MADARS Razma led a cosmopolitan group of qualifiers and, along with Ritchie Edhouse and Wessel Nijman, secured a European Tour double qualification success in Leicester on Wednesday.
Tour Card Holder Qualifiers for ET5-6 took place at the Mattioli Arena on Wednesday afternoon, with each qualifier producing ten players per event.
The NEO.bet Austrian Darts Open (ET5) will be held in Graz from April 26-28, while the NEO.bet Baltic Sea Darts Open (ET6) will take place in Kiel from May 10-12.
Former European Tour semi-finalists Razma and Edhouse ended the day undefeated in the East Midlands, securing their spot in both events alongside emerging Dutchman Nijman.
Latvian number one Razma averaged 102 to defeat Jim Williams on his way to ET5 qualification, before winning through a deciding-leg tie against Ricky Evans to clinch his spot in Graz.
The former World Grand Prix quarter-finalist then extended his winning run to six matches to confirm his qualification for ET6 alongside Edhouse, who landed back-to-back ton-plus averages in the ET5 event.
Nijman also produced some eye-catching performances in Leicester, averaging 99 and 100 in wins over Jermaine Wattimena and James Hurrell in the ET5 Qualifier, before edging out his compatriot Danny van Trijp in the pair’s ET6 decider.
Nijman will be joined in Graz by his fellow Dutchman Jeffrey De Zwaan, American star Danny Lauby and Czech star Karel Sedlacek, who registered averages of 105 and 100 to defeat Lukas Wenig and Callum Goffin respectively.
Martin Lukeman – a European Tour finalist in April 2022 – will also feature after winning through qualification along with former World Youth Champion Arron Monk, Graham Hall and Dom Taylor.
There was an international flavour to the ET6 Qualifiers, with Belgian pair Mike De Decker and Lakeside champion Andy Baetens overcoming Irish duo Keane Barry and Steve Lennon in their respective qualification shoot-outs.
French trailblazer Thibault Tricole averaged 99 in victory over Cameron Menzies to confirm his place in Kiel, while New Zealand’s number one Haupai Puha will make his European Tour debut following a comeback win over Ricky Evans.
Dutch duo Niels Zonneveld and Maik Kuivenhoven will also be part of the 48-player field next month, with Matthew Dennant denying top seed Luke Woodhouse in a decider to complete the line-up.
The PDC European Tour will see 13 tournaments held during 2024 – including a first visit to Switzerland – with each event worth £175,000 in prize money.
Live coverage of the PDC European Tour will be broadcast through Viaplay, DAZN exclusively in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and on PDCTV.
In a change to the qualifying format from previous years, the top 16 players from the PDC Order of Merit now qualify by right for each event, along with the top 16 non-qualified players from the ProTour Order of Merit.
Each event will see the top 16 players from the ProTour Order of Merit seeded for the draw, entering in the second round, with the remaining 32 players drawn at random in the first round.
ET5 Tour Card Holder Qualifiers: Danny Lauby, Jeffrey De Zwaan, Karel Sedlacek, Dom Taylor, Wessel Nijman, Martin Lukeman, Arron Monk, Graham Hall, Madars Razma, Ritchie Edhouse.
ET6 Tour Card Holder Qualifiers: Matthew Dennant, Mike De Decker, Madars Razma, Wessel Nijman, Ritchie Edhouse, Maik Kuivenhoven, Niels Zonneveld, Thibault Tricole, Andy Baetens, Haupai Puha.
—–ENDS—–
Images: PDC
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