, according to British darts player Matthew Edgar.
The teenage prodigy has taken become the biggest name in darts since his historic run to the final of the World Championship.
That result saw Littler awarded a spot in the exclusive Darts Premier League for the 2024 season.
But he also jumped up to 31st in the Order of Merit and Edgar has explained that now makes Littler ineligible to play on the Development Tour.
Luke Littler will not be able to compete on the Development Tour
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He said on YouTube: "He's going to be a bit more restricted going into 2024 and part of that comes down to the fact he's now a tour card holder.
"By being a PDC Tour card holder means he can't play in streamed events such as the Super Series, he can't play in the WDF, he can't play in the ADC tournaments.
"That's something we knew. That's something you expect being a tour card holder.
"The one thing you don't fully expect is to not be fully eligible for the Development Tour.
"The Development Tour is a tour that is made for players aged 16 to 23.
"Luke Littler does fall in that bracket... but [he's] no longer eligible.
"The reason for that is because he's now in the top 32 of the PDC Order of Merit.
"It doesn't restrict tour card holders so you will see tour card holders playing in that system unless they're in the top 32.
"Now Luke Littler is going to be in the top 32 because of the £200,000 he won at the World Championship for at least this year and next year before he drops out of there, which means we're not going to see Luke Littler back on that Development Tour until he's at least 19.
Luke Littler will be able to defend his world youth title
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"And the darts he's playing, I would dare say we're never going to see Luke Littler once again playing on that Development Tour."
Edgar, who has won four ranking titles in his darts career, then revealed that Littler would still be able to defend his world youth crown despite being blocked from playing on the Development Tour.
"Now Luke Littler is the World Youth Champion [and] he can defend that title. That's the twist in this tale," Edgar added.
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"I've looked at this and I believe my understanding of the rule was he can't play the Development Tour but he could play the World [Youth] Championship.
"I did reach out to the PDC in order to get confirmation on this ruling and the PDC have confirmed to me that Luke Littler and will be in a position to defend his World Youth Championship next year."
Edgar pointed out that the ruling wasn't specific to Littler and there was a similar situation a few years ago involving Callan Rydz who was ranked in the top 32 but still managed to play in the World Youth Championship.
