Notable names who are not part of the final stage of Q-School: including Richie Burnett, Rowby-John Rodriguez & Adam Smith-Neale
PDCThursday, 08 January 2026 at 11:00
At the European and UK Q-School, the first phase was completed in recent days. Players could secure spots for the final phase, where from today through Sunday they will battle for a PDC Tour Card for the next two years.
ADVERTISEMENT
The European Q-School is being held in Kalkar, Germany, and in recent days the likes of Jimmy van Schie, Brian Raman, and Jeffrey de Zwaan booked their places in the final phase. They will be joined by players such as Jelle Klaasen, Andy Baetens, and Jose de Sousa, who were directly seeded into this final phase because they still held a PDC Tour Card last year.
There are also some notable names who failed to make it through the first phase of European Q-School. Xanti van den Bergh, the brother of PDC Tour Card holder Dimitri Van den Bergh, was unable to qualify. Former PDC Tour Card holders Jacques Labre, Krzysztof Kciuk, Rowby-John Rodriguez, and Owen Roelofs also missed out on the final phase. It was likewise unsuccessful for Jarno Bottenberg, a multiple WDF World Championship participant, in the opening phase of European Q-School.
At UK Q-School, former BDO world champions Scott Mitchell and Steve Beaton were among those to make it through to the final phase. The 61-year-old Steve Beaton also negotiated the first phase successfully. They will be joined in the final phase by, among others, Mervyn King and World Championship sensation Charlie Manby.
UK Q-School also saw several familiar names fall at the first hurdle. We will not see John O'Shea, Colin Osborne, or Adam Smith-Neale in the final phase. The same applies to Richie Burnett. However, the 1995 BDO world champion does have a safety net, as he can still be called up from the reserve list if players withdraw.
Read also
ADVERTISEMENT
Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Need to see her take part in the womens tour. She'll break the inernet.medinabello08-09-2026
- If he can be bothered? He won't play darts in Germany yet he'll go over and get an award!??rick6702-09-2026
- Why is this the main story? He chose not to compete in loads of tournaments,yes he's number 1 in the world,but he does have to turn up at tournaments! Play the next world championship in Dortmund and see if he turns up!!rick6727-08-2026
- This is exactly what I mean,littler survives the 1st round,I think you'll find a lot of other players did. Can you just report on the real sport,and not just 1 person. I like Luke,but this is getting boring now,as Kevin painter once said to Taylor!! The sport is about every player,not 1 who everyone seems to have put the sport on the map.,which he hasn't,he's just got in when the money is massive. Great as he is,it seems like what's the point in anyone trying,he's going to win everything,unless it's in Germany or Australia!!!rick6726-08-2026
- I mean look, Littler's picture is first,wattimena is second and he won! Level it up. I know littler is fantastic,but the sport was here before him,and will be when he's retired. Any player in the top 64/128 can beat each other,it's not big news. Poor Jermaine,wins it,and not even the headline!!rick6726-08-2026
- I appreciate that littler is a fantastic player,but the top 3 articles are about him. Before he'd thrown a dart in the tournament. Level it out a bit, Taylor and van gerwen soon got disliked as the media could only see them,and nobody else seemed to matterrick6725-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
- The two-point Lucky Loser qualifiers are Ross Smith, Robb, Whitlock, Sakai, Ilagan and Toylo. Jermaine is not on the entries list on Dartconnect for the TCH qualifier so the four from the main OoM are probably Searle, Nijman, Dobey, Wattimena.Scoobedybop24-08-2026
- I'd happily pay for a site free of Van der Voort's every squeak and utterance.StraightArrowNoBull19-08-2026
- I think you miss the point. It is just a poll if you are willing to pay for an ad-free site. The content stays free.SheGotLegs16-08-2026
Loading
