Michael Smith and Dimitri Van den Bergh to miss out on the World Grand Prix: the reasons behind their absence

Despite a downturn in form over those two years, 2025 is the year in which people have started to question Smith's future in the sport. Tumbling outside the top 16 after failing to defend the huge majority of his World Champs and Grand Slam winnings, his continued struggle with injuries took its toll. He is struggling with arthritis in his right wrist, culminating from breaking both his wrists when he was 19, as well as a grade two acromioclavicular joint injury in his shoulder.

These have caught up with him, and have seen him endure a barren run of results. Since reaching the UK Open quarter-final, he has failed to accumulate enough prize money to qualify for the World Matchplay for the first time since 2013. The prize money not collected in has had a kick on effect, leaving him in peril of missing out of the World Grand Prix for the first time since 2013.

His Pro Tour and European Tour had been pretty lacklustre, reaching two semi-finals and a quarter-final on the floor among many early round exits, as well as just one quarter-final in Europe. Before the final two European Tour events in Budapest and Basel before the World Grand Prix, Smith was not automatically in. He would need to qualify for at least one of them and go on a deep run to catapult him up into the qualifying spaces.

He failed to qualify for both, forcing him to miss out on not just the event at Leicester, but the European Championships. Uncertain times for the former World number one.

Van den Bergh also missing out

Just under 18 months ago, the Belgian won his second major title. Now, he is missing out on yet another big TV tournament. But unlike Smith, it is not just due to his form on the oche.

He made it to the World Grand Prix semi-final last year, losing out to eventual winner Mike De Decker. He lost out early in the World Championships, but made it to the World Masters semi-final, confirming that he was playing some good darts. However, due to personal reasons, we have not seen the former Matchplay champion as much as we would have hoped.

Van den Bergh revealed that he started to experience burnout with darts and travelling, opting to take an elongated break from the sport due to the packed and demanding schedule. Adding to that, he has shifted his focus from darts to being a father after welcoming his second daughter in July, taking time off the tour to spend more time with his family.

This has led to the predictable outcome of him missing out on the TV major in October for the first time since 2018, ending six years in a row of featuring. It was not close, ranked 81st in the Pro Tour Order of Merit in the World Grand Prix race. He has not featured in a Euro Tour event since the start of April, and despite returning to the floor, he has not set the world alight, failing to go past the first round in the last four events.

It is unlikely we will see the Belgian until the World Championships at the end of the year, hopefully rejuvenated and prepared for a big 2026.