THE second batch of European Tour qualifiers saw Callan Rydz and Ritchie Edhouse secure double success during a high quality day’s darts in Leicester on Wednesday. Edhouse was also one of three players to hit a nine-dart finish on a high-quality day of action, striking perfection against Kevin Doets.
Two Tour Card Holder Qualifiers (for ET3-4) took place at the Mattioli Arena, with each qualifier producing ten players per event. The International Darts Open (ET3) will take place in Riesa from April 12-14, before the European Darts Grand Prix (ET4) will be held in Sindelfingen from April 19-21.
Former European Tour event semi-finalists Rydz and Edhouse were the only two players to walk away undefeated on the day, each winning six matches to secure returns to the European Tour circuit.
Simon Whitlock joined Edhouse in achieving perfection, during defeat to Luke Littler in the ET4 qualifier, though the experienced Australian booked his spot in ET3 earlier in the day.
Adam Smith-Neale also hit a nine-darter against Jitse van der Wal, but was defeated by the Dutchman in their ET3 qualification decider.
Littler, who will make his European Tour debut at ET1, secured his place in ET4 along with World Championship semi-finalist Scott Williams and Tuesday’s Players Championship semi-finalist Christian Perez, who will make his European Tour debut in Sindelfingen.
Former European Tour event winner Mervyn King will make his Euro Tour return at ET3, with William O’Connor and Mike De Decker among the players heading to Riesa.
The PDC European Tour will see 13 tournaments held during 2024 – including a first visit in Switzerland – with each event worth £175,000 in prize money.
Broadcast coverage of the PDC European Tour will be 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.
ET3 Tour Card Holder Qualifiers: Mike De Decker, Callan Rydz, Mervyn King, Ritchie Edhouse, Jitse Van der Wal, Owen Bates, Simon Whitlock, Cameron Menzies, William O’Connor, Richard Veenstra.
ET4 Tour Card Holder Qualifiers: Keane Barry, Callan Rydz, Luke Littler, Martin Lukeman, Ritchie Edhouse, Jeffrey Sparidaans, Mickey Mansell, Stephen Burton, Scott Williams, Christian Perez.
—-ENDS—–
Images: PDC
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