ARRON MONK and Joe Cullen have won the final two places in the 2012 Ladbrokes.com World Darts Championship at Monday's PDPA Qualifier in Wigan.
The two youngsters will join 70 other players at Alexandra Palace next month in the 2012 Ladbrokes World Darts Championship, held between 15 December and 2 January, where £1 million prize money is on offer.
Monk's success means that he will make his debut in the World Championship, although he has played on the Alexandra Palace stage before where he captured the 2011 PDC Under 21 World Championship title.
"It's feel great to qualify today and play against the senior players on such a big stage like Alexandra Palace," said a delighted Monk.
"I was 4-1 up in the final and then things started to slip a little and Joe took the next two legs. But I held my throw in the next and I'm so pleased to have done that.
"I felt I could go far today as I have been playing well recently. I've practised over four hours everyday for the last few weeks, and the hard work has paid off!"
It was a contrasting day for the Monk family after Arron's father, veteran professional Colin, was knocked out of the event after losing his first round match to Chris Aubrey.
Monk, who defeated Michael van Gerwen to claim the Under 21 title, began the day with a hat-trick of 5-3 victories against Mareno Michels, Prakash Jiwa and Adrian Gray.
The 21-year-old from Basingstoke then beat Nick Fulwell 5-3 in the last eight and victory against Chris Thompson in the semi-finals by the same margin, to set-up a clash against Cullen in the final.
In the final, Monk triumphed 5-3 to claim a place in the first round of the competition, whilst Cullen will make his second World Championship appearance at the Preliminary Round stage.
Cullen cruised through his first match against John Walton with a whitewash victory before dropping just three legs in his next two wins against Martyn Turner and Mark Lawrence.
The Bradford youngster's Quarter-Final against Dennis Priestley proved to be a dramatic affair. The former World Champion looked on course for a place in the semi-finals when he went 4-0 up and required just one more leg to win.
Priestley needed just more one leg to win the match but Cullen took five in succession to progress. The loss for Priestley confirmed that he would not appear in a World Darts Championship for the first time in 20 years.
Cullen, then defeated Tony Ayres in the last four by a 5-2 margin to confirm his place in the World Championships before losing to Monk in the final.
Former World Championship finalists, Peter Manley and Kirk Shepherd, failed in their bids to secure places in the £1 million event.
Shepherd was beaten in the last 16 stage by Tony Ayres, who then went on to defeat Manley by a 5-3 scoreline in the next round.
Four-time World Championship semi-finalist, Wayne Mardle, will also not be playing in London after suffering a whitewash defeat to Ken Dobson in his opening match of the PDPA Qualifier.
Other early casualties included Barrie Bates, Kevin McDine, Steve Hine, and Steve Maish, who all played on the Alexandra Palace stage 12 months ago.
The draw for the 2012 Ladbrokes World Darts Championship will be made on Tuesday 29 November live on Sky Sports News HD at 11.30am.
Ladbrokes World Darts Championship
PDPA Qualifier
Monday November 28
Preliminary Round
Shaun Griffiths 5-4 Kevin Dowling
Dave Ladley 5-2 Steve Grubb
Darren Whittingham 5-2 Stephen Hardy
Adam Smith-Neale 5-0 Ryan Herrington
Brian Woods 5-1 John Ferrell
Jimmy Mann 5-1 Jimmy O'Regan
Ken Dobson 5-0 Wayne Mardle
Adam Hunt 5-0 Paul Schofield
Darrell Claydon 5-0 Darren Mawer
Adrian Gray 5-2 Gary Mawson
Mareno Michels 5-3 Paul Rowley
Sam Allen 5-3 Andy Pearson
Andy Pearce 5-1 Paul Hodkin
Simon Burt 5-1 Steven Pearson
Peter Hudson 5-4 Louis Blundell
First Round
Dennis Priestley (1) 5-2 Ian Jopling
Shaun Griffiths 5-2 Mick Todd
Chris Aubrey 5-2 Colin Monk (16)
Geoff Whitworth 5-2 Gary Eastwood
Joe Cullen (8) 5-0 John Walton
Martyn Turner 5-4 Dave Ladley
Mark Lawrence 5-4 Alex Roy (9)
Matthew Edgar 5-2 Darren Whittingham
Kirk Shepherd (5) 5-2 Jason Crawley
Ken MacNeil 5-3 Adam Smith-Neale
Tony Ayres (12) 5-2 Mark Stephenson
Mark Jones 5-1 Brian Woods
Terry Temple 5-2 Kevin McDine (4)
Jimmy Mann 5-0 Matt Padgett
Peter Manley (13) 5-3 Lee Palfreyman
Wayne Atwood 5-1 Ken Dobson
Mike Nott 5-1 Barrie Bates (2)
Adam Hunt 5-3 Dyson Parody
Nick Fulwell 5-4 Darren Johnson (15)
Dave Smith 5-4 Darrell Claydon
Mark Frost 5-1 Steve Maish (7)
Adrian Gray 5-2 Mark Jodrill
Prakash Jiwa 5-1 Matt Clark (10)
Arron Monk 5-3 Mareno Michels
Dave Honey 5-3 Steve Hine (6)
Sam Allen 5-4 Reece Robinson
Chris Thompson (11) 5-1 Tony Blundell
Nigel Birch 5-0 Andy Pearce
Tony Eccles (3) 5-0 Norman Fletcher
Michael Barnard 5-0 Simon Burt
Andy Jenkins (14) 5-3 Ashley Holgate
Andy Brown 5-4 Peter Hudson
Second Round
Dennis Priestley 5-3 Shaun Griffiths
Geoff Whitworth 5-2 Chris Aubrey
Joe Cullen 5-1 Martyn Turner
Mark Lawrence 5-4 Matthew Edgar
Kirk Shepherd 5-2 Ken MacNeil
Tony Ayres 5-2 Mark Jones
Terry Temple 5-4 Jimmy Mann
Peter Manley 5-4 Wayne Atwood
Adam Hunt 5-1 Mike Nott
Nick Fulwell 5-4 Dave Smith
Adrian Gray 5-2 Mark Frost
Arron Monk 5-3 Prakash Jiwa
Dave Honey 5-0 Sam Allen
Chris Thompson 5-0 Nigel Birch
Michael Barnard 5-4 Tony Eccles
Andy Jenkins 5-3 Andy Brown
Third Round
Dennis Priestley 5-0 Geoff Whitworth
Joe Cullen 5-2 Mark Lawrence
Tony Ayres 5-4 Kirk Shepherd
Peter Manley 5-4 Terry Temple
Nick Fulwell 5-3 Adam Hunt
Arron Monk 5-3 Adrian Gray
Chris Thompson 5-0 Dave Honey
Michael Barnard 5-1 Andy Jenkins
Quarter-Finals
Joe Cullen 5-4 Dennis Priestley
Tony Ayres 5-3 Peter Manley
Arron Monk 5-3 Nick Fulwell
Chris Thompson 5-3 Michael Barnard
Losers £250 (does not count towards Order of Merit)
Semi-Finals
Joe Cullen 5-2 Tony Ayres
Arron Monk 5-3 Chris Thompson
Losers £1,000 (does not count towards Order of Merit)
Third Place Play-Off
Chris Thompson 5-2 Tony Ayres
Final
Arron Monk 5-3 Joe Cullen
Winner receives place in Ladbrokes World Darts Championship First Round
Runner-Up receives place in Ladbrokes World Darts Championship Preliminary Round