Waites looking to hit the ground running on return to PDC Tour: "I want top 64 in the first 12 months"

Scott Waites only just missed out on keeping his Tour Card but came through Q-School once more to claim an immediate return.

One for 'Scotty 2 Hotty' that he didn't think he'd have to do again after claiming it initially two years ago.

"Two years ago I said I hope I never have to go through that again and two years ago, I left it to the last day to get through. This time managed to get a lot of points on the second day by getting the final which helped a lot. I think the standard for Q-School this year has been the best I've seen," he said to Tungsten Tales.

"There were lads that you've never heard of and come across before that were throwing 98 averages for fun. The standard was bang up there."

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Missing out on World Championship

Ranked well inside the top 64 for a lot of his time as a Tour Card holder, he didn't qualify for the World Darts Championship which sent him back to Q-School.

"I was hoping that I wasn't going to have to go to Q-School so a lot of it was last minute. I was always prepared but there is an element that you don't know what's going to happen."

"All you've got to do is try and prepare the best you can do. I put a lot of practice in and it proved that's what I needed. It helped me get through."

A win for Raymond van Barneveld at Ally Pally saw his fate sealed and he said he immediately just prepared for Q-School instead of thinking of his potential fate.

"I can't do anything about it at that point. I did my best on the tour for the past two years and obviously that wasn't good enough at the time. Hopefully for the next two years, it's onwards and upwards."

Goals for return to tour

For Waites though, he is glad to see weekend ProTours return and believes it will suit him more to achieving his goals.

"It's slightly different this time because we're coming out of COVID. Things are going back to normality. It's going back more to suit me. I prefer playing darts on a weekend, I've got my daughter to look after during the week."

"I'm going to go in this year and I want top 64 in the first 12 months. That would be a fantastic year."