Fallon Sherrock, Arron Monk and Nico Kurz headlined the final automatic qualifiers for the Final Stage of the 2023 PDC Qualifying Schools on Wednesday, as the First Stage concluded in Milton Keynes and Kalkar.
German star Kurz headlined the eight players who advanced from European Qualifying School to secure an automatic place in the Final Stage.
Two-time World Championship qualifier Kurz won six games in Kalkar on Wednesday to progress with Dutch trio Gino Vos, Alexander Merkx and Davy Proosten.
There was an international flavour to Wednesday’s automatic qualifiers, with Belgium’s Jody Tobback, Spain’s Ricardo Perez, Czech star Vitezslav Sedlak and Slovenia’s former World Championship qualifier Benjamin Pratnemer also claiming spots.
Meamwhile Women’s World Matchplay winner Sherrock was one of the eight players to secure automatic qualification from the UK Qualifying School to compete in Final Stage over the next four days.
Sherrock produced a series of fine displays at the Marshall Arena, defying a ton-plus average from former UK Open runner-up Colin Osborne, before defeating Steven Beasley to win through in impressive style
Sherrock will be joined in the Final Stage by 2011 World Youth Champion Monk, who averaged 99 in his last 16 tussle against Justin Hood.
Former Tour Card Holder Reece Robinson progressed as an automatic qualifier alongside Adam Atkinson, Graham Hall and Tommy Morris, with Scotland’s Ryan Hogarth and Irish star Shane McGuirk also winning through.
The Order of Merit qualifiers from the First Stage in Milton Keynes include former TV finalists Osborne and Wayne Jones, with young Welsh star Llew Bevan topping the rankings on nine points alongside Scott Baker and Cam Crabtree.
Meanwhile, emerging American ace Danny Lauby, former Lakeside runner-up Mark McGeeney and experienced duo Alan Tabern and James Richardson also progressed.
Four-time Women’s World Champion Lisa Ashton was amongst those who missed out on First Stage qualification in Milton Keynes, with former Premier League star Wes Newton and 2017 UK Open semi-finalist Alan Norris also failing to qualify.
The Order of Merit qualifiers in Europe included three-time PDC ranking event winner Jelle Klaasen, World Cup finalist Ronny Huybrechts and American legend Larry Butler – the winner of the inaugural World Matchplay in 1994
Brazil’s Diogo Portela and Spain’s Toni Alcinas will also feature in the Final Stage, while German trio Daniel Klose, Lukas Wenig and Markus Kessler topped the rankings with nine points, along with Italy’s Michele Turetta and Dutchman Roemer Mooijman.
Wesley Plaisier – who starred on the European Tour in 2022 – was one of several big names to miss out on qualification to the Final Stage, with German trio Dragutin Horvat, Rene Eidams and Fabian Schmutzler also falling short.
The Qualifying School action now sees PDC Tour Cards issued over the next four days (January 12-15) to each day’s winner in the UK and Europe, with ranking points awarded to other players throughout each event.
With 27 Tour Cards on offer in total, a further 10 players will claim Tour Cards from the European Q School Final Stage Order of Merit, while nine players will come from the UK rankings.
Any ties in the respective Q School Orders of Merit will be split as follows based on all match results: Leg Difference, Legs Won, then DartConnect average. If players still cannot be split, a play-off would be organised.
2023 PDC Qualifying Schools
UK Qualifying School
Stage One Day Three
Last 16
Tommy Morris 5-2 Jack Vincent
Ryan Hogarth 5-1 Sam Cromwell
Graham Hall 5-1 Robert Rickwood
Fallon Sherrock 5-3 Steven Beasley
Arron Monk 5-3 Justin Hood
Shane McGuirk 5-2 Mark Challenger
Adam Atkinson 5-1 Wayne Jones
Reece Robinson 5-2 Niall Culleton
European Qualifying School
Stage One Day Three
Last 16
Jody Tobback 5-3 Oliver Mueller
Vitezslav Sedlak 5-1 Moreno Blom
Gino Vos 5-2 Lukas Wenig
Nico Kurz 5-2 Teemu Harju
Ricardo Perez 5-0 Alex Spellman
Alexander Merkx 5-2 Michele Turetta
Benjamin Pratnemer 5-1 Nick Crouwel
Davy Proosten 5-4 Owen Roelofs
UK Qualifying School Final Stage Field
Players exempt to Final Stage
William Borland, Andy Boulton, Keegan Brown, Stephen Burton, Brett Claydon, Jarred Cole, David Evans, Lee Evans, Michael Flynn, Nathan Girvan, Jason Heaver, John Henderson, Conor Heneghan, Christopher Holt, Peter Hudson, Adam Hunt, Andy Jenkins, Jake Jones, Eddie Lovely, Jack Main, Jim McEwan, Scott Mitchell, David Pallett, Joshua Richardson.
Automatic Qualifiers from First Stage
Dylan Slevin, Peter Jacques, Christian Perez, Lee Palfreyman, Jamie Lewis, Jim Walker, Dale Gadsby, Darryl Pilgrim, Andy Hamilton, Mike Warburton, David Sumner, Jim Moston, Chris Quantock, Josh Payne, Graham Usher, Nick Kenny, Tommy Morris, Ryan Hogarth, Graham Hall, Fallon Sherrock, Arron Monk, Shane McGuirk, Adam Atkinson, Reece Robinson.
Order of Merit Qualifiers from First Stage
Llew Bevan, Scott Baker, Cameron Crabtree, Steven Beasley, Chris Gilliland, Robert Rickwood, Sam Cromwell, Thomas Lovely, James Richardson, Matthew Dennant, James Hurrell, John Bowles, Justin Hood, Cameron Anderson, Michael Huntley, James-Howard Hughes, Wayne Jones, Adam Mould, Colin Osborne, Adam Warner, Prakash Jiwa, Owen Bates, Gary Jackson, Stuart Kellett, Kevin Thomas, Mark Challenger, Ryan O’Connor, Shaun Fox, Jack Vincent, Peter Burgoyne, Lewis Gurney, Steven Plumstead, Dom Taylor, Shaun McDonald, Alan Tabern, Lee Cocks, Robert Thompson, Niall Culleton, Ian Jones, Stephen Rosney, Stu Wilson, Pat Scurfield, Alec Small, Carl Sneyd, Ryan Murray, Adam Smith-Neale, Ryan Furness, Robert Collins, Shane Hayward, Ryan Harrington, Tom Martin, Cliff Prior, Paul Mitchell, Dan Read, David Wawrzewski, Mark McGeeney, Scott Artiss, Chris Bird, Daniel Day, Danny Lauby, Conan Whitehead, Rhys Hayden, Jeremy Fagg, Scott Walters, Stephen McNally, Lee Budgen, Jenson Walker, Luke Smith, Kieron Bridgwater, Callum Goffin, John Cook, Liam Meek, Adam Lipscombe, Lewis Pride, Michael Barnard, Nicky Denoon, Kevin Lowe, Benjamin Johnson, Gary Blades, Chris Wickenden.
European Qualifying School Final Stage Field
Players exempt to Final Stage
Sebastian Bialecki, Jeffrey De Zwaan, Max Hopp, Christian Kist, Maik Kuivenhoven, Jacques Labre, Ron Meulenkamp, John Michael, Kenny Neyens, Karel Sedlacek, Thibault Tricole, Jitse Van der Wal, Berry van Peer, Gian van Veen, Niels Zonneveld.
Automatic Qualifiers from First Stage
Tytus Kanik, Tomas Houdek, Arjan Konterman, Benito van de Pas, Daniel Zygla, Richard Veenstra, Jimmy van Schie, Chris Landman, Andy Baetens, Stefan Schroder, Marko Kantele, Corey Cadby, Steven Strobbe, Robbie Knops, Roy van de Griendt, Jody Tobback, Vitezslav Sedlak, Gino Vos, Nico Kurz, Ricardo Perez, Alexander Merkx, Benjamin Pratnemer, Davy Proosten.
Order of Merit Qualifiers from First Stage
Daniel Klose, Lukas Wenig, Michele Turetta, Roemer Mooijman, Markus Kessler, Oliver Müller, Davyd Venken, Owen Roelofs, Jamie Lawrence, Jeroen Mioch, Alexander Mašek, Marcel Hausotter, Danny Tessmann, Moreno Blom, Francois Schweyen, Teemu Harju, Jeffrey Sparidaans, Marcel Gerdon, Stefaan Henderyck, Derk Telnekes, Gilbert van der Meijden, Neven Resetar, Jacob Taylor, Jeremy van der Winkel, Sebastian Steyer, Andrew Beeton, Paulo Ferreira, Marc Vleghert, Julio Barbero, Jeroen Caron, Stefan Nilles, Kevin Van Wauwe, Gabriel Rollo, Alex Spellman, Yoshihisa Baba, Marco Obst, Rainer Sturm, Ryan de Vreede, Arno Looijen, Marcel Walpen, Patrick Tringler, Jelle Klaasen, Marcel Hoentsch, Ronny Huybrechts, Patrick van den Boogaard, Nick Crouwel, Steven Morrison, Andreas Toft-Jørgensen, Jesús Noguera, Dennie Olde Kalter, Toni Alcinas, Diogo Portela, Benjamin Freudenreich, Kevin Blomme, Vincent van der Meer, Paavo Myller, Jordy Van den Broek, Jan de Weerdt, José Marques, John Desreumaux, Remo Mandiau, Dennis Akhtar, Fabian Stutz, Jamai van den Herik, Patrick Maat, Pascal Rupprecht, Franz Roetzsch, Marco Grafweg, Jonas Masalin, Felix Schiertz, Heikki Hyvonen, Christopher Toonders, Patrick Ploetz, Jiri Brejcha, Larry Butler, Vinay Ramnath, Sander van Ockenburg – Zwaan, Joaquim Goncalves, Marco Verhofstad, Bram van Dijk, Miroslaw Grudziecki, Luc Snels, Reinhard Schumacher, Jens Ziegler, Cedric Coryn, Marcel Gugger, Martijn Wanders, Steffen Siepmann, Grant Sampson, David Schlichting.
(NB: Niko Springer and Nico Riehle will not compete in the Final Stage, and have been replaced by Grant Sampson and David Schlichting)
Final Stage
January 12-15
UK Qualifying School
Start Time: 1200 GMT
Each day’s winner secures an automatic PDC Tour Card
Format: best of 11 legs
European Qualifying School
Start Time: 1200 CET
Each day’s winner secures an automatic PDC Tour Card
Format: best of 11 legs
In addition to the daily Tour Card winners, further Tour Cards up to a total of 27 will be awarded on a pro-rata basis to players from the respective UK/European Qualifying School Final Stage Orders of Merit following Day Four.
ENDS
