Professional Darts Corporation: What is Q-School? Fallon Sherrock competing for tour card

Over 650 players will take part in the Professional Darts Corporation’s Qualifying School in 2022 as they bid to win a tour card for 2022/23.

The event takes place from Sunday, January 9 to Saturday, January 15 with British players taking part in the event at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes and European players at the H+ Hotel in Niedernhausen (Players from other nations can choose which event to compete in).

A number of high profile names will be taking part in this year’s Q-School to earn one of the 32 PDC tour cards up for grabs.

Here’s everything you need to about how the competition works, who is taking part and what is at stake:

Whats is Q-School?

The PDC’s Qualifying School, known as “Q-School” is an opportunity for players who have not yet earned a tour card to do so.

The PDC’s official website outlines the format for the competition, saying: “A total of 32 players are exempt to Final Stage in the UK and 19 players are exempt to Final Stage in Europe, based on the players who lost their Tour Card at the end of 2021 and the top eight players from each of the respective 2021 UK and European Challenge and Development Tour Orders of Merit.

“First Stage will see further players up to a total of 128 in the UK and Europe respectively qualifying to compete in Final Stage.

“Eight players per day will progress from First Stage, with all further places going to players from a First Stage Order of Merit in each region, with one ranking point awarded per match from the first full round onwards.

“Due to regulations in Germany, First Stage will be played as two groups per day to reduce the number of active players inside the venue at any time, meaning that four players from each group will progress to Final Stage.

“A total of 32 PDC Tour Cards will be on offer in Final Stage, with each of the daily winners in the UK and Europe receiving an automatic Tour Card.

“The remaining 24 Tour Cards will be allocated to players from the UK and European Q School Final Stage Orders of Merit, and split on a pro-rata basis of total participants in each region.”

Anyone can enter the events at a cost of £450 but registration for this year is closed.

What is a PDC tour card?

A tour card is required for darts players to compete on the PDC Pro Tour.

The tour card system was introduced in 2011 and guarantees a total of 128 players can participate in all Players Championships and UK Open Qualifiers.

The top 64 players in the PDC Order of Merit (world rankings) after the World Championships automatically gain a tour card as do the players who won one at the previous year’s Q-School.

The remaining holders are:

• Two highest qualifiers from the PDC Challenge Tour
• Two highest qualifiers from the PDC Development Tour
• At least 16 qualifiers from a four-day Qualifying School with more cards up for grabs dependent on how many spaces remain.

Who is taking part at Q-School this year?

Fallon Sherrock will be aiming to win her tour card at Qualifying School this year.

The “Queen of the Palace” has made waves in the darts world over the past three years and will be joined by the likes of former World Champion John Part and former UK Open and World Grand Prix winner Robert Thornton.

Other notable names competing include alongside Deta Hedman, Lisa Ashton, Ted Evetts, Scott Waites, Andy Hamilton and Jelle Klaasen.

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading. NationalWorld is a new national news brand, produced by a team of journalists, editors, video producers and designers who live and work across the UK. Find out more about who’s who in the team, and our editorial values. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going. You can also sign up to our email newsletters and get a curated selection of our best reads to your inbox every day.