The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) highlighted the influence of Kenyan trailblazer David Munyua as it unveiled the international qualifying structure for the 2026/27 World Darts Championship.
Last December, Munyua produced one of the tournament’s biggest shocks. The 30-year-old veterinarian became the first Kenyan to compete at the event and marked his debut by defeating highly fancied Mike De Decker on December 18.
Remarkably, Munyua only began playing darts three years ago after being introduced to the sport by a friend, and had never travelled outside Africa before making his debut at Alexandra Palace.
“I’ve never experienced temperatures like this,” he told Darts News prior to his victory. “I can tell you: it was a very long flight.”
Munyua’s run ended in the second round with defeat to Kevin Doets, but his breakthrough appearance has already had a lasting impact. For the first time, two African players will now be guaranteed places at the World Championship.
The spots will be decided via the African Darts Group, with one berth awarded through a Northern African Qualifier and another via a Southern African Qualifier.
The PDC also confirmed the championship will expand to a 128-player field, with a record £5 million prize fund.
The top 40 players on the PDC Order of Merit will qualify automatically, joined by the top 40 non-qualified players from the ProTour Rankings. The remaining 48 places will be filled by international qualifiers.
In a statement, the PDC said the changes include competitors from its secondary and global affiliate tours, as well as the landmark addition of two guaranteed African spots following Munyua’s historic appearance in London.
Elsewhere, five places will go to the highest-ranked players on the PDC Asian Tour, with two more awarded to the Asian Championship finalists. The PDC China Champion, along with qualifiers from India and Japan, will also each receive a spot.
Five additional berths are allocated to players from the Championship Darts Corporation circuit, while three will go to competitors from the Nordic and Baltic region.
As in previous years, four women will qualify for Alexandra Palace — the Women’s World Matchplay champion plus the top three players from the Women’s Series Rankings.
The top three players on both the Development Tour and Challenge Tour Rankings, along with the PDC World Youth Champion, will also secure qualification. A minimum of two further players will earn places through the Tour Card Holder Qualifier.
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