“You’re encouraging match-fixing, or at least manipulating the competition” — Fierce criticism of Q-School regulations and format

The past week revolved around Q-School, where a total of 256 players competed for a PDC Tour Card in Milton Keynes and Kalkar. For certain players, such as Jimmy van Schie, it proved a successful week. But for some favorites, this seven-day slog ended in disappointment. In the latest episode of the Darts Draait Door podcast, Vincent van der Voort and Damien Vlottes took an in-depth look back at this year’s Q-School.

In total, 7 of the 16 available Tour Cards at the European Q-School went to Dutch players. Despite that strong return, Van der Voort did question the overall standard in Kalkar. Compared to the English Q-School, the level in Europe fell slightly short, according to the Dutchman.

“If I may be a little critical…,” Van der Voort began. “You can count yourself lucky if you play Q-School in Europe. The level in England is really quite a bit higher. Winning a tour card is great, but for a lot of players that’s the end goal. This is only the beginning. If you’re going to play the ProTour, your average needs to be around 92 or 93.”

He then argued that a floor below a 90 average means you simply can’t keep up with the world’s best. “You really need to average 90 or more every match. Not many in Europe do that. Then you should be worried about your next two years. It’s not as if getting a tour card means you’ve arrived. You have to play well, and some really need to step it up.”

Europe had more entrants than the United Kingdom, which meant 16 Tour Cards were on offer in Kalkar and 13 in Milton Keynes. That, according to Van der Voort, is a positive. “This is fine, it will push the standard in Europe up as well. We also need to move away from having more English players involved. This is the way to close that gap.”

One of the players who clinched his Tour Card convincingly was Dutchman Jimmy van Schie. He had already secured his spot before the final day, yet still had to play on Sunday afternoon’s finale. That is stipulated in the PDC regulations. Van der Voort struggled to understand it.

Van Schie had to play fellow countryman Patrick Geeraets on the final day, whom he defeated. He then faced WDF teammate and close friend Alexander Merkx. Van Schie was already certain of a Tour Card, but Merkx was not. That situation creates unusual scenarios because of this rule. “If you’re already safe, you shouldn’t have to play,” said Van der Voort. “What a ridiculous rule. You end up with players who have zero motivation, and that’s only logical.”

Van der Voort then went a step further. “You encourage match-fixing, or at least distort the competition. Someone could just turn up without a proper warm-up, arrive a minute before start time, and have the car waiting outside. They watch the first round and then leave quickly. You ‘give’ someone a point that way. It’s clearly dreamed up by someone that makes you think: how is that possible?”

He followed up with a friendship example to clarify the situation. “You’ve spent the whole week together and then on the final day you have to play each other, with you already safe and the other not. It’s very hard to say you’re going to take them out. You don’t want those scenarios, putting players in those positions.” As for a solution, he had an idea. “For instance, give a thousand pounds to the day winner. Then everyone has something to play for. But they need to overhaul that entire rule,” he said.

Alongside the success of Jimmy van Schie and others, some players left with nothing but disappointment. One surprise name to miss out on a Tour Card was Sweden’s Andreas Harrysson. ‘Dirty Harry’ unexpectedly reached the last 16 at the recent World Championship and was tipped as a top favorite to win his Tour Card in Kalkar. He narrowly missed out on leg difference, meaning we won’t see him on tour this year.

That left Van der Voort perplexed. “What a strange player. A very peculiar darter. All week you’d watch matches and think: ‘wow!’, but at times it was absolutely nothing.”

Another name mentioned on the podcast was Ron Meulenkamp, Van der Voort’s colleague as a Viaplay analyst. After multiple failed attempts in recent years, ‘The Bomb’ again couldn’t secure his PDC spot this year. Still, Van der Voort saw positives. “He made a better impression than in recent years. You did feel there was progress.”

Although Meulenkamp has experience on the PDC circuit, his level at this Q-School again wasn’t enough. “For him too: not enough above a 90 average. Should you even want it then? He has proved himself, but that was a few years ago now. He needs to show somewhere that he can still do it. Maybe he should play the Modus Super Series more often. It’s proven a perfect learning ground in recent years. If you want to go to the PDC, you need to be ready for it,” Van der Voort concluded.