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Hopp Returns To The Tour And Dekker Makes History

Alex Moss |

A Week In Darts – January 13, 2024 – Hopp Seals Return To The PDC Tour At Q-School

There was a nail-biting conclusion at the 2025 Q-School as the destination of the final tour card went down to the very last game. Here’s our round-up of how all the action played out in Milton Keynes and Kalkar...

@dartscorner.co.uk 🎯 𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐩 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐓𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐤𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 - The Weekly Dartscast co-host Alex Moss brings you Darts Corner's recap of all the darts action including 2025 Q-School! #WeGetDarts #darts #dartscommunity #dartsfamily #lovethedarts #dartsnews #sportsnews #sports #fyp #qschooldarts #pdcqschool ♬ original sound - Darts Corner

HOPP REGAINS TOUR CARD STATUS

Former PDC world youth champion Max Hopp clinched a return to the PDC tour after winning back his tour card at European Q-School on Sunday.

The 28-year-old, who was the first player from Germany to win a PDC senior title with his pair of tournament wins back in 2018, lost his tour card at the end of 2022.

After two unsuccessful trips to Q-School in 2023 and 2024, ‘Maximiser’ made it third time lucky last week as he finished in the tour card spots on the European Q-School Order of Merit.

A run to the last eight on Friday was followed by a last 16 run on Sunday, which was enough for Hopp to finish up with six points and in 10th place on the Order of Merit.

Hopp was one of five Germans to claim a tour card in Kalkar at European Q-School, with Kai Gotthardt, Dominik Gruellich, Maximilian Czerwinski and Leon Weber also tasting success on home soil.

Elsewhere, Cor Dekker made history as the first player from Norway to win a tour card at Q-School, as he finished top of the European rankings with 11 points.

‘The Sheriff’ famously hit a nine-dart leg on the European Tour against Stephen Bunting last September, and he followed up that historic feat with an impressive showing at Q-School.

Swedish duo Viktor Tingstrom and Oskar Lukasiak also claimed tour cards in Germany, along with Croatia’s Pero Ljubic, Czech World Cup star Karel Sedlacek and Austrian ace Rusty-Jake Rodriguez.

LONG DENIES O’KEEFE IN DRAMATIC DECIDER

The race for tour cards at UK Q-School went right down to the wire with the outcome of the final tour card being decided in the very last game on Sunday.

Canada’s Jim Long was already assured of a tour card via the Order of Merit, whilst his opponent in the final Kelvin O’Keefe, from Wales, needed to win the decider to join the PDC tour.

Long denied O’Keefe a tour card with a 6-4 victory in the final, which meant Thomas Lovely took the last spot via the UK Q-School Order of Merit.

Meanwhile, Adam Lipscombe’s route to a first tour card was one of the most dramatic with the 32-year-old groundworker only qualifying for the final stage after Dave Pallett withdrew.

With four points on the board heading into Sunday’s last day, Lipscombe produced an excellent run to the semi-finals to seal a place on the PDC tour for the first time.

“I cannot even describe what has gone on this week, but I am absolutely buzzing,” Lipscombe said.

“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.”

The 2020 PDC world youth champion Bradley Brooks was the dominant force at UK Q-School, finishing top of the Order of Merit with an incredible haul of 16 points.

Brooks regained his tour card after a year away from the professional circuit and was joined by the likes of Tavis Dudeney, Darryl Pilgrim, Cam Crabtree and Adam Warner in securing tour cards in Milton Keynes.

WHITLOCK AND KING JOIN WORLD SENIORS

Simon Whitlock and Mervyn King have accepted invites to play in the upcoming World Seniors Darts Championship.

The duo were unsuccessful in regaining their PDC tour cards at Q-School last week, having both been mainstays on the professional circuit for the best part of two decades.

Whitlock and King are joined by three-time world champion John Part and former BDO World Trophy winner Darryl Fitton in accepting invitations to play at the Circus Tavern next month.

The draw for the World Seniors Championship is set to take place tonight (Monday), with the four-day tournament being held from February 19-22.

John Henderson is the defending champion after beating Colin McGarry 5-0 in last year’s final, with fellow Scot Robert Thornton, the back-to-back winner in 2022 and 2023, also in the field.

Pictures: PDC

Alex Moss is a content creator for Darts Corner and the co-host of the Weekly Dartscast podcast. Alex co-founded the Weekly Dartscast in 2017 and has helped produce 350+ episodes of the podcast, with their list of previous guests on the show a who’s who in the world of darts.

Alex also writes content for the Darts Corner blog, including the weekly darts news round-ups and how-to guides.

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