The PDC has announced which players will participate in the PDC European Q-School in Kalkar. The field includes over five hundred participants, considerably more than last year. They will compete for PDC Tour Cards to gain entry to the lucrative Pro Tour circuit.
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As in the past two years, the Q-School is divided into two phases. The first phase will take place from Jan. 8 through Jan. 10, followed by the final phase from Jan. 11 through Jan. 14.
Players who lost their PDC Tour Card last season or finished in the top eight on the Challenge Tour and Development Tour are immediately qualified for the final stage.
The remaining participants must start in the first stage. Placement for the final stage is possible by reaching the last eight on one of the three playing days in Kalkar. Should that fail, players must ensure that as many pots as possible are won. Each win in a full round (without byes) earns one point. Via the Q-School Order of Merit of the first stage, players also advance to the final stage.
Tour Card distribution during final stage
During the final stage, the Tour Cards are actually distributed. Of the thirty available Tour Cards, eight will be distributed immediately. At both the British and European Q-School, four days of play will be completed during the final phase. The eight direct cards will go to all daily winners at the tournaments.
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The remaining 22 Tour Cards can be earned through the Q-School Order of Merit. At both events, points can be earned per win (not counting preliminaries, ed.).
With multiple consistent results, this way players can still get a Tour Card without achieving daily success.
Participants
Entries for the first stage include Alexander Merkx, Andy Baetens, Derk Telnekes, Fabian Schmutzler, Gino Vos, Jelle Klaasen, Kenny Neyens, Liam Maendl-Lawrance, Max Hopp, Lukas Wenig, Martijn Dragt, Nico Kurz, Ron Meulenkamp, Stefan Bellmont and Vincent Kamphuis.
Players such as Thibault Tricole, Chris Landman, Wesley Plaisier, Christian Kist, Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, Mario Vandenbogaerde, Danny Jansen, Bradly Roes, Jules van Dongen, Brian Raman, Jimmy Hendriks and Damian Mol only have to start the European Q-School from the final stage.
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Participants PDC European Q-School
First phase
Adrian Dudek
Ales Hock
Alexander Klein
Alexander Masek
Alexander Merkx
Alexandre Antunes
Andras Borbely
André Ritter
Andrea Micheletti
Andreas Flamme
Andreas Harrysson
Andreas Kumpan
Andy Baetens
Andy Mistr
Angelo Balsamo
Anoop Ramdajal
Anton Ostlund
Arjan Konterman
Arne Degryse
Arno Looijen
Arno Brand
Attila Valyi
Ayrton Wullen
Baggio Jacobs
Baranyi Zsombor
Bart Van Bogaert
Bastian Thiele
Ben Robb
Benjamin Drue Reus
Benjamin Goetze
Benjamin Pratnemer
Benjamin Werner
Benny van der Linden
Bent Lambertsen
Bernhard Payr
Bert Jan Mulder
Bert Van Roosbroeck
Bjarne Verleysen
Bjorn Beauprez
Bohuslav Hrbek
Born Van Put
Brian Verhelst
Bryan De Hoog
Bryan Menzel
Calvin Nicolai
Chris Massilge
Christian Goedl
Christian Helmecke
Christian Till
Christopher Weiss
Dalibor Smolik
Damian Palaszewski
Dan Bujok
Daniel Barborak
Daniel Domnick
Daniel Drewes
Daniel Grochotzky
Daniel Gross
Daniel Leithner
Daniel Zadach
Danny Tessmann
Danny Van Klompenburg
David Jeske
David Rosi
David Schlichting
David Sevce
Davy Proosten
Davy Robijns
Davy van der Zande
Davy Verkooijen
Davyd Venken
Dean Pokos
Dennie Olde Kalter
Dennis Akhtar
Dennis van der Ende
Derk Telnekes
Dieter Van Ham
Dmitriy Zhukov
Domagoj Bratincevic
Domenik Fink
Dominic Keller
Dominik Fischer
Dominik Moravcík
Dominik Nebe
Dominik Thiel
Donato Di Loreto
Dragan Simic
Dustin Straver
Dylan Porters
Edgar Znutins
Eric Boyer
Eric Gohde
Erik Schmeitz
Fabian Bihl
Fabian Schmutzler
Fabian Schor
Falco Hux
Felix Knappe
Felix Schiertz
Felix Schmitt
Felix Steinebrunner
Fetih Kaya
Filip Jech
Filip Prochazka
Filip Sebesta
Filipe Simoes
Florian Lindner
Florian Preis
Florian Socha
Frank Schroeder
Frantisek Mika
Franz Roetzsch
Frederic Willems
Frieder Lang
Fynn Schmidt
Gabor Jagicza
Gabriel Florin Olar
Gabriel Rollo
Geronimo Santos-Monteiro
Gilbert van der Meijden
Gino Vos
Giovanni Stecconi
Giuseppe Di Rocco
Grant Sampson
Gregory Verschuere
Guerkan Kaynarcalidan
Guyot Jessy
Gylian Surgeon
Halil Can Yildiz
Hallgrimur Egilsson
Hannes Brehm
Hans Achten
Hatman Karaca
Haupai Puha
Heikki Hyvonen
Heiko Oschmann
Hendrie van Berkel
Hendrik Bouma
Henk Deschrevel
Hilger Zwick
Iain Cash
Imraan Jahangier
Ivan Springborg Poulsen
Jaime Nunez Cortes
Jakub Lar
Jamai van den Herik
James Vanbesien
James Vermaelen
Jan Boelen
Jan Dueckers
Jan Hendrik Wiechers
Jan Hlavacek
Jan Zagel
Jani Keskinarkaus
Jani Laurila
Jannes Bremermann
Jannis Barkhausen
Janos Borzsei
Janos Vegso
Jarno Bottenberg
Javanico Jansen
Jean-Pierre de Jonghe
Jef De Rooster
Jeffrey Bekema
Jeffrey De Graaf
Jeffrey Vanbergen
Jelle Klaasen
Jeroen Caron
Jeroen Mioch
Jesus Noguera
Jimmy De Bo
Jimmy van Schie
Jiri Brejcha
Jiri Rehak
Jitse Van der Wal
Joaquim Goncalves
Jochen Graudenz
Jody Tobback
Joel Breitenmoser
Joerg Mitterlehner
Joey ten Berge
Johann Brouwer
John Desreumaux
John Michael
John Nagelhout
Jon Hegaard Kirkeby
Jordy Van den Broek
Jorge Garcia del Pozo
Jos Wenders
José Alberto Da Silva Barbosa
Joshua Hermann
Joseph Sekeres
Julian Zwergel
Julio Barbero Gonzalez
Juraj Vindis
Jurrit Van Essen
Justin Heidekrueger
Kai Gotthardt
Karl Jonsson
Kees-Jan Snel
Keith Zahner
Kenny Neyens
Kenny Vroman
Kevin Lankhuizen
Kevin Luhr
Kevin Munch
Kevin Rothweiler
Kevin Troppmann
Kevin Van Wauwe
Klaas Hooikammer
Krzysztof Chmielewski
Kyan Proksch
Lara Frerking
Lars Moinat
Lasse Petersen
Laurens Admiral
Leon Katzmarzik
Leon Weber
Leon Zammert
Leroy Clarys
Levente Sarai
Levy Frauenfelder
Liam Maendl-Lawrance
Loek Van den Berg
Luc Bogaert
Luc Snels
Luca Pfaff
Ludovic Rubais
Luis Camacho
Lukas Fraulob
Lukas Unger
Lukas Wenig
Lukasz Waclawski
Luke Tucker
Maarten Bulckaen
Maikel Kustermans
Maikel Mossou
Manfred Kobelt
Manuel de Vreede
Manuel Gutjahr
Marc Burmeister
Marcel Althaus
Marcel Bos
Marcel Erba
Marcel Gerdon
Marcel Grote
Marcel Gugger
Marcel Hausotter
Marcel Hexel
Marcel Junk
Marcel Otter
Marcel Schachner
Marcel Teders
Marcel Walpen
Marcin Slomski
Marco Huss
Marco Jantzen
Marco Obst
Marco Peters
Marco Verhofstad
Marcus Kirchmann
Marek Purgy
Mareno Michels
Mario Robbe
Mark Tabak
Mark Van De Lindeloof
Marko Kantele
Markus Grebe
Markus Kessler
Markus Walchshaeusl
Martijn Dragt
Martijn Klasens
Martijn Schoenmakers
Martin Hlavenka
Martin Kramer
Marvin Koch
Massimo Dante
Matej Cverha
Mats Gies
Matthew Joseph Smith
Matthias Athens
Matthias Ehlers
Maurice Locht
Maurizio Castrovinci
Max Arsenijevic
Max Hopp
Max Koenig
Maximilian Johansen
Maximilian Nirschl
Michael Busscher
Michael Hurtz
Michael Ladefoged
Michael Marijs
Michael Pausch
Michael Stoeten
Michael Unterbuchner
Michael Woraczek
Michal Janco
Michel Van de Bunt
Michele Turetta
Mick Hasse
Mihaly Vida
Mika Flueckiger
Mike Roesler
Mikolaj Konefal
Milos Nevidal
Miloslav Navratil
Mindaugas Barauskas
Miroslav Rajnoha
Miroslaw Grudziecki
Mladen Radosavljevic
Moritz Hilger
Moritz Richter
Moritz Schwarzbach
Nandor Major
Nandor Pres
Nauris Gleglu
Nayvin Corsten
Nick Hijmans
Nico Blum
Nico Kurz
Nico Plovier
Nico Riehle
Nico Wagner
Nico Wollweber
Nicolas Thuillier
Niels Heinsoe
Niklas Fahrenholz
Niko Springer
Nino Van Put
Noa-Lynn van Leuven
Ole Holtkamp
Oliver Mueller (Frankfurt)
Oskar Jonasson
Oskar Lukasiak
Paavo Myller
Pal Szekely
Par Riihonen
Pascal de Clercq
Pascal Devroey
Pascal Essmann
Pascal Hartung
Pascal Wirotius
Patrick Bulen
Patrick Dekker
Patrick Geeraets
Patrick Heitmueller
Patrick Klingelhoefer
Patrick Lehnert
Patrick Maat
Patrick Peters
Patrick Plotz
Patrick Schwab
Patrick Tringler
Patrik Kovacs
Paul Bereths
Paul Kalashnikov
Paul Krohne
Paul Vogt
Pavel Drtil
Pavel Jirkal
Peter Jensen
Peter Strbik
Peter van den Broek
Philip Van Gasse
Philipp Schweder
Pieter Hostyn
Rainer Sturm
Remo Mandiau
Rene Eidams
Rene Kahler
Rene Kunze
Ricardo Ham
Ricardo Perez
Riccardo Castelli
Richard Hallink
Ricky de Vos
Rino Ameel
Robby van Ballaert
Robert Pijpers
Robert Rolle
Roberto Vandaele
Robin Beger
Robin Smees
Robin Wunder
Rocco Fulciniti
Roemer Mooijman
Roman Benecky
Romeo Grbavac
Ron Meulenkamp
Ronald Balfoort
Roy van de Griendt
Ruben Mesters
Ryan De Vreede
Ryuta Arihara
Sandor Ballo
Sandro Egli
Sascha Dupke
Sebastian Albrecht
Sebastian Steinmetz
Sebastian Steyer
Sergio Scratches
Shane Gardiner
Simeon Heinz
Simon Limani
Simon Teysen
Simon Trommler
Soeren Carlsson
Stef Goyvaerts
Stefaan Henderyck
Stefan Bellmont
Stefan Dees
Stefan Hajek
Stefan Hesse
Stefan Schroder
Stefan Taferner
Steffen Scheffler
Steffen Siepmann
Stephan Birk
Stephan Cobau
Stephan Griese
Stephan Chess
Steve Vanwelkenhuysen
Steven Goetsch
Steven Luhr
Steven Morrison
Steven Noster
Steven Paesschesoone
Stieven Goyvaerts
Stijn Vekemans
Suleiman Naamo
Sven Bolyn
Sven Christophersen
Sven Preuss
Sven Scharf
Sven Wichmann
Sven Wille
Sybren Gijbels
Sylwester Karbowiak
Thomas Kohnlein
Thomas Morisse
Tim Darmstadter
Tim Reinhold
Tim Wolters
Timo Weermann
Timothy Verbrugghe
Tobias Frese
Tobias Limbach
Tobias Riese
Tom Hammermeister
Tom van den Hoogen
Tomas Hamrozi
Tomas Houdek
Tomáš Ledl
Tomas Materna
Tomas Rehak
Tonni Sorensen
Tonny Veenhof
Torbjorn Gustafsson
Torsten Janssen
Tytus Kanik
Udo Lercher
Ulrich Coussaert
Ulrich Jansen
Vidar Valdimarsson
Viktor Luft
Viktor Tingstrom
Vinay Ramnath
Vincent Kamphuis
Vitezslav Sedlak
Vitor Charrua
Vladimir Kovalev
Vladimir Zatko
Wesley van Trijp
William Leijten
Wim Dierckx
Wim Hofsink
Windels Levi
Wojciech Brulinski
Xanti Van den Bergh
Yanick Etter
Yente Vandewal
Yoran Pletinck
Yoshihisa Baba
Zdenek Vaisar
Zereso Zeverboom
Directly admitted to final stage
Dragutin Horvat
Thibault Tricole
Chris Landman
Wesley Plaisier
Christian Kist
Sebastian Bialecki
Dominik Gruellich
Bradly Roes
Christopher Toonders
Vladimir Andersen
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Mario Vandenbogaerde
Radek Szaganski
Danny Jansen
Darius Labanauskas
Jules van Dongen
Krzysztof Kciuk
Brian Raman
Jimmy Hendriks
Jose Justicia
Damian Mol
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.
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- And why should he listen to you?Deduce635807-11-2026
- Ultimately it is a bye for whoever draws Barney. It will be another stroppy and sulky performance once he goes behind. Barney was excellent but really must completely call it a day now.richieburnettrocks07-11-2026
- I'm disappointed he was not able to secure a spot at the Grand Slam. With Carl Sneyd taking care of Daryl Gurney, he would have had to beat Andy Boulton before facing the winner of Sneyd vs Mensur Suljović for a Grand Slam spot. Unfortunately, after beating Filip Bereza comfortably, he succumbed to Boulton, and the board would ultimately be won by the highly inconsistent Carl Sneyd. Since he could instead have been drawn against the likes of Cristo Reyes, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Stephen Bunting, I think once Gurney was out of the picture he would have been favourite to win his board, and it seems like a massive missed opportunity to put 5 grand on his ranking and seal another major TV appearance ahead of the Worlds. The highs and lows of following Raymond van Barneveld!Deduce635806-11-2026
- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
- 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