EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW | Kai Gotthardt after Tour Card win: "I want to qualify for the World Championship via the Pro Tour"

It's been an eventful 12 months for Kai Gotthardt. He native not only caused a sensation on the Ally Pally stage with a broken barrel and outstanding darts, but also proved his class by winning the PDC Europe Super League, triumphing in the Modus Super Series and reaching the final of the prestigious WDF World Masters.

Last Friday, the 29-year-old crowned the best season of his career to date by winning a PDC Tour Card, which will see Gotthardt compete on the professional tour for the next two years. In an exclusive interview with Dartsnews.de, The Tunnel reviewed Q-School 2025 and formulated an ambitious goal for his first season as a PDC pro.

Your Tour Card win on Friday was only a few days ago - how happy are you to have fulfilled your big dream of playing on the PDC Pro Tour?

Kai Gotthardt: I'm very happy of course, everything still feels very surreal at the moment. There's a lot coming up, we have a lot to do to plan everything for the tournaments. But I'm looking forward to it, it will be a good experience.

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The typical question from a German perspective about Tour Card use is superfluous for you. You are a full professional and will tackle the entire tour, right?

Exactly, I will play everything. No ifs, ands or buts.

You went to Q-School as a World Championship participant, PDC Europe Super League champion and Modus Super Series weekly winner. With what expectations did you start in Kalkar?

The Tour Card was definitely the clear goal. That is also the logical conclusion from last year's good result. We just have to keep moving forward. I didn't really feel like playing the whole year on the Challenge Tour again. You never know where you can still play, if you slip up, if you don't slip up, what's next? That's why the Tour Card was a good fit.

Did you feel a little more pressure after your great successes at Q-School 2025 last year?

No, it felt exactly the same as the whole year. I didn't put any pressure on myself because I just know what I can play at the moment and I can simply call up my performance. I didn't worry about it and it worked really well.

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You got off to a good start at the Q-School with four wins on day one of the First Stage and a place in the quarter-finals on day two, allowing you to qualify for the Final Stage without any problems. How satisfied were you with your start to the tournament?

I was very happy with my game on the first day and then lost a very good match against Matthias Ehlers, where I averaged well over 90. That was a bit annoying because I would have liked to have had a two-day break. The first matches on the second day didn't go well at all, and I didn't play very well in terms of average either, as far as I can remember. But I got through it at the end and was glad to have a day's break and not have to play the first stage over three days.

Leon Weber told us yesterday that he would have liked to have played the entire First Stage to stay in rhythm. You, on the other hand, with all your experience, would have been happy with the longer break?

Yes, definitely, I don't have to struggle any more and would rather have a two-day break to go full throttle into the final stage. But Leon is still young, fresh and fully motivated;

In December, Gotthardt impressed in his World Championship debut and made it through to the second round

From your point of view, Friday was decisive in the final stage. You started the tournament day with a comfortable victory over Jeroen Mioch, but neither of you found your game, did you?

Definitely, I've known Jeroen for years and I know what he can play. But I just didn't put up any resistance and then I let it slip a bit and missed a lot of darts at doubles. But in the end it was enough to win 6-2 and that's the most important thing. The first match is always the worst, there's no question about that.

From the outside, your subsequent decider victory against Boris Krcmar felt like a moment of destiny for the entire tournament day. Would you confirm that?

Yes, you're absolutely right, such games are definitely part of it. You rarely win a tournament if you don't have a match dart against you and a close game. Too bad for Boris, I was behind again, fought my way back in, let it slip again, lead 5-4 and get the break again... It was a crazy game. Then I hit a 180 for 36, Boris misses the one match dart and then I thought to myself, "now we're ready to go", after I had survived the game with luck.

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"Now we're ready to go" is a good keyword - you win the next match 6-0 against Jamai van den Herik and average 109 points. Was the narrow victory against Krcmar a kind of chest release?

Yeah, it was all gone somehow, it all just came off. I think I missed two darts at tops in the match, they were the only mistakes in the whole game, otherwise I would probably have ended up with over 110. But for God's sake, that was my best average so far anyway - it's something to build on.

After a few more wins, you faced your good friend Steven Noster in the final. Steven got off to a flying start, taking a 3-0 lead with three high finishes and an average of 116 points. What was going through your head at that moment?

That was crazy, he checks those three high finishes and plays 12, 15 and 12 darts... I thought that's it, he's going to make short work of it and win 6-0 if he keeps playing like that. Then I could bite into it a little bit - he missed a big chance when he had 72 remaining, threw the first dart into the 16, but the second dart into the black forest. That would have been the chance to make it 5-3 when I drew level at 4-4. It worked out well for me in the end. I think I played really well at the back and kept my nerve;

"I find my focus when it comes to the decider"

The victory in the final was your third decider win overall on this day of the tournament. You are known for your strong nerves - how do you manage to stay so cool in the important moments?

Lately I've been finding my focus much better when it comes to the decider, which I couldn't get right before. I can then just get it on the board. It's hard to say exactly why, I'm just happy that it works at all. If it continues like this, it would be good - even if it's a decider every time.

After your victory over Steven, you had secured the Tour Card after many years of hard work. Describe this moment for us.

The pressure was off, of course, I had a lot of people with me, including my management. The joy was huge, but my friend Steven was also disappointed. I had mixed feelings. I was naturally very emotional, but I held back a little because it was also hard for him. But in the end we had a good party afterwards.

As you've just mentioned, you're known as a very emotional character. However, you players have to keep calm on the floor. Did that work out, or did the emotions sometimes burst out of you?

No, no, I can pull myself together. Well, it wouldn't have mattered after the final anyway, but I've got that under control.

Your Tour Card win was the crowning glory of the last 12 months. How much progress have you made in the past year?

The year was huge. I was able to gain so much experience, which I lacked in previous years because I played far too little. Especially against good players - the small tournaments I've always played here don't get you anywhere. The opponents at the Modus Super Series, at the Winmau World Masters, or in Germany at the NEXT GEN, we have so many good players now... You just get further and that brings you forward. Of course, that was the crowning glory and now it can only go on - let's see how far it goes.

Let's look ahead to your first season as a PDC pro: What are your goals for 2025?

Of course, I want to perform to the best of my ability right from the start. My goal is definitely to qualify for the World Championships via the Pro Tour in my first year, that's out of the question and my top priority. And then we'll see how much more I can do, or not. There's no question that I'm capable of upsetting the good players or even beating some of them, and I proved that last year on the Pro Tour. But it's something completely different to play the tournaments as a tour card holder and not as a latecomer.

You already gained experience on the Pro Tour last year as a junior. Does that take away some of the nervousness and tension before the first Players Championship tournaments?

No, I've never had any tension because I don't care whether Michael van Gerwen or something like that is standing in front of me. For me, they're all players. I don't worry too much about it, I just play my game and that's the main thing. I really don't think about the other players at all. I don't really care whether they're good or not. I think that's a big advantage for me.

Finally, why don't you give us a little preview of what the next few weeks will look like before your PDC professional debut at the Masters?

I will definitely increase my training workload and change my daily routine. Now, of course, you approach things a bit differently than in the last few years, when you were only on the smaller tours. But for now, as I said, I have to plan the next few months and there's a lot to do. Then the Masters starts in two weeks' time.

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