“My professional career is not over” - Florian Hempel vows to “go all-out for Q-School” after PDC Tour Card loss

A dramatic day in the darts calendar brought major consequences for several players as the final spots for the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship were confirmed. Hours before the draw for Ally Pally was made, the Tour Card Holder Qualifier decided the remaining places for the sport’s biggest event — and for some, the outcome changed the course of their entire season.

For Florian Hempel, it marked the end of a five-year spell as a PDC professional. After his first-round defeat to Robert Grundy in the last gasp Ally Pally qualifier, the 35-year-old now sits 70th in the live Tour Card race and will fall outside the top 64 for the first time in his career, confirming the loss of his card once the World Championship concludes.

Speaking to DAZN shortly after his 7–4 defeat, Hempel admitted the emotions were still raw: “The disappointment so soon after the qualifier is obviously huge. I had big ambitions, I was feeling good, and I had actually trained incredibly well. But when it was ‘Game on!’, my mind was somewhere completely different and the pressure of the season, or of the Tour Card, was simply too much. It can’t work out every year that you finish above the line.”

Reflecting on his five seasons in the PDC during an interview with DAZN commentator Adrian Geiler, Hempel said he will remember both the highs and the lows: “The last five years have been impressive for me. I’ve experienced many highs and many lows. I was allowed to enjoy a lot of great moments, and I’ve also lived through many tough ones.”

Despite the setback, Hempel made it clear his career is far from over. “My professional career isn’t over. Q-School is at the beginning of January, so now it’s about preparing flat-out — unfortunately not for the World Championship, but for the Tour Card, and then it’s back on tour for another two years.”