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Josh Payne wins Day Three of the Final Stage of the 2023 Q- School and collects the PDC Tour Card; going into the last day, Fallon Sherrock can still play his way into the claim via the Order of Merit
Last updated: 14/01/23 20:30
Fallon Sherrock is still in the running for his Tour Card
Josh Payne secured his PDC Tour Card as the Final Stage of Q-School 2023 continues on Saturday, while Fallon Sherrock also remains in contention.
Gravesend’s Payne, winner of two Players’ Championship titles, joined Arron Monk and Graham Usher at the English Qualifying School to secure an automatic Tour Card when they won on Day Three in Milton Keynes.
The former British Open quarter-finalist failed to take a single point on Thursday or Friday, but he returned to winning ways in sensational fashion at Marshall Arena.
He came through grueling early tussles against Mark Challenger and Andy Boulton to go through to round three, where he averaged 99 in a whitewash win over Ryan Furness to keep power.
Josh Payne wins on Saturday in Milton Keynes (Photo: Steven Paston/PA Wire)
The 29-year-old also accounted for Mark McGeeney and Conan Whitehead Book the last-four clash against Graham Hall, where he produced some last fireworks for progress.
He almost achieved perfection against Hall, missing double 12 for a nine-darter before wrapping up the victory in 10 darts.
This set up a crunch clash against Chris Quantock, and Payne recovered from 5-3 down to win with 13 legs and 15 darts in the closing stages.
Women’s World Matchplay winner Fallon Sherrock also remains in contention after her run to the last 16.
On Saturday he beat Nathan Girvan, Thomas Lovely and Alec Small before Lee Evans defeated him 6-3 to prevent Sherrock from reaching the quarter-finals.
Sherrock is currently 10th in the UK Q School Order of Merit with five points. To win the Tour Card he must finish in the top nine.
For Sherrock, it all comes down to the last day of Q-School
Hall and Dylan Slevin are tied for fourth and fifth on the UK Order of Merit, while quarter-finalist Evans and former World Youth champion Keegan Brown are on seven points along with Friday’s runner-up Adam Warner.
2012 World Championship runner-up Andy Hamilton also entered the race with five points.
De Zwaan immediately returned to the PDC circuit
Meanwhile, at the European Qualifying School, former World Matchplay semi-finalist Jeffrey De Zwaan performed superbly in Kalkar to secure an immediate return to the PDC circuit, after dropping out of the world’s top 64 following the Cazoo World Darts Championship.
The Dutchman dropped just 14 legs in seven matches at Wunderland, beating teammate Maik Kuivenhoven 6-3 on Saturday to seal the deal.
De Zwaan started the campaign with a 6-1 win over fellow Dutchman Stefan Schroder, before beating Belgium’s Remo Mandiau and Japan’s Yoshihisa Baba to reach the last 16.
The 26-year-old then fired in an average of 107 to dispatch Friday’s runner-up Pascal Rupprecht 6-2, before breezing through Alex Spellman and Arjan Konterman in rapid-fire fashion.
This set up an all-Dutch match against Kuivenhoven, and De Zwaan was irresistible, making it a back-to-back 13-dart leg to confirm his return to the big time.
However, Kuivenhoven – a semi-finalist on Friday – has done enough to secure a Tour Card via the European Q-School Order of Merit, so he is also celebrating a swift return to the professional ranks alongside De Zwaan.
How to win Card Tour
Day Four of Q-School on Sunday will give players their last chance to win a Tour Card.
Each daily winner of the Final Stage receives a Tour card.
In addition to Sunday’s winners, a further 19 Tour Cards will be awarded pro-rata to players from the UK and European Q-School Orders of Merit after Day Four – 10 in Europe, and nine in the UK.
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