Martijn Dragt won a PDC Tour Card on Thursday at the European Q-School. On the opening day of the final stage, Dragt took the win after an incredible comeback in an all-Dutch final.
The Dutch were prominent in Kalkar on Thursday. No fewer than seven Dutchmen made it to the last sixteen, four of whom managed to reach the quarterfinals. But out of all 127 participants, Dragt was the best. The 35-year-old Dutchman managed to beat a fine string of names. He defeated Jesus Noguera (6-3), Marcel Junk (6-1), Liam Maendl-Lawrance (6-3), Rusty-Jake Rodriguez (6-4), Lukas Wenig (6-5) and Mario Vandenbogaerde (6-5) to qualify for the final.
In the final he faced compatriot Chris Landman, who had eliminated Danny Jansen, Ron Meulenkamp and Christian Kist. Landman led 5-2 in the final, but in the end it was Dragt who won the match 6-5.
Landman, just like semi-finalist Kist, did good business and might be able to win a Tour Card later this week via the European Q-School Order of Merit. Wesley Plaisier also did well with a quarterfinal place, while Stefan Schroder, Laurens Admiraal and Jules van Dongen made it to the last sixteen.
Last 16
Darius Labanauskas 6 | 4 Stefan Schroder
Chris Landman 6 | 4 Laurens Admiraal
Tomas Houdek 6 | 2 Haupai Puha
Christian Kist 6 | 5 Radek Szaganski
Martijn Dragt 6 | 4 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Lukas Wenig 6 | 2 Jules van Dongen
Wesley Plaisier 6 | 2 Dragutin Horvat
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6 | 3 Franz Roetzsch
Quarterfinals
Chris Landman 6 | 2 Darius Labanauskas
Christian Kist 6 | 5 Tomas Houdek
Martijn Dragt 6 | 5 Lukas Wenig
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6 | 1 Wesley Plaisier
Semi-final
Chris Landman 6 | 3 Christian Kist
Martijn Dragt 6 | 5 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Final
Martijn Dragt 6 | 5 Chris Landman