James Wilson and Jose Justicia regained their PDC Tour Cards on Wednesday, in coming through their respective Q School fields in the UK and Europe, with the Final Stage commencing in Milton Keynes and Niedernhausen.
The opening three days of Q School saw players battle it out in Stage One to secure spots in the Final Stage, with 48 automatic places given out, 24 in each field, with the remaining spots going to players via the Order of Merit.
UK Q School
Former BDO World Number One, James Wilson, who lost his Tour Card at the end of 2021, regained it back at the first time of asking in coming through six matches to reach the decider, in recording victories over Shaun Griffiths, Lewis Dare, Shaun Wilkinson, Gary Blades, Kevin Burness and George Killington, to set up a clash with Cameron Menzies in the final.
The decider began with the pair holding throw for the opening two legs, each hitting 16 darters, before Wilson took complete control of the tie, in rattling off five legs in succession to deny Menzies, and seal a 6-1 victory and secure his Tour Card back for at least two years.
Menzies’ run to the decider saw him record victories over Simon Stevenson, Darren Johnson, Kai Fan Leung, Jordan Brooks, Lee Budgen and Richie Burnett, as he sits top of the Order of Merit on 5 points going into Day Two.
European Q School
Spain’s Jose Justicia regained his PDC Tour Card back after a two-year absence, which saw him lose it at the end of 2019. The Spaniard dropped just 10 legs in reaching the decider, after recording victories over Frank Peters, Jesus Noguera, Dragutin Horvat, Derk Telnekes, Daniel Jansen and Damian Mol, to set up a clash with Mario Vandenbogaerde.
Justicia didn’t give the Belgian a sniff in the final, as he rattled off six legs, without fail, with winning legs coming in 17,14,13,14,14 and 14 darts respectively, to seal the win and secure his Tour Card back for at least two years.
Vandenbogaerde’s run to the final saw him record victories over Patrick Bulen, Stephan Griese, Thibault Tricole, Radek Szaganski, Ricardo Pietreczko and Vladimir Anderson, as he sits on 5 points going into Day Two, as he bids to win a Tour Card for the first time in his career.
Elsewhere, the day also saw Josh Payne fire in a perfect leg at UK Q School in Milton Keynes, during his Last 64 victory over Sean Fisher.
PDC Q School continues on Thursday, in the UK and in Europe, with Day Two of the Final Stage with 1 automatic Tour Card up for grabs at each Q School, with play commencing at 12:00 CET in Europe and 12:00 GMT in the UK. All live scores and results can be viewed at tv.dartconnect.com
UK Q School Final Stage
Day One
Quarter Finals
Cameron Menzies 6-2 Lee Budgen
Richie Burnett 6-2 Chris Quantock
George Killington 6-4 Jarred Cole
James Wilson 6-5 Kevin Burness
Semi Finals
Cameron Menzies 6-3 Richie Burnett
James Wilson 6-5 George Killington
Final
James Wilson 6-1 Cameron Menzies
European Q School Final Stage
Day One
Quarter Finals
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-1 Ricardo Pietreczko
Vladimir Anderson 6-4 Roxy-James Rodriguez
Damian Mol 6-4 Martijn Dragt
Jose Justicia 6-2 Danny Jansen
Semi Finals
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-4 Vladimir Anderson
Jose Justicia 6-3 Damian Mol
Final
Jose Justicia 6-0 Mario Vandenbogaerde
—–ENDS—–
Words: Joe Williams, Image: PDC
Words: Martin Maidment
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