A record field of over 400 players will compete in the 2015 PDC Qualifying School at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan from January 14-17 as hopefuls from around the world compete to win PDC Tour Cards a places on the PDC circuit.
The PDC Qualifying School forms the start of the new darting season, giving ANY darts player the chance to win a Tour Card to compete full-time on the PDC ProTour.
In addition, players who fail to win a Tour Card are eligible to compete on the PDC Unicorn Challenge Tour – a series of 16 tournaments worth £10,000 apiece – as well as enter UK Open Qualifiers and European Tour Qualifiers throughout the year.
The PDC ProTour, comprised of the six UK Open Qualifiers, nine European Tour events and 20 Players Championships, will pay out over £2.5 million in prize money alone this year – with the stand-alone events also counting towards qualification for the major TV tournaments.
PDC Tour Cards are automatically awarded to the top 64 players from the PDC Order of Merit at the start of 2015, following the completion of the William Hill World Darts Championship, alongside the existing two-year Tour Card Holders from the 2014 Qualifying School.
In addition, a further four Tour Cards per day are awarded to the last four players on each day of Qualifying School, with further Tour Cards, up to a total of 128, awarded to players from the Q School Order of Merit based on finishing positions across the four days.
The field of 423 competitors at Qualifying School includes a host of big names from the darting world – including stars from the recent William Hill World Darts Championship Nolan Arendse, Robert Marijanovic, Ron Meulenkamp and Haruki Muramatsu.
International stars who have competed in the PDC World Cup include Devon Petersen – a former Tour Card holder – Sweden’s Magnus Caris and Par Riihonen, Spain’s Antonio Alcinas, Norway’s Robert Wagner, Canadian youngster Shaun Narain and the Gibraltar-based pair Dylan Duo and Dyson Parody.
Former UK Open finalists Barrie Bates and Gary Mawson join PDC veterans Denis Ovens, Alex Roy, Matt Clark and Andy Jenkins in bidding to return to the PDC ProTour on a full-time basis.
2008 World Championship finalist Kirk Shepherd is also bidding to win back his Tour Card, while last year’s UK Open giant-killer Aden Kirk is also in the field as he seeks to continue his emergence.
Former PDC major winners Peter Evison, the 1996 World Matchplay winner, and Peter Manley, the 2003 Las Vegas Desert Classic, are also in action in Wigan.
Former Lakeside Championship finalist Alan Norris is joined by Robbie Green, James Wilson and Jan Dekker in moving over to the PDC circuit after competing recently in the Lakeside Championship.
The field will also include a host of players who have competed in the PDC’s European Tour events, including Austria’s Roxy-James Rodriguez – the brother of 2014 Tour Card winner Rowby-John – Germany’s Michael Rosenauer and Bernd Roith and Belgium’s Mike De Decker.
Qualifying School Event Info
Play on each day of Qualifying School will be down to four players, who win an automatic two-year PDC Tour Card and do not compete in subsequent days of the event.
In addition, players are allocated ranking points based on their finishing position on each day of play, forming the Q School Order of Merit from which an additional number of PDC Tour Cards will be awarded. The exact number of players who will win a Tour Card from the QSOOM has yet to be finalised and will be confirmed in due course.
Ranking Points will be awarded as follows:
Last 8 defeat: 9 points
Last 16 defeat: 5 points
Last 32 defeat: 3 points
Last 64 defeat: 2 points
Last 128 defeat: 1 point
The Q School Order of Merit is also used during 2015 to allocate additional places, in ranking order, within Players Championship tournaments, should the full field of 128 Tour Card Holders not enter.
Players need only to play on a minimum of one day at Qualifying School, although the Q School OOM will be based on four days’ results. All games are the best of nine legs.
