Kuivenhoven on retaining Tour Card following surprise phone call from PDC: "It was fantastic news, I didn't expect it"

Suddenly Maik Kuivenhoven received a call on Saturday from the PDC as he was told he will be keeping his Tour Card after Kyle Anderson decided to relinquish his and remain in Australia.

After the World Championship, Kuivenhoven was in 66th place but was technically in 65th due to Harry Ward also announcing he was stepping away from darts earlier in 2020.

However, he was still one place short despite a brilliant second season which saw him qualify for the European Championship, Players Championship Finals and World Championship and he was set to head to Q-School only to receive the good news.

"I had to keep it quiet for a while until the PDC brought it out. It was fantastic news, of course. I didn't expect it. It could have been done at the beginning of the year, but not in February, '' he responds to DartsNews .

No Q-School but extra long preparation towards Pro Tour

Kuivenhoven had spent many hours practicing in recent weeks to get ready for the Q-School. But now he can shift his focus to the first Pro Tour tournaments in the form of the Super Series which will take place despite all the Coronavirus measures.

The Pro Tour season kicks off with a four-part Players Championship tournament from February 25-28 in Bolton. Kuivenhoven is pleased with this as something to aim at.

''Practicing without a goal is always difficult. Now you have something to work towards. I used to have that with the Q-School, but I can now extend that to the end of February. ''

That clarity was lacking at the start of the Covid-19 outbreak last year. Darts was therefore stopped in mid-March. It was then unclear for a long time when the tour could resume.

"We didn't know if it was going to take weeks or months. We finally got the Summer Series in July and then you had something to go for again. Uncertainty is not nice. You put in a lot of hours and if you don't know when you have matches, that is difficult, '' continued Kuivenhoven.

Favorable position to keep Tour Card after this season

With £ 39,000 in prize money, Kuivenhoven is in 64th place in the Order of Merit after Q-School. Only £ 7,500 of that amount was earned in 2019, so he only has to defend that this season. Keeping his PDC Tour Card for 2022 is therefore a realistic goal.

“That is my goal anyway. It is a favourable year to defend. In that respect it looks good. But of course you always have to show it again. I never look too far ahead and I just have to keep winning. You prefer to climb a number of places, so that you are certainly safe. Ultimately I want to be back at the European and World Championships. The Players Championship Finals too, of course, but if you do well on the Pro Tours, you will automatically be there. I want to play the big tournaments and hopefully I can continue along the line of last year. ''

Kuivenhoven no longer has to participate in the Q-School, which takes place from 8 to 17 February. However, he will follow the results with intent.

"There are still a few acquaintances of mine participating. For example my buddy from the past two years, Vincent van der Meer. Of course I hope that he gets his Tour Card. ''