DARIUS LABANAUSKAS earned a PDC Tour Card for the first time by winning the final day of 2019 European Qualifying School on Sunday in Hildesheim.
Labanauskas, who famously defeated Raymond van Barneveld last month at the William Hill World Darts Championship, clinched glory in Hildesheim with a final victory over another Dutchman in Vincent Van der Meer.
The Lithuanian joined Niels Zonneveld, Mike Van Duivenbode and Christian Bunse in winning Tour Cards outright with tournament triumphs during the four-day event, which had 249 entries.
Labanauskas' last chance at securing full-time status on the PDC circuit for the next two years began with early wins against Hendrik Eggermann, Day Three finalist Pavel Jirkal and Germany's Sebastian Pohl.
He then defeated Portuguese ace Jose De Sousa to reach the last 16, where he defeated Belgian youngster Kenny Neyens 5-3.
A quarter-final whitewash over France's Thibault Tricole set up a semi-final meeting against Latvian star Madars Razma, which Labanauskas won 5-2 with an average of over 96.
The 42-year-old then sealed his Tour Card by taking out 80 to complete a 5-3 success against Van der Meer.
"It was really difficult because I knew if I lost a game then I wouldn't get my Tour Card," said Labanauskas.
"I came into today knowing I needed only to win and I was able to do that. I'm very happy."
Dutch hopeful Van der Meer enjoyed opening victories against Francesco Raschini, Roxy-James Rodriguez, Wesley Bour and John Michael to reach the quarter-finals.
There, he defeated fellow Dutchman Toon Greebe 5-3 to set up a meeting with another countryman in Yordi Meeuwisse - who he beat by the same the margin.
There was disappointment in the final for Van der Meer but his performances over the four days left him a strong position to secure a Tour Card after finishing fourth on the final Order of Merit.
The Order of Merit was topped by Razma - a Players Championship finalist in 2018 - sealing a Tour Card for the Latvian.
Further PDC Tour Cards will be awarded following the completion of the UK Qualifying School to players from both the UK and European Q School Orders of Merit, on a pro-rata basis in relation to tournament entries.
The UK Qualifying School will be held from January 17-20 at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan. Entries close on Tuesday January 15 at 1400 GMT. Click here for full information.
"I told him 'You can do it. You can beat everyone here..."
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) January 6, 2019
Turns out that Madars Razma was the inspiration for Darius Labanauskas' success in winning a Tour Card on Day Four in Hildesheim!
➡️ Full story: https://t.co/CgmGSxUlgr pic.twitter.com/9B46kzucZt
2019 PDC European Qualifying School
Day Four, Sunday January 6
Last 16
Toon Greebe 5-2 Rene Eidams
Vincent Van der Meer 5-3 John Michael
Jyhan Artut 5-3 Lukasz Waclawski
Yordi Meeuwisse 5-0 Marko Kantele
Darius Labanauskas 5-3 Kenny Neyens
Thibault Tricole 5-2 Pauli Finnila
Kevin Munch 5-2 Pascal Wirotius
Madars Razma 5-3 Mareno Michels
Quarter-Finals
Vincent Van der Meer 5-3 Toon Greebe
Yordi Meeuwisse 5-2 Jyhan Artut
Darius Labanauskas 5-0 Thibault Tricole
Madars Razma 5-2 Kevin Munch
Semi-Finals
Vincent Van der Meer 5-3 Yordi Meeuwisse
Darius Labanauskas 5-2 Madars Razma
Final
Darius Labanauskas 5-3 Vincent Van der Meer
Final European Qualifying School Order of Merit
1 | Madars Razma | LAT | 16 |
2 | Marko Kantele | FIN | 12 |
2 | Yordi Meeuwisse | NLD | 12 |
2 | Vincent Van der Meer | NLD | 12 |
5 | John Michael | GRC | 11 |
6 | Jose De Sousa | PRT | 10 |
6 | Maik Kuivenhoven | NLD | 10 |
8 | Michael Rasztovits | AUT | 9 |
8 | Karel Sedlacek | CZE | 9 |
8 | Christian Goedl | AUT | 9 |
8 | Sebastian Steyer | POL | 9 |
8 | Pavel Jirkal | CZE | 9 |
8 | Boris Koltsov | RUS | 9 |
14 | Kenny Neyens | BEL | 8 |
15 | Dragutin Horvat | DEU | 7 |
15 | Ryan De Vreede | NLD | 7 |
15 | Mike De Decker | BEL | 7 |
15 | Ricardo Pietreczko | DEU | 7 |
15 | Roxy James Rodriguez | AUT | 7 |
15 | Geert De Vos | BEL | 7 |
15 | Nico Schlund | DEU | 7 |
15 | Gergely Lakatos | HUN | 7 |
15 | James Bailey | AUS | 7 |
24 | Jesús Noguera | ESP | 6 |
24 | Davyd Venken | BEL | 6 |
24 | Hannes Schnier | AUT | 6 |
24 | Thibault Tricole | FRA | 6 |
24 | Kevin Munch | DEU | 6 |
24 | Nico Blum | DEU | 6 |
24 | Jyhan Artut | DEU | 6 |
31 | Danny Van Trijp | NLD | 5 |
31 | Toon Greebe | NLD | 5 |
31 | Mareno Michels | NLD | 5 |
31 | Michele Turetta | ITA | 5 |
31 | Jeff Smith | CAN | 5 |
36 | Pauli Finnila | FIN | 4 |
36 | Radek Szaganski | POL | 4 |
36 | Christian Kallinger | AUT | 4 |
36 | Maik Langendorf | DEU | 4 |
36 | Rene Eidams | DEU | 4 |
36 | Wesley Bour | NLD | 4 |
36 | Niels Heinsøe | DNK | 4 |
36 | Lukas Wenig | DEU | 4 |
36 | Lukasz Waclawski | POL | 4 |
36 | Pascal Wirotius | DEU | 4 |
36 | Niels-Joergen Hansen | DNK | 4 |
47 | Joe Slivan | USA | 3 |
47 | Lukasz Sawicki | POL | 3 |
47 | Nigel van Milligen | NLD | 3 |
47 | Christoff Van De Wal | BEL | 3 |
47 | Andy Baetens | BEL | 3 |
47 | Pero Ljubic | HRV | 3 |
47 | Justin van Tergouw | NLD | 3 |
47 | Danny Van Klompenburg | NLD | 3 |
47 | Patrick van den Boogaard | NLD | 3 |
47 | Dragutin Pecnjak | HRV | 3 |
47 | Mats Gies | NLD | 3 |
47 | Stefaan Deprez | BEL | 3 |
47 | Andreas Harrysson | SWE | 3 |
47 | Petros Christodoulou | CYP | 3 |
47 | Erik Hol | NLD | 3 |
47 | Robin Beger | DEU | 3 |
47 | Gabriel Rollo | ITA | 3 |
64 | Michael Plooy | NLD | 2 |
64 | Cody Harris | NZL | 2 |
64 | Andrea Micheletti | ITA | 2 |
64 | Stefano Tomassetti | ITA | 2 |
64 | Stefan Bellmont | CHE | 2 |
64 | Andy Bless | CHE | 2 |
64 | Wilco Vermeulen | NLD | 2 |
64 | Stefan Nilles | DEU | 2 |
64 | Patrick van Osch | NLD | 2 |
64 | Fabian Herz | DEU | 2 |
64 | Armando Slotboom | NLD | 2 |
64 | Cor Ernst | NLD | 2 |
64 | Carlo van Cleef | NLD | 2 |
64 | Nico Mandl | AUT | 2 |
64 | Tobias Ploetz | DEU | 2 |
64 | Ewald Hagemann | DEU | 2 |
64 | Sebastian Pohl | DEU | 2 |
64 | Wesley Plaisier | NLD | 2 |
64 | Marvin Wehder | DEU | 2 |
64 | Bernd Roith | DEU | 2 |
64 | Jeremy Jendrzejewski | DEU | 2 |
64 | Wim Hofsink | NLD | 2 |
64 | Erik Tautfest | DEU | 2 |
64 | Patrik Kovacs | HUN | 2 |
64 | Florian Hempel | DEU | 2 |
64 | Jimmy Hendriks | NLD | 2 |
64 | Jerry Hendriks | NLD | 2 |
64 | Steffen Siepmann | DEU | 2 |
64 | Marko Puls | DEU | 2 |
64 | Ingo Vogt | DEU | 2 |
64 | Holger Rettig | DEU | 2 |
95 | Michal Ondo | CZE | 1 |
95 | Gerrit Schuur | NLD | 1 |
95 | Jeffrey Bekema | NLD | 1 |
95 | Karsten Koch | DEU | 1 |
95 | Edwin Van der Veen | NLD | 1 |
95 | Francesco Raschini | ITA | 1 |
95 | Lyuben Dimitrov | BGR | 1 |
95 | José Henriques Pinto de Sena | PRT | 1 |
95 | Juraj Vindiš | SVK | 1 |
95 | Jochen Graudenz | DEU | 1 |
95 | Aegir Bjornsson | ISL | 1 |
95 | Kevin Blomme | BEL | 1 |
95 | Berry van Peer | NLD | 1 |
95 | Felix Losan | AUT | 1 |
95 | Paulo Ferreira | PRT | 1 |
95 | Robert Allenstein | DEU | 1 |
95 | Stefanie Rennoch | DEU | 1 |
95 | Hendrik Eggermann | DEU | 1 |
95 | Michael Rosenauer | DEU | 1 |
95 | Dennis Akhtar | DEU | 1 |
95 | Uwe Bacher | AUT | 1 |
95 | Thomas Köhnlein | DEU | 1 |
95 | Andreas Flamme | DEU | 1 |
95 | Dennis Nilsson | SWE | 1 |
95 | Erwin Renkema | NLD | 1 |
95 | Wesley van Trijp | NLD | 1 |
95 | Rusty Jake Rodriguez | AUT | 1 |
95 | Anton Salge | DEU | 1 |
95 | Co Stompé | NLD | 1 |
95 | Michael Kiebel | DEU | 1 |
95 | Massimo Dalla Rosa | ITA | 1 |
95 | Luis Camacho | CHE | 1 |
95 | Simeon Heinz | DEU | 1 |
95 | Kobus Vriezen | NLD | 1 |
95 | Gino Drobick | DEU | 1 |
95 | Aaron Rahlfs | DEU | 1 |
95 | Egor Tvorogov | DEU | 1 |
95 | Markandu Garunakumar | LKA | 1 |
95 | Muzaffer Celik | DEU | 1 |
95 | Christopher Haensch | DEU | 1 |
95 | Richard van Zijtveld | NLD | 1 |
95 | Sandro Wyss | CHE | 1 |
95 | Alexander Tauber | DEU | 1 |
138 | Thomas Lazic | DEU | 0 |
138 | Thomas Junghans | DEU | 0 |
138 | Theo de Jong | NLD | 0 |
138 | Rowdy Schoremans | NLD | 0 |
138 | Michel Furlani | ITA | 0 |
138 | Ivan Springborg Poulsen | DNK | 0 |
138 | János Végso | HUN | 0 |
138 | Vladimír Zatko | SVK | 0 |
138 | Arjan Konterman | NLD | 0 |
138 | Wessel Nijman | NLD | 0 |
138 | Jens Kniest | DEU | 0 |
138 | Philipp Gerwing | DEU | 0 |
138 | Danny Kaiser | DEU | 0 |
138 | Duvaan Ata | NLD | 0 |
138 | Gabriel Florin Olar | ROU | 0 |
138 | Alexander Tröbs | DEU | 0 |
138 | Michal Smejda | CZE | 0 |
138 | Glenn Leysen | BEL | 0 |
138 | Kevin Antz | DEU | 0 |
138 | Michael Häusler | DEU | 0 |
138 | Pavel Drtil | CZE | 0 |
138 | Melvin de Fijter | NLD | 0 |
138 | Juergen Hartung | DEU | 0 |
138 | Steven-Hendrik Schultze | DEU | 0 |
138 | David Rosí | CZE | 0 |
138 | Alessio Medaina | ITA | 0 |
138 | Manfred Bilderl | DEU | 0 |
138 | René Berndt | DEU | 0 |
138 | Marcel Plaewe | DEU | 0 |
138 | Philipp Hagemann | DEU | 0 |
138 | Kevin Knopf | DEU | 0 |
138 | Jakub Kašpar | CZE | 0 |
138 | Ronald Balfoort | NLD | 0 |
138 | Mehdi Poggi | FRA | 0 |
138 | Fabian Freitag | DEU | 0 |
138 | Veniamin Symeonidis | GRC | 0 |
138 | Dominik Thiel | DEU | 0 |
138 | Stefan Taferner | AUT | 0 |
138 | Co Stompe Jnr | NLD | 0 |
138 | David Schlichting | DEU | 0 |
138 | Jonathan Lang | DEU | 0 |
138 | Dominic Keller | DEU | 0 |
138 | Mick Hasse | DEU | 0 |
138 | Daniel Sprudzs | DEU | 0 |
138 | Marcel Gugger | CHE | 0 |
138 | Marcel Goldschmidt | DEU | 0 |
138 | William Schwaß | DEU | 0 |
138 | Petr Rouc | CZE | 0 |
138 | Sandor Farkas | HUN | 0 |
138 | Vladimir Angelov | MKD | 0 |
138 | Karsten Kornath | DEU | 0 |
138 | Matthew Clarke | AUS | 0 |
138 | Nico Wagner | DEU | 0 |
138 | Deniz Armut | NLD | 0 |
138 | Geordie Martis | NLD | 0 |
138 | Alexander Steinbauer | AUT | 0 |
138 | Alexander Merkx | NLD | 0 |
138 | Shanendo Aué | NLD | 0 |
138 | Mike Poge | DEU | 0 |
138 | Kevin Grebe | DEU | 0 |
138 | Rolf Marks | DEU | 0 |
138 | Patric Aeschbach | CHE | 0 |
138 | Martin Popelka | CZE | 0 |
138 | Joerg Hofmann | DEU | 0 |
138 | Justin Müller | DEU | 0 |
138 | Mario Jodozy | BEL | 0 |
138 | Levy Frauenfelder | NLD | 0 |
138 | Marius May | DEU | 0 |
138 | Roman Benecky | CZE | 0 |
138 | Tomas Seyler | DEU | 0 |
138 | Michael Hurtz | DEU | 0 |
138 | David Peretz | DEU | 0 |
138 | Jeffrey De Graaf | NLD | 0 |
138 | Javier Rodriguez | ESP | 0 |
138 | Sandro Kopper | DEU | 0 |
138 | Jose Ventura | ESP | 0 |
138 | Leo Hendriks | NLD | 0 |
138 | Matthias Lex | DEU | 0 |
138 | Armend Avdija | SRB | 0 |
138 | Till Meischner | DEU | 0 |
138 | Helge Gross | DEU | 0 |
138 | Mindaugas Barauskas | LTU | 0 |
138 | Brian Kaemena | DEU | 0 |
138 | Georg Kühweidner | AUT | 0 |
138 | Fredi Gsellmann | AUT | 0 |
138 | Rene Fabbro | AUT | 0 |
138 | Nico Kurz | DEU | 0 |
138 | Christian Eckert | DEU | 0 |
138 | Pascal Bäuerle | DEU | 0 |
138 | Sandor Ballo | HUN | 0 |
138 | Stefan Baake | DEU | 0 |
138 | Philipp Netzer | DEU | 0 |
138 | Lasse Petersen | DEU | 0 |
138 | Hendrik Riedel | DEU | 0 |
138 | Jörg Meinert | DEU | 0 |
138 | Sammy Kreitz | DEU | 0 |
138 | Markus Brummer | DEU | 0 |
138 | Thomas Arhelger | DEU | 0 |
138 | Andre Christen | CHE | 0 |
138 | Frederic Mozelewski | DEU | 0 |
138 | Ulrich Jansen | DEU | 0 |
138 | Jody Deramoudt | BEL | 0 |
138 | Thomas Neugebauer | DEU | 0 |
138 | Gerrit Begemann | DEU | 0 |
138 | Thomas Kohlmann | DEU | 0 |
138 | Pierre Azzam | NLD | 0 |
138 | Remon Hurrebrink | NLD | 0 |
138 | Malte Schleinitz | DEU | 0 |