Lukeman & Kuivenhoven seal ET qualification double in Hildesheim

Martin Lukeman (PDC)

Martin Lukeman and Maik Kuivenhoven celebrated a European Tour qualification double in Hildesheim on Thursday, as Steve Beaton and Simon Whitlock also secured their big stage returns.

Tour Card Holder Qualifiers for European Tour Events 9-10 took place on Thursday afternoon, with each qualifier producing ten players per event.

The NEO.bet German Darts Championship (ET9) will take place in Hildesheim from August 30-September 1, while the inaugural staging of the Flanders Darts Trophy (ET10) will be held in Antwerp from September 6-8.

Lukeman - a European Tour finalist in 2022 - won six consecutive matches at Halle 39 to complete a qualification double alongside Kuivenhoven, who fought back from 5-2 down to defeat Haupai Puha in their ET10 decider.

The list of ET9 Qualifiers were headlined by former Grand Slam champion Jose de Sousa, who produced a stunning 107.69 average to demolish Danny van Trijp and confirm his Hildesheim return.

Australian icon Whitlock also sealed his spot in the German Darts Championship with a trio of victories, advancing alongside former Lakeside champions Beaton and Jelle Klaasen.

Boris Krcmar, Mickey Mansell, Dom Taylor and Nick Kenny will complete the 48-player line-up at ET9, with seven different nationalities represented amongst the ten qualifiers.

In the ET10 Qualifier, Gabriel Clemens, Cameron Menzies and Jermaine Wattimena posted ton-topping averages to seal their spots in Antwerp, although Mike De Decker was denied a return to home soil by a clinical Robert Owen.

Top seed Kevin Doets was one of five Dutch players to progress through Thursday's second event, qualifying alongside Kuivenhoven, Wattimena, Jitse van der Wal and Richard Veenstra.

Meanwhile, fresh from his Players Championship 11 success on Tuesday, Scottish star Alan Soutar capped off a week to remember by dispatching Madars Razma and Jelle Klaasen to clinch his European Tour return.

In a change to the qualifying format from previous years, the top 16 players from the PDC Order of Merit now qualify by right for each event, along with the top 16 non-qualified players from the ProTour Order of Merit.

Each event will see the top 16 players from the ProTour Order of Merit seeded for the draw, entering in the second round, with the remaining 32 players drawn at random in the first round.

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ET9 Tour Card Holder Qualifiers: Steve Beaton, Jelle Klaasen, Maik Kuivenhoven, Boris Krcmar, Nick Kenny, Simon Whitlock, Dom Taylor, Mickey Mansell, Jose de Sousa, Martin Lukeman.

ET10 Tour Card Holder Qualifiers: Kevin Doets, Robert Owen, Gabriel Clemens, Jermaine Wattimena, Cameron Menzies, Richard Veenstra, Alan Soutar, Jitse van der Wal, Maik Kuivenhoven, Martin Lukeman.