Canada’s Jim Long and The Netherlands’ Maik Kuivenhoven have secured their PDC Tour Cards as outright winners, whilst a further 21 cards were secured on points as 2025 Qualifying School came to a close in Milton Keynes, England and Kalkar, Germany.
Alongside Long and the already confirmed winners of Tom Bissell, Justin Hood and Tavis Dudeney, nine more players joined from the UK Q School Order of Merit in Bradley Brooks, Darryl Pilgrim, Greg Ritchie, Adam Lipscombe, Adam Paxton, Cameron Crabtree, Adam Warner, Andy Boulton and Thomas Lovely.
In Germany, 13 cards were distributed to those on the Order of Merit, with Cor Dekker, Per Ljubic, Karel Sedlacek, Oskar Lukasiak, Tytus Kanik, Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, Dominik Gruellich, Stefaan Henderyck, Max Czerwinski, Max Hopp, Leon Weber and Marvin Van Velzen joining the outright winners of Kuivenhoven, Viktor Tingstrom, Kai Gotthardt, Dennie Olde Kalter.
Despite a number of returning faces, it means that 20 of the 29 cards distributed have gone to brand new names on the professional circuit.
Long had already secured his card before the final and was facing Wales’ Kelvin O’Keefe who needed a victory to secure his, but the Canadian was too strong as he secured a 6-4 win to clinch his Tour Card for the first time.
That victory meant that Lovely, who despite losing in the third round had stayed agonisingly to watch the final, squeezed through in the final Order of Merit position.
“It was a tough final knowing that I already had it [his Tour Card] and I lost a bit of my drive, but glad to get there in the end,” said 56-year-old Long.
“My first two days, I just didn’t hit my doubles and I was distraught about it, but I came down here the last two days and spent a full hour practicing tops, D10 and D5 and they came through for me today”
“I’ve wanted to do Q School since 2020, and was going to be happy with the ProTour or Challenge Tour but I am very happy with how it turned out.
“The biggest thing I take from this is that me and Matt Campbell will now play the World Cup together. I have a lot of planning to do for the rest of my year now.”
Lipscombe, who only qualified for the Final Stage of UK Q School after Dave Pallett withdrew, produced a remarkable run to secure his card.
With four points on the board, he sat outside the provisional spaces heading into the final day of action - but strung together an excellent run as he reached the Semi-Finals before losing out to O’Keefe.
The day started with a narrow 6-5 win over Steve Hine, but he followed this with a convincing 6-2 win against Ieuan Halsall and a 6-3 win over the experienced John Henderson to thwart the Scot from returning to the tour.
A 6-0 thumping win over Crabtree followed to secure his card in the Last 16, and he then proceeded that with a 6-5 win over the impressive Brooks - who himself had already confirmed his tour card on Day Three with his exploits to top the Order of Merit.
“I cannot even describe what has gone on this week but I am absolutely buzzing,” said 32-year-old Groundworker Lipscombe.
“I had driven back to Portsmouth and was in my living room when I got the call to come back, it was the golden ticket and I had to take advantage of it.
“After the game against Cam [Crabtree], I walked back to the missus and she was crying saying I had done it.”
In Germany, Kuivenhoven secured an immediate return to the professional circuit for the third time in his career after beating Croatia’s Pero Ljubic 6-3 in the final.
All tour cards had already been secured heading into the latter stages in Kalkar, with Kuivenhoven’s victory meaning Germany’s Leon Weber snuck through in the final place.
Hopp grabbed the headlines on finals day in Kalkar as he returned to the tour for the first time since 2022. The 28-year-old was the biggest name in German darts for a number of years and was the first player from his country to win a PDC title with the World Youth Championship in 2015, and the German Darts Open in 2018.
Meanwhile his compatriot Czerwinski - who has not featured on the PDC circuit before - was perhaps surprise package in Germany as he came through as an Order of Merit qualifier.
The 26-year-old from Dortmund, only started playing steel-tip darts seriously in 2022 but produced a great run on the final day to secure enough points.
“It is a huge surprise for me in my first Q School and I didn’t come here with any expectations,” said Czerwinski.
“I can’t really comprehend it yet but I am really happy to play on the Tour. I am hoping that my level will improve on the circuit as I don’t think I showed my best darts at Q School.”
The first taste of ProTour action comes in February with the opening two Players Championship events of 2025, but before then it is a trip back to Milton Keynes with all Tour Card holders able to qualify for January’s Winmau World Masters.
Click here for live scores from UK Qualifying School Final Stage Day Four.
Click here for live scores from European Qualifying School Final Stage Day Four.