Steve ‘The Adonis’ Beaton is in prime position to regain his PDC Tour Card after a stunning run to the quarter-finals of the UK Q-School on Thursday.
Beaton fell to a 6-5 defeat at the hands of Australian Adam Leek on the first day of the final stage event in Milton Keynes.
The former Lakeside world champion decided to step away from the week at the end of 2024, but after just one year away from professional darts, the 61-year-old made a dramatic U-turn, joining 925 names all looking for the coveted Tour Card.
Beaton was just two wins away from securing his Tour Card at the first opportunity, but is still well placed. He sits fifth in the order of merit, with the top five awarded a Tour Card after four days of action.
Arno Merk and Filip Bereza were the first players to secure their Tour Cards as the pair defeated Jeffrey Sparidaans and Jeffrey De Zwaan respectively.
Merk follows up a memorable debut at Alexandra Palace by recovering from 5-3 down to equalize Sparidaans 6-5.
Poland’s Bereza fought back from 5-1 down and survived nine match arrows to beat former World Matchplay semi-finalist De Zwaan.
Rhys Griffin and Beaton’s conqueror Leek became the second pair to receive their Tour Cards.
Welshman Griffin returned to the PDC Tour for the first time as he claimed an emphatic 6-0 whitewash of Scott Waites, while Australian ace Leek secured a coveted PDC Tour Card for the first time after knocking out Tyler Thorpe in a deciding leg.
Sherrock, Manby and Part all fall early
Fallon Sherrock is on zero points after colliding early with ‘Champagne’ Charlie Manby
PDC Tour Cards are awarded to the last two players remaining on each day’s final stage play at both the UK and European Qualifiers.
There are 128 players competing in each event, with the two finalists advancing to the PDC Tour, where all other players’ points go in order of merit.
Some big names dropped at both UK and EU Q-School, including fan favorites Fallon Sherrock and Charlie Manby in the first round.
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Debutant Charlie Manby defeated Ricky Evans in a memorable clash at Ally Pally
Devon Peterson also fell at the hands of Beaton in the first round, with Jose De Sousa taking out Matt Campbell on the next stage in Kalkar, Germany.
De Sousa and Mervyn King crashed out on the last-32 stage.
De Sousa beat both Davy Proosten and former tour card holder Campbell 6-3 before falling short to Ricardo Ulrich by the same score.
King had wins over Tom Lonsdale and Martin Grearson with a high average of 94.17 before being defeated by Ireland’s Stephen Rosney.
Some other names out include Boris Krcmar, Cristo Reyes, Jelle Klaasen, John Part, Mason Whitlock, Willie Borland and Nathan Rafferty.
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