PDC European and UK Q-School Final Stage Round-Up | McGuirk and Sykes strike in Milton Keynes as Van Schie finally seals Tour Card despite losing final
PDC
Q-School continued on Saturday with the European and UK edition heading into a third day with the theme today being known quantities as for the most part it was well known players making their way through in Milton Keynes and Kalkar.
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For many of the top names though such as Jose de Sousa, Andreas Harrysson, Fallon Sherrock, John Henderson and Mervyn King, it is win or bust tomorrow with a big day ahead on Sunday.
UK Q-School - Sykes and McGuirk seal Tour Cards
After a week where it has been a bit of a lottery at Q-School in regards to who will win through in Milton Keynes with the bigger players losing early and the big shouts not having their time in the spotlight, two well known entities found their way through.
Tom Sykes albeit not known to some will be to others. Anyone tipping the nightmare lottery that is Q-School will know Sykes as a player who in county, MODUS Super Series and various events he has been incredible and is perhaps the best player not to have professional status. Until today.
Sykes after a poor opening stanza to Q-School saw off Stephen Burton in the final 6-4 to seal his spot on the professional tour finally. Quitting his job to do this full time, he now gets to strut his stuff in the pro ranks. He saw off Llew Bevan, Tommy Morris, Andrew Cass, Harry Ward and Harrison Leigh. He never dipped under an 84 average and had a best of a ton. A superb addition to the tour.
As is the former WDF World Champion Shane McGuirk who was a PDC prodigy before he managed to win at Lakeside. He went to Q-School last year burdened with expectation and now he has finally done it a year on.
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He saw off World Championship standout Charlie Manby who might have had his chance. He is not secure points wise and will need a good day tomorrow again. He lost 6-2 in the final. But after close wins over Henry Coates and Ted Evetts, he thrashed Adam Hunt, Robbie Martin and Nick Cocks before seeing off Manby. A great day for both.
Burton, David Sharp, Sam Spivey, Harry Ward and Derek Coulson are currently in Tour Card spots but no-one is safe so a big day awaits in MK.
European Q-School - Van Schie finally wins Tour Card but not outright
The big news coming from Kalkar is that Jimmy van Schie, the current WDF World Champion will finally make the step up but in Van Schie style of losing in final games, he did so again.
He faced Yorick Hofkens and led 4-2 but the 18-year-old German prodigy who has long been touted as one of the next cabs off the rank in regards to German darts has managed to do it. He won through 6-5 surviving match darts and has been joined by another German, Matthias Ehlers.
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Jimmy van Schie finally a Tour Card holder.
Ehlers has come out of nowhere somewhat this week and despite averaging mid 80's in the main, he has managed to string results together and won his Tour Card with a 77 average. He lost to Cristo Reyes yesterday in the final but instead of doing a 'Jeffrey de Zwaan' or last year a 'Jimmy van Schie' of reaching a final and then not winning anymore points up to press, Ehlers came back.
He saw off Faes and prior to that took down Pal Szekely, Ron Meulenkamp, Ricardo Ulrich, Mitja Gustorf and also Bjorn Quoiffy. The latter himself has had a good Q-School thus far so it was a bit of a horror draw for both parties. But he won through. This in turn though helps others. Ehlers like Van Schie went into the final game knowing he'd done enough and now he has won it outright, he drops off the Order of Merit.
This means that Van Schie leads on 11 points and next up is Jeroen Caron with a big race ahead as all of the top eight outside of Van Schie have seven points and there is a minimal gap so anyone on around the five point mark feasibly could make it a completely different Order of Merit tomorrow.
Chris Landman, Benjamin Pratnemer, Adam Gawlas, Patrick Bulen, Faes and Alexander Merkx are in those spots but Marvin Kraft, Michael Unterbuchner, Ron Meulenkamp, Romeo Grbavac, Michele Turetta and David Cameron are breathing down their necks. On the other hand we could have a scenario like today when big names lose early and we could get a new crop of players outside Van Schie. So Kalkar will have eyes on it tomorrow.
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Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
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- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026
- Fair play to Fallon. But...shows the mockery when a professional players wins what was meant to be an amateur v Pro event, Littlers performance was poor, and what about the players who didn't get a game? Would have been better if the pot was split amoungst all the winners and they all got a leg.BandB31-10-2026
- Not even slightly interestedrick6730-10-2026
- And yet the PDC has decided to aggravate this problem by doubling the Players Championship Finals field from 2027. I can't imagine there will be fewer withdrawals next year with even less reason to turn up. I can only hope that a whole slew of Challenge Tour top-up players receive enough prize money in the absence of much of the elite, that some of the more complacent among them struggle to scrape into even a heavily diluted field! More semi-pro players will get to test their mettle, but the standard of competition will be much inferior. It could hardly be said that the Players Championship series will provide an opportunity for darts' second string to test their Tour Card credentials anymore, but at least it will underscore the achievements of those Challenge Tour players of current and previous years, who were able to prove themselves as more than capable of competing with, and beating, the elite of the sport on a consistent basis, and reaping the due rewards.Deduce635828-10-2026
- No point in being there? Champions want to win.Deduce635828-10-2026