Q School Final Phase: Monk Returns

Arron Monk regained his PDC Tour Card on Thursday, whilst Jeffrey Sparidaans secured a two-year Tour Card for the first time in his career, after the pair came through their respective Q School fields in the UK and Europe, with the Final Stage commencing in Milton Keynes and Kalkar, Germany.

The opening three days of Q School saw players battle it out in Stage One to secure spots into the Final Stage, with 48 automatic places given out, 24 in each field, with the remaining spots going to players via their respective Order of Merit’s.

UK Q School

Former World Youth Champion, Arron Monk secured his return to the PDC senior tour, after coming through six matches on route to the final, as he recorded victories over Michael Flynn, Jason Heaver, Cliff Pryor, Luke Smith, Mark McGeeney and Stephen Burton, to set up a clash with fellow countryman, Dom Taylor.

The final began with Monk racing into a 2-0 lead, with winning legs coming in a total of 29 darts, before Taylor rattled off three legs on the spin to move ahead for the first time at 3-2. Monk then produced a run of four straight winning legs, which included back-to-back 16 darters along the way, and saw him seal the victory with a 19 darter and picking up a two-year Tour Card at the first time of asking.

Taylor, who won a Development Tour Event in 2021, reached the final by recording victories over Justin Hood, Jim Walker, Scott Walters, Nick Kenny, Graham Usher and Christian Perez, before being denied by Monk, but sits on top of the Order of Merit on 5 points from the opening day, as he looks to pick up a Tour Card for the first time in his career.

European Q School

Dutchman Jeffrey Sparidaans picked up a two-year PDC Tour Card for the very first time, after coming through six matches on route to the final, as he recorded victories over Jan de Weerdt, Patrick Maat, Jacob Taylor, Maik Kuivenhoven, Owen Roelofs and Jacques Labre, to set up a clash with Belgium’s Ronny Huybrechts.

Nothing separated both Huybrechts and Sparidaans in the early stages of the final, as the pair were tied at 2 a piece after the opening four legs. Sparidaans then produced a remarkable run by winning four straight legs of his own in 15,14,16 and 13 darts respectively, which included a 106 checkout along the way, which saw him seal the victory, 6-2, and to pick up the 1^st automatic Tour Card from 2023 European Q School.

Despite defeat in the decider, Huybrechts sits on top of the Order of Merit on 5 points, as he heads into Day Two looking to continues his quest to return to the PDC senior tour, after losing his Tour Card status at the end of 2019.

PDC Q School continues on Friday, in the UK and in Europe, as Day Two of the Final Stage takes place, with 1 automatic Tour Card up for grabs at each Q School. Play will commence 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- Thursday 12^th January

Quarter Finals

Christian Perez 6-2 Andy Hamilton

Dom Taylor 6-3 Graham Usher

Stephen Burton 6-4 Fallon Sherrock

Arron Monk 6-0 Mark McGeeney

Semi Finals

Dom Taylor 6-1 Christian Perez

Arron Monk 6-1 Stephen Burton

Final

Arron Monk 6-3 Dom Taylor