Q School 2024: Lauby Amongst Day One Qualifiers

DAY ONE of Q-School 2024 saw 16 players, including Danny Lauby, Stefan Bellmont and Adam Hunt secure their places through to the Final Stage of their respective Q Schools on Monday. Each came through Day One of Stage One, as the PDC’s Annual Qualifying School began in Milton Keynes and Kalkar, Germany.

Since the beginning of 2021, the PDC have expanded its Qualifying School into two stages, with Final Stage consisting of players who lost their Tour Cards at the end of the previous calendar year and players who finished within the top 16 on the Challenge & Development Tour Order of Merit from the previous year.

UK Q School

North American Star Danny Lauby was the high-profile name to progress through to the Final Stage of UK Q School automatically on Day One, as he recorded a succession of victories against Chas Barstow, Harry Gregory, Sean Ryan, Pete Burgoyne and Kevin Thomas in his deciding Last 16 tie, with the fast-paced American looking to pick up a two-year PDC Tour Card for the first time in his career.

Elsewhere, Former Tour Card Holders Adam Hunt and Matthew Dennant also progressed through to the Final Stage after defeating Lee Williams and Justin Hood respectively in their deciding ties, as they look to reclaim their professional tour status. Also progressing to the Final Stage were the pair’s fellow compatriots, in the form of Former Challenge Tour Event winner, Patrick Lynskey, as well as Harry Lane and Kieran Bridgwater. The final two automatic qualifiers were Welsh duo Mike Warburton and Llew Bevan, who defeated two products of the Junior Darts Corporation (JDC) in the form of Keelan Kay and Jim Moston in their deciders respectively.

European Q School

Switzerland’s World Cup of Darts Star, Stefan Bellmont, headlined the eight players to progress through automatically to the Final Stage of European Q School on Day One, with the Former Challenge Tour Event winner recording victories against Danny Tessmann, Rene Eidams, Pal Szekely, Tomas Ledl, Jannes Bremermann and Christian Goedl in his deciding Last 16 tie, as he bids to win a two-year PDC Tour Card for the first time.

Elsewhere, the further seven automatic qualifiers included Sweden’s Anton Ostlund as well as Czech duo Vitezslav Sedlak and Filip Sebesta, with the trio having all competed on the PDC European Tour during 2023. Also qualifying where Bellmont’s fellow compatriot, Felix Schiertz, Belgium’s Stefaan Henderyck, as well as German Duo, Matthias Ehlers and Arno Merk.

Should players from both Qualifying Schools not progress through to the Final Stage automatically during the remaining two days, spots will be given out via separate Order of Merits, by which players can build up points from winning games. 77 spots are available via the UK Order of Merit, whereas there are 83 spots available via the European Order of Merit. This will then create a 128-player field across both Qualifying School’s, heading into the opening day of the Final Stage, which begins on Thursday.

PDC Qualifying School continues on Tuesday, in the UK and in Europe, with a further 16 players progressing through to the Final Stage, with play commencing in Europe at 10:00 CET and in the UK at 10:00 GMT. All live scores and results can be viewed at tv.dartconnect.com.