PDC Qualifying School Day Four

KEVIN McDINE hit a nine-dart finish as he won one of the final Tour Cards at the 2013 PDC Qualifying School, alongside Hong Kong's Royden Lam, English pair Steve Coote and Joey Palfreyman and nine players from the Q School Order of Merit.

McDine, a former Grand Slam of Darts semi-finalist, had lost his Tour Card at the end of last year but ensured his place on the full-time PDC ProTour this year by completing a consistent four days with victory on Sunday.

The Northamptonshire-based ace had lost in the deciding match to win a Tour Card on Day One of Qualifying School to Charl Pietersen, who hit a nine-dart finish in their game.

McDine matched that achievement in his decider against Martyn Turner on Sunday at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan, as he hit the THIRD perfect leg in four days as he overcame the York thrower 6-3.

He also defeated Joshua Carter, Matthew Dennant, Ryan Harrington, Kirk Shepherd and Steve Haggerty on the day, and admitted that he was relieved to win back his Tour Card.

"I'm over the moon," admitted McDine. "The standard has gone so high in the last few years and that's shown by the number of nine-darters you're seeing.

"It didn't happen that often when I started playing back in 2006 but everyone's so dedicated now that you're getting them in pretty much every event, and it's great that I've hit one too.

"I've had ten or 15 attempts at a nine-darter before on the circuit and missed out, but this time it went straight in and that's brilliant - to have one hit against me and then to hit one in the space of a couple of days is pretty rare!

"I expected to get through on the first day but Charl was unreal in our final, his nine-darter was great and I was pleased for him.

"I felt confident all day and I'm really glad to have won my Tour Card. I've played quite steady in every game and when I needed to, I found another gear."

McDine added: "I've had a bit of a struggle for the last couple of years but I'm feeling confident and ready to play again now.

"After the World Championship Qualifiers I had a bit of a break and since I started practising again I've been a different player - I've had my head right, I've picked up a new sponsor and am using some new darts and it's a new start for me.

"My aim's to get back into the top 50 in the first year and then progress from there."

Hong Kong's Royden Lam - another player to have lost in a deciding game this week - earned his place as the first Asian-based player to win a Tour Card with a 6-3 victory over Terry Temple in his final match in Wigan.

Lam, who lost 6-1 to Ronny Huybrechts in the deciding games on Saturday and impressed throughout the event, dropped only four legs in defeats of Matthew Waddoups, Dyson Parody and Chris Hartrey before edging out Lee Bryant and then seeing off Paul Amos in his run on the day.

"It feels really good," said Lam. "These few days have been very tiring and every player is very good, and I'm very happy that today I got my Tour Card.

"I'm planning to come to more PDC tournaments in the future, and hopefully I can qualify to play in the World Championship too.

"It's a very exciting time for me to able to play in the PDC. There are so many strong players but I will get better the more times I play against these players."

Liverpool's Palfreyman, who has competed part-time on the PDC circuit in recent years alongside brother Lee, defeated Dan Russell in a deciding leg to secure his automatic Tour Card.

Palfreyman, 38, also saw off Adrian Bolitho, Glen Miller, Steve Hine, Martin Murphy and Matthew Dicken on the day

"I'm really happy but it's been a hard few days," said Palfreyman, a two-time UK Open Qualifier.

"The standard of darts now is unbelievable and it's brilliant for me to win a Tour Card. To have Lee playing too has been good and we always support each other - I'd have loved him to have won a Tour Card too, but it wasn't to be for him."

Bolton's Steve Coote ended a six-year absence from the PDC circuit by whitewashing Gibraltar's Dylan Duo 6-0 in their decider, following up earlier wins over Brett Claydon, Jake Patchett, Jamie Guilfoyle, Chris Thompson and Alex Roy on the day.

"It's been a while and it's great to be back," said Coote, a 42-year-old fireman.

"I always said that I'd come back to playing darts when my little lad started school - he's eight now, so I've probably left it a bit longer than I thought I would, but my family have supported me to start playing again.

"I feel like I can still compete and I'd like to see what I can do. It's been very tough at Q School and the first couple of days was an eye-opener because I knew I had to improve my game because the standard was so high.

"I know I can play at that level but you have to do it leg-after-leg and I did that today. The standard has always been really good, but there's so much depth now and I take my hat off to the young players now who are all playing really well."

Coote previously played twice in the UK Open on home soil, in 2005 and 2006, and admitted that securing a return to that event in the eight Speedy Services UK Open Qualifiers this Spring will be his immediate target.

"I know what my first goal is and I'm hoping to be back at the Reebok Stadium in June for the UK Open," added Coote. "I'd love to play back in front of my home town crowd again.

"After that, who knows what will happen but I'll make some goals, write them down and put them in an envelope and open them again in 12 months to see how I've done!"

A further nine players joined the 16 automatic Tour Card winners in completing the field of 128 PDC Tour Card Holders for 2013 following four days of intense competition in Wigan.

They were headed by York left-hander Martyn Turner, with Telford's David Pallett, Dutch pair Edwin Max and Ryan De Vreede, Dan Russell and Paul Amos, an amateur qualifier for the UK Open last year who won his place at Qualifying School through the Redtooth Darts/Team Taylor competition.

Former World Championship finalist Kirk Shepherd, who could only play in two of the four days due to work commitments, picked up 12 points to win back his Tour Card, alongside Kevin Dowling and Darren Johnson, with Finland's Veijo Viinikka missing out on a Tour Card on count-back.

Viinikka, however, tops the list of players from the Q School Order of Merit who would be able to compete in Players Championship events this year should the full field of 128 Tour Card holders not enter.

All players who missed out on winning a Tour Card retain Associate Membership of the PDPA for 2013, meaning that they can compete in all eight UK Open Qualifiers alongside the European Tour qualifying events this year, as well as the World Championship PDPA Qualifier in November.

McDine and Pietersen were joined by Andy Parsons in hitting a nine-dart finish during the four days of Qualifying School, while Leon De Geus missed double 12 for a perfect leg of his own during Sunday's defeat to Alex Roy.

2013 PDC Qualifying School Day Four
Preliminary Round
Geoff Whitworth 6-0 Stuart Millar
Kevin Dowling 6-1 Rod Sanders
Vernon Sheppard 6-2 Paul Hodkin
Chris Rudd 6-5 Harry Lane
Davyd Venken 6-1 Mark Gordon
Norman Fletcher 6-4 Gavin Howard
Chris Skeates 6-2 Nathan Richards
Mick Taylor 6-2 Brian Startin
Paul Amos 6-1 Sean McArdle
Steve Harcourt 6-0 Darren Cotterell
Jason Marriott 6-4 Peter Nightingale
Ian Moss 6-0 Nick Malkin
Sean Liptrot 6-0 John Power
Veijo Viiniika 6-2 Richard Plowman
Phil Henshaw 6-0 Mike Nissen
Adam Smith-Neale 6-0 Michael Markovits
David Dodds 6-4 Brian Woods
Mike Norton 6-2 Mark Lawrence
Yves Cottenge 6-2 Tony Cole

First Round
Board One
Toon Greebe 6-4 Rob Commerford
Mark Frost 6-1 Josh Jones
Rob Modra 6-0 Andy Pearson
Ricky Williams 6-3 Lee Palfreyman
Alex Roy 6-3 Simon Burt
Andrew Hibbert 6-3 Adam Hunt
Leon De Geus 6-0 Damien Sherwood
Kevin Dowling 6-3 Geoff Whitworth
Chris Thompson 6-3 Tom Martin
Barrie Bates 6-0 Anthony West
Lee Hayes 6-4 Steve O'Callaghan
Dan Read 6-3 Paul Schofield
Jake Patchett 6-0 Wilfried Hoberg
Steve Coote 6-2 Brett Claydon
Jamie Guilfoyle 6-4 Mike Nott
Martin Perring 6-4 Vernon Sheppard
Darren Johnson 6-1 John Turnbull
Darron Brown 6-1 Oliver Stell
Colin Fowler Bye (Atif Hussain timed out)
Aden Kirk 6-4 Stuart Williams
Par Riihonen 6-3 Dave Kelly
Prakash Jiwa 6-3 Paul Rowley
Mark Forman 6-0 Andy Blackwell
Tomas Seyler 6-5 Chris Rudd
Dylan Duo 6-5 Carl Evans
Matthew Tedstone 6-4 Paul Osmotherly
Andrew Kavanagh 6-1 Simon Mountford
Jamie Atkins 6-4 Alex Long
Rocco Maes 6-2 Danny Summers
Dean Coe 6-3 Jack Morris
Clive Lewis 6-1 Neville Roberts
Davyd Venken 6-4 Dave Ladley
Lee Saville 6-0 David Hambrook
Jon Jukes 6-3 Kentaro Suzuki
Torbjorn Gustafsson 6-2 Hugo Deysel
Matt Padgett 6-2 James Young
Yoshan Roxy Iyer 6-0 James Forster
Ashley Holgate 6-1 David Copley
Wouter Vaes 6-3 Mark Ashby
Chris Skeates 6-1 Norman Fletcher
Terry Temple 6-0 David Patterson
Jamie Gemmell 6-2 Ian Lever
Ross Lowe 6-5 Mick Todd
Kevin Thomas 6-5 Gary Rigby
Ron Atwill 6-1 Gareth Thomas
Jason Wilson 6-1 Jack Hill
Matthew Medhurst 6-4 Jon Farmer
Harry Miles 6-3 Mick Taylor
Keith Rooney 6-1 Aaron Dingivan
Lewis Venes 6-2 Jordy Terburg
Christopher Dale 6-0 Peter Martin
Dave Honey 6-1 Jack Harrington
Karl Merchant 6-3 Carl Minter
Mike Gorst 6-4 Graham Mills
Jonathan Mulley 6-4 Joe Bata
Paul Amos 6-3 Brandonn Monk
Royden Lam 6-1 Matthew Waddoups
Dyson Parody 6-2 Mark Breakspear
Chris Hartrey 6-0 Steve Randall
Kevin Lawler 6-5 Johnny Rylance
Jonathan Worsley 6-2 Lee Moffat
Lee Bryant 6-0 Leon Bailey
Lionel Sams 6-4 Sean Johns
Ewan Hyslop 6-3 Steve Harcourt
Steve Kirkby 6-1 Kevin Cassidy
Andy Hutchings 6-2 Terry Hayes
Daniel Day 6-4 Alan Derrett
Matthew Dicken 6-3 Chris Wickenden
Michael Blake 6-3 Gary Eastwood
David Murphy (Limerick) 6-5 Heikki Hyvonen
Joseph Heywood 6-4 Fred Smith
Ian Moss 6-3 Jason Marriott
Steve Hine 6-1 Paul Boyle
Max Hopp 6-4 Josh Pinder
Joey Palfreyman 6-1 Adrian Bolitho
Glen Miller 6-3 Andrew Halls
Steve Cupitt 6-5 Jamie Landon
Andy Parsons 6-2 Tony Tasker
Martin Murphy 6-5 Mark Stephenson
Brandon Walsh 6-3 Sean Liptrot
Peter Manley 6-4 Simon McCall
Sam Hamilton 6-3 David Murphy (Wexford)
Dafydd Edwards 6-1 Arron Wike
Mark Robbins 6-5 Steve Mason
Dale Quince 6-0 Lee Drummond
Paul Wallace 6-5 Darren Williams
Dan Russell 6-1 Jonathan Taylor
Veijo Viinikka 6-5 Matt Elsey
Edwin Max 6-2 Sean Ryan
Mark Cox 6-2 John Burgess
Michael Rasztovits 6-2 Patrick Pace
David Pallett 6-4 John Court
Scott Coleman 6-2 Richard Slater
Robert Wagner Bye (Steven Pearson withdrew)
Stuart White 6-3 Leo Hendriks
Phil Henshaw 6-3 Andrew Howarth
Chris Allen 6-2 Richard Foster
Andrew Richardson 6-4 Sam Hill
Craig Pope 6-1 Hans Hagley
Andy Pearce 6-3 Anthony Wort
Pete Dyos 6-3 Stephen McNally
Dave Charnock 6-5 David Sharp
Paul Hannaway 6-4 Jamie Ellam
Steve Haggerty 6-4 Adam Smith-Neale
Kevin McDine 6-3 Joshua Carter
Matthew Dennant 6-3 Peter Evison
Carlos Rodriguez 6-0 Ryan Palmer
Ryan Harrington 6-4 Jamie Robinson
Kirk Shepherd 6-5 Andrew Johnson
Graham Hall 6-0 Darren Ward
Steve Maish 6-1 Jack Tweddell
David Dodds 6-3 Andrew Beaumont
Martyn Turner 6-1 Stephen Andrews
Scott MacKenzie 6-4 Jimmy Chojnowski
Mike Veitch 6-3 Paul Anthony
Dave Place 6-4 Mark Pritchard
Ricky Sudale 6-4 Kieran Keogh
Jason Hogg 6-1 Stuart Dutton
Ian Jopling 6-5 Ryan Maher
Mike Norton 6-3 Samuel Poland
Eduardo Sales Lopez 6-2 Nigel Birch
Ryan De Vreede 6-1 Scott Taylor
Marko Kantele 6-3 Richard van Zijtveld
Ben Songhurst 6-2 Darren Beveridge
Chris Mason 6-3 Darrell Claydon
Mark Jones Bye (Scott Pearson withdrew)
Mark Wilson 6-0 Richie Winpenny
Lee Whitworth 6-3 Yves Cottenge

Second Round
Mark Frost 6-2 Toon Greebe
Ricky Williams 6-4 Rob Modra
Alex Roy 6-2 Andrew Hibbert
Leon De Geus 6-3 Kevin Dowling
Chris Thompson 6-1 Barrie Bates
Lee Hayes 6-2 Dan Read
Steve Coote 6-1 Jake Patchett
Jamie Guilfoyle 6-5 Martin Perring
Darron Brown 6-1 Darren Johnson
Aden Kirk 6-5 Colin Fowler
Par Riihonen 6-5 Prakash Jiwa
Tomas Seyler 6-3 Mark Forman
Dylan Duo 6-2 Matthew Tedstone
Andrew Kavanagh 6-1 Jamie Atkins
Rocco Maes 6-1 Dean Coe
Clive Lewis 6-5 Davyd Venken
Jon Jukes 6-4 Lee Saville
Torbjorn Gustafsson 6-5 Matt Padgett
Yoshan Roxy Iyer 6-3 Ashley Holgate
Wouter Vaes 6-2 Chris Skeats
Terry Temple 6-3 Jamie Gemmell
Kevin Thomas 6-1 Ross Lowe
Jason Wilson 6-3 Ron Atwill
Harry Miles 6-3 Matthew Medhurst
Keith Rooney 6-1 Lewis Venes
Dave Honey 6-4 Christopher Dale
Mike Gorst 6-5 Karl Merchant
Paul Amos 6-2 Jonathan Mulley
Royden Lam 6-1 Dyson Parody
Chris Hartrey 6-4 Kevin Lawler
Lee Bryant 6-5 Jonathan Worsley
Lionel Sams 6-4 Ewan Hyslop
Steve Kirkby 6-3 Andy Hutchings
Matthew Dicken 6-3 Daniel Day
Michael Blake 6-1 David Murphy
Ian Moss 6-2 Joseph Heywood
Steve Hine 6-4 Max Hopp
Joey Palfreyman 6-1 Glen Miller
Andy Parsons 6-1 Steve Cupitt
Martin Murphy 6-1 Brandon Walsh
Sam Hamilton 6-2 Peter Manley
Dafydd Edwards 6-1 Mark Robbins
Dale Quince 6-2 Paul Wallace
Dan Russell 6-2 Veijo Viinikka
Edwin Max 6-4 Mark Cox
David Pallett 6-4 Michael Rasztovits
Robert Wagner 6-5 Scott Coleman
Phil Henshaw 6-4 Stuart White
Andrew Richardson 6-3 Chris Allen
Andy Pearce 6-5 Chris Pope
Dave Charnock 6-3 Pete Dyos
Steve Haggerty 6-3 Paul Hannaway
Kevin McDine 6-1 Matthew Dennant
Ryan Harrington 6-5 Carlos Rodriguez
Kirk Shepherd 6-1 Graham Hall
David Dodds 6-2 Steve Maish
Martyn Turner 6-3 Scott MacKenzie
Dave Place 6-0 Mike Veitch
Jason Hogg 6-1 Ricky Sudale
Ian Jopling 6-2 Mike Norton
Ryan De Vreede 6-5 Eduardo Sales Lopez
Ben Songhurst 6-5 Marko Kantele
Chris Mason 6-2 Mark Jones
Lee Whitworth 6-3 Mark Wilson

Third Round
Ricky Williams 6-5 Mark Frost
Alex Roy 6-4 Leon De Geus
Chris Thompson 6-5 Lee Hayes
Steve Coote 6-0 Jamie Guilfoyle
Darron Brown 6-4 Aden Kirk
Tomas Seyler 6-0 Par Riihonen
Dylan Duo 6-3 Andrew Kavanagh
CLive Lewis 6-4 Rocco Maes
Jon Jukes 6-4 Torbjorn Gustafsson
Yoshan Roxy Iyer 6-1 Wouter Vaes
Terry Temple 6-5 Kevin Thomas
Harry Miles 6-0 Jason Wilson
Dave Honey 6-2 Keith Rooney
Paul Amos 6-3 Mike Gorst
Royden Lam 6-2 Chris Hartrey
Lee Bryant 6-3 Lionel Sams
Matthew Dicken 6-3 Steve Kirkby
Michael Blake 6-2 Ian Moss
Joey Palfreyman 6-4 Steve Hine
Martin Murphy 6-5 Andy Parsons
Dafydd Edwards 6-1 Sam Hamilton
Dan Russell 6-4 Dale Quince
David Pallett 6-2 Edwin Max
Robert Wagner 6-5 Phil Henshaw
Andrew Richardson 6-4 Andy Pearce
Steve Haggerty 6-1 Dave Charnock
Kevin McDine 6-5 Ryan Harrington
Kirk Shepherd 6-4 David Dodds
Martyn Turner 6-4 Dave Place
Jason Hogg 6-0 Ian Jopling
Ryan De Vreede 6-3 Ben Songhurst
Lee Whitworth 6-3 Chris Mason
Losers receive two ranking points

Fourth Round
Alex Roy 6-1 Ricky Williams
Steve Coote 6-2 Chris Thompson
Darron Brown 6-2 Tomas Seyler
Dylan Duo 6-4 Clive Lewis
Jon Jukes 6-4 Yoshan Roxy Iyer
Terry Temple 6-2 Harry Miles
Paul Amos 6-4 Dave Honey
Royden Lam 6-5 Lee Bryant
Matthew Dicken 6-4 Michael Blake
Joey Palfreyman 6-2 Martin Murphy
Dan Russell 6-3 Dafydd Edwards
David Pallett 6-2 Robert Wagner
Steve Haggerty 6-1 Andrew Richardson
Kevin McDine 6-3 Kirk Shepherd
Martyn Turner 6-4 Jason Hogg
Lee Whitworth 6-5 Ryan De Vreede
Losers receive three ranking points

Fifth Round
Steve Coote 6-4 Alex Roy
Dylan Duo 6-4 Darron Brown
Terry Temple 6-0 Jon Jukes
Royden Lam 6-1 Paul Amos
Joey Palfreyman 6-4 Matthew Dicken
Dan Russell 6-4 David Pallett
Kevin McDine 6-2 Steve Haggerty
Martyn Turner 6-1 Lee Whitworth
Losers receive five ranking points

Sixth Round
Steve Coote 6-0 Dylan Duo
Royden Lam 6-3 Terry Temple
Joey Palfreyman 6-5 Dan Russell
Kevin McDine 6-3 Martyn Turner - Kevin McDine hits nine-dart finish!
Winners receive Tour Card
Losers recieve nine ranking points

Automatic Tour Card Winners
Day One: Jyhan Artut, Ricky Evans, Ken MacNeil Charl Pietersen,
Day Two: Louis Blundell, Daryl Gurney, Jani Haavisto, Ian Walters
Day Three: Marc Dewsbury, Ronny Huybrechts, Campbell Jackson, Andree Welge
Day Four: Steve Coote, Royden Lam, Kevin McDine, Joey Palfreyman

The nine Tour Card winners from the Q School Order of Merit are:
Martyn Turner (18 points)
David Pallett (17)
Dan Russell (16)
Edwin Max (16)
Paul Amos (14)
Ryan De Vreede (14)
Kirk Shepherd (12)
Kevin Dowling (12)
Darren Johnson (12)
Finland's Veijo Viinikka also finished on 12 points but misses out on the daily count-back of results.

Final Q School Order of Merit