David Davies, 40, will make his World Darts Championship debut this year after qualifying for the tournament through UK and Ireland qualifying at the start of November
An NHS worker from Wales is poised to make his debut at this year’s World Darts Championship. David Davies, 40, secured his spot in the tournament through UK and Ireland qualifying at the beginning of November.
Davies, who sits 143rd in global rankings, works as an NHS area manager from Denbigh in north Wales and has been juggling his appearances on the Challenge Tour – the PDC’s second-tier competition – alongside his full-time role.
He’s been forced to use his annual leave to participate in the Challenge Tour, which caters for players who missed out on securing a professional tour card, and this commitment has ultimately proved worthwhile.
“Work have been really supportive, I’ve just had to use annual leave,” Davies explained.
“I have used a few unpaid weeks here and there to go to different things. It’s just when you need annual leave for normal holiday stuff you’re running thin because you’ve used them all for darts.”
Davies secured his Alexandra Palace berth despite not being tipped as a likely qualifier for the tournament. “It was never on my mind at the beginning of the year, purely because I didn’t have a tour card,” Davies added.
“I like people to keep me under their radar as such, but I’m slowly building a reputation where my name is on people’s lips. I didn’t really know about the qualifier until another player mentioned it. I was sort of like ‘yeah, why not?’. I’ve been playing good darts, I’ve won a Challenge Tour this year. I knew my game was there.”
Davies has been called up for a few Players Championship events in recent months.
He made it to the last 16 of PC25 in August, defeating players like Joe Cullen before being beaten by Karel Sedlacek.
In addition to competing at the World Championship, just qualifying for the tournament guarantees Davies £15,000, even if he loses in the first round. The winner will receive a whopping £1m.
Luke Littler was crowned the 2025 world champion at Ally Pally in January, with the 18-year-old prodigy defeating Michael van Gerwen to claim the Sid Waddell Trophy.
Littler, who triumphed at the World Grand Prix in Leicester last month, is tipped to win the World Championship again this year. Luke Humphries, the current world No.1, is hot on his heels.