Q-School Roundup | Henderson and Part make it through to final stage in the UK while Rodriguez falters at the final hurdle in the EU

Day three of UK and European Q-School has brough to an end the first stage, with the fortunate darters ready to tackle the final stage with a two-year tour card on the line. These coveted prizes will be offered out from here on, as the competition heats up.

The standout performer was none other than John Henderson in the UK Q-School. The former World Cup champion dropped just two legs in the whole of the day. He got a brace of ton+ averages in his first two matches as he whitewashed Pierce Speechley-Price and Gareth Hannan before another 5-0 triumph against James Parkin set him up with a third match in the last-32 after losing his prior two games in the last two days.

There were no mistakes this time, however, as the Scot managed to defeat fellow countryman Darren Armstrong 5-2 as he looks to reclaim his tour card back.

It has been a very good day for former BDO World Champion Scott Mitchell who forced his way past the competition. He averaged over 89 in his 5-3 victory against Killian McCormack to confirm his ticket for the next four days of action.

The same can be said for Graham Usher who never dropped more than two legs in his five contests throughout the day. The 2025 World Senior Darts Championship runner-up got the better of William O’Toole at the end. This cannot be the same said for John Part, with the three-time world champion faltering at the final hurdle. Despite averaging in the 70’s all day, he made it to the final match before being defeated 5-3 to Ultan McDyer. Despite this, he is still through to stage two thanks to the points tallied up over the prior three days, but by the skin of his teeth.

The other players to join Henderson and co in the final stage from today is Steve Haggerty, Geoffrey Murray, Jack Faragher, Chris Hurds, Derek Maclean, Kirk De Ruyter, Callum Giffin, Wayne Jones, Lee Evans, Marton Thomas. Keith Rooney and Christopher Wickenden.

It was disappointment for Rowby-John Rodriguez, who has failed to make it into the final stage. After two early exits, he was in need of winning his last-32 matchup against Matthias Ehlers. Despite this, he was unable to get the job done, losing out 5-3 with his dreams for a tour card shattered for now.

The same fate almost occurred for Liam Maendl-Lawrence and Mason Whitlock, who both lost late on but were fortunate to collect enough points to see them through to the next four days of action in Kalkar. The same goes for Ron Melenkamp who exited the event much earlier.

After saying yesterday that he was not going to participate in the final stage of Q-School, Florian Hempel almost went the distance before losing out to Nicolas Thuillier.

The players to make it through to the final stage were Marc Spalt, Marcel Otter, Nunjo Dewaele, Bruno Stoeckli, Ricardo Ulrich, Kendji Steinbach, Dominik Cavajda, Patrick Bulen, Thuillier, Michael Marjis, Roger Janssen, Ehlers, Finn Behrens, Danijel Ozbolt, Jarod Becke and Lennart Faes. The final stage takes place in Milton Keynes and Kalkar from January 8-11, with a total of 29 tour cards on offer, 13 in the UK and 16 in EU.