PDC Qualifying School Day Two

FINLAND's Jani Haavisto and Northern Irish ace Daryl Gurney were joined by English pair Ian Walters and Louis Blundell in winning Tour Cards on Day Two of the PDC's 2013 Qualifying School in Wigan on Friday.

Haavisto and Gurney followed up their qualification for last month's Ladbrokes World Darts Championship by earning the chance to join the PDC circuit full-time this year as Tour Card
winners.

Finnish youngster Haavisto, a 25-year-old electrician from Teuva, followed his success in finishing second on the SDC's Scandinavian Order of Merit in 2012 by defeating Birmingham's Colin Fowler 6-4 to win his Tour Card.

Haavisto also defeated young pair Adam Hunt and Sam Hill, Norway's Robert Wagner, Germany's Tomas Seyler, former Tour Card holder Prakash Jiwa and Lee Palfreyman on the day at the Robin Park Tennis Centre.

"I can't believe it yet but it's wonderful for me," said Haavisto. "To have qualified in two days is brilliant.

"The experience I got in the World Championship and playing in the SDC events, where I played a lot of big matches, was important for me.

"It will be nice to play for Finland in the World Cup next month and then I will play on the circuit - it would be great to make a career from darts, this is my dream."

Northern Ireland's Gurney, meanwhile, will also join the PDC circuit full-time after a 6-2 victory over Catford's Paul Amos saw him pick up a Tour Card.

Gurney won last year's Tom Kirby Memorial Irish Matchplay event and then overcame Robert Marijanovic and Andy Smith in the World Championship before losing out to Dave Chisnall in the second round at Alexandra Palace.

The 26-year-old from Londonderry had lost in the last 32 on Thursday, but made no mistake 24 hours later by seeing off Brian Startin, Scott MacKenzie, Keith Rooney, Kevin Dowling, Darren Johnson and Amos.

"I was struggling in some tough games early on today and I've not had an easy game in two days, so it's a big relief," said Gurney.

"I knew it would be tough because the standard of players at Qualifying School is very high and I've really had to work for every win I got.

"Maybe some of the players saw me on TV at the World Championship and they were trying harder because they knew what they were up against, but I didn't know many of my opponents and I just tried to play my own game.

"It's a new start for me now and I want to push on from here now because it's another stepping stone for me. The last six months has been great and I'm really enjoying it, and if you're not looking forward to playing the best players in the world then you shouldn't be playing darts!

"I want to be here, I want to play in the PDC and prove that I'm one of the best in the world."

Chorley's Louis Blundell will return to the PDC circuit following a 12-month absence after he was amongst the four Tour Card winners on Friday.

Blundell showed fine form in dropping only one leg in victories over Darren Beveridge and Alan Derrett before defeating Adam Smith-Neale, Steve McNally, Marc Dewsbury and Shrewsbury's David Pallett to secure his Tour Card.

"I think I'm back where I should be now and it's brilliant," said Blundell. "I had a bit of luck in certain parts today, which you need, but this is a huge confidence boost for me. Once it clicked for me I knew I could go all the way.

"I'd not thrown a dart for nearly eight months or so but I started playing in some local competitions recently and when I saw the World Championship on TV I decided to have another go.

"I just want to get back to where I was, playing against the best players. When I was in the PDC before, I had beaten a lot of the top players and maybe I took it for granted, but I won't this time.

"My goal's to get into the World Championship because I was sat at home last month when it was on thinking that I should be able to at least qualify for that. The PDC gives you the chances and that's why I've come back."

Stockport-based publican Ian Walters, 48, was the day's other Tour Card winner as he sealed a return to the PDC circuit with wins over Barrie Bates, Andrew Kavanagh, Marko Kantele, Ryan Harrington, Sam Hamilton and experienced Dutchman Edwin Max.

Walters competed in the 2007 UK Open and also played on the PDC circuit in 2008, but will now challenge full-time amongst the world's elite following his success in Wigan, where almost 300 players were in action on Friday.

"It feels amazing," said Walters. "The atmosphere inside the venue brought the best out of me and it's nice to know I've show what I can do.

"I've done 12 months on the PDC circuit before but I joined for the wrong reasons and I wasn't ready - my arm was ready but my head wasn't, but now my head is and that showed.

"I've got a few goals that I've set myself now, and firstly I want to qualify for the UK Open in Bolton because I've been there before in 2007 and it was a fantastic experience.

"I've got a bit left inside me so I know I can produce even better darts. I've played County darts for Lancashire but being from Stockport, you can always get a good game of darts there because there are a lot of good players in Stockport.

"For the last couple of years I've hit the board hard and got my confidence up, and that showed today.

"It's been a great experience and I recommend it to any player because if you're good enough to throw good darts at any level then you should test yourself at Qualifying School.

A further four Tour Cards will be awarded on Saturday as the remaining players return to the Robin Park Tennis Centre to compete in the third of four days at Qualifying School.

Players who lose from the last 64 onwards on each day also receive ranking points on the Q School Order of Merit, from which a further nine Tour Cards will be awarded following Sunday's final day of play.

Kevin McDine currently heads the Q School Order of Merit on 11 points, with seven players - including Pallett, Fowley, Amos and Max - tied on nine points behind him.

Click here for Qualifying School Photo Gallery

Qualifying School Day Two
Preliminary Round
Adrian Bolitho 6-5 Brandon Walsh
Mark Cox 6-3 Heikki Hyvonen
Dale Quince 6-3 Peter Martin
Simon Burt 6-1 Jack Morris
Jason Hogg 6-2 Mark Jones
Jack Harrington 6-2 Bruce Barker
Sam Hill 6-2 Peter Manley
Jani Haavisto 6-1 Adam Hunt
John Court 6-4 Geoff Whitworth
Lee Bryant 6-4 Josh Pinder
Jack Tweddell 6-5 Darren Ward
Andrew Halls 6-3 Gareth Thomas
Mike Gorst 6-1 Nick Malkin
Kevin McDine 6-3 Harry Lane
Paul Wallace 6-1 Tony Tasker
Stuart White 6-1 Simon Mountford
Darren Cotterell 6-4 Sean Johns
Brian Woods 6-4 Richard Plowman
Royden Lam 6-0 Lee White
Jamie Robinson 6-3 Lee Whitworth
Jon Jukes 6-2 Paul Hannaway
Phil Henshaw 6-1 Alex Long
Anthony Wort 6-3 Stuart Williams
Veijo Viinikka 6-1 Anthony West
Chris Mason 6-1 Jamie Guilfoyle
Fred Smith 6-4 Matthew Dicken
Simon Craven 6-5 Jack Hill
Kevin Dowling 6-0 Tom Martin
Barrie Bates 6-0 Steve Randall
Andrew Kavanagh 6-4 Darrell Claydon
Samuel Poland 6-4 Steve Mason
Danny Summers 6-0 Norman Fletcher
Michael Blake 6-3 Aaron Dingivan
Leon Bailey 6-3 Glen Miller
Dave Honey 6-0 Jonathan Mulley
Jonathan Worsley 6-5 Jamie Ellam
Harry Miles 6-5 Campbell Jackson

First Round
Andy Parsons 6-5 Joe Bata
Stuart Dutton 6-1 Jonathan Taylor
Mick Todd 6-4 Joey Palfreyman
Hugo Deysel 6-1 Terry Hayes
Christopher Dale 6-3 Mike Nissen
Colin Fowler 6-3 Brandonn Monk
Steven Pearson 6-3 Adrian Bolitho
Dale Quince 6-0 Mark Cox
Mark Forman 6-3 Par Riihonen
Rob Modra 6-3 Steve Cupitt
Oliver Stell 6-1 Paul Osmotherley
Andree Welge 6-5 Chris Thompson
Patrick Pace 6-1 Lee Gregory
Andy Hutchings 6-0 Michael Markovits
Simon Burt 6-2 Martin Perring
Jason Hogg 6-0 Jack Harrington
Prakash Jiwa 6-2 James Forster
Mark Frost 6-3 David Sharp
Joseph Heywood 6-1 Kevin Lawler
Wouter Vaes 6-5 Carl Minter
Tomas Seyler 6-1 Ryan Maher
Jake Patchett 6-5 Leon De Geus
Robert Wagner 6-3 Steve Haggerty
Jani Haavisto 6-4 Sam Hill
Lee Palfreyman 6-0 David Murphy (Limerick)
Davyd Venken 6-5 Jamie Gemmell
David Copley 6-1 Lee Moffat
Aden Kirk 6-5 Ryan Palmer
Lee Hayes 6-0 Hans Hagley
Steve Coote 6-4 Steve Maish
Andrew Howarth 6-3 Gavin Howard
Lee Bryant 6-1 John Court
David Pallett 6-0 Gary Whittles
Jamie Atkins 6-3 Richie Winpenny
Mark Pritchard 6-1 Arron Wike
Matthew Medhurst 6-3 Scott Pearson
Sean McArdle 6-2 Stuart Millar
Clive Lewis 6-5 Yves Cottenge
Steve Kirkby 6-3 Jack Tweddell
Mike Gorst 6-1 Andrew Halls
Manuel Croskery 6-4 Craig Pope
Kevin Thomas 6-2 Carl Evans
Lewis Venes 6-1 David Patterson
Terry Temple 6-0 Brian Connolly
Ricky Williams 6-5 Scott Coleman
Scott Taylor 6-1 Ron Atwill
Torbjorn Gustafsson 6-3 Paul Anthony
Kevin McDine 6-1 Paul Wallace
Ross Lowe 6-4 Richard Foster
Marc Dewsbury 6-5 Matthew Waddoups
Lionel Sams 6-4 Brett Claydon
Martyn Turner 6-0 Rod Sanders
Jason Marriott 6-1 Mark Ashby
Chris Hartrey 6-4 Sean Liptrot
Vernon Sheppard 6-2 Dave Charnock
Stuart White 6-1 Darren Cotterell
Eduardo Sales Lopez 6-3 Andy Pearson
Alan Priestley 6-2 Stephen Andrews
Stephen McNally 6-1 Craig MacCaskill
John Burgess 6-2 Mark Robbins
Louis Blundell 6-0 Darren Beveridge
Alan Derrett 6-1 Gary Eastwood
Adam Smith-Neale 6-5 Yoshan Roxy Iyer
Brian Woods 6-5 Royden Lam
Dylan Duo 6-2 Andy Blackwell
Kentaro Suzuki 6-3 Sean Ryan
Rocco Maes 6-1 Mark Breakspear
Steve Hine 6-5 Mark Stephenson
Paul Amos 6-2 Dave Kelly
David Broome 6-3 Steven Morrison
Jamie Robinson 6-0 Johnny Rylance
Jon Jukes 6-1 Phil Henshaw
Chris Allen Bye (Chris Rudd timed out)
Ian Moss 6-1 Kevin Cassidy
Matthew Dennant 6-0 Tom Gibson
Ricky Sudale 6-1 Jon Farmer
Wilfried Hoberg 6-3 Neville Roberts
Carlos Rodriguez 6-2 David Murphy (Wexford)
Dan Russell 6-0 Dyson Parody
Veijo Viinikka 6-1 Anthony Wort
Jimmy Chojnowski 6-3 Ian Lever
Jordy Terburg 6-2 Lee Drummond
Darren Johnson 6-4 Alex Roy
Mike Nott 6-4 Michael Rasztovits
Graham Hall 6-0 Chris Wickenden
Ben Songhurst 6-0 John Turnbull
Andrew Hibbert 6-5 Steve Harcourt
Chris Mason 6-0 Fred Smith
Scott MacKenzie 6-3 Kieran Keogh
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Brian Startin
Mike Veitch 6-1 Paul Boyle
Keith Rooney 6-0 Steven Stanbridge
Mike Norton 6-4 Leo Hendriks
Martin Murphy 6-0 Paul Hodkin
Jamie Landon 6-1 Dan Read
Kevin Dowling 6-3 Simon Craven
Max Hopp 6-0 Mark Wilson
Darron Brown 6-1 Matt Elsey
Nathan Richards 6-4 Matthew Tedstone
Ryan Harrington 6-1 Dave Ladley
Marko Kantele 6-1 Andy Pearce
Damien Sherwood 6-1 Simon Weston
Ian Walters 6-3 Barrie Bates
Andrew Kavanagh 6-2 Samuel Poland
Pete Dyos 6-0 Steve O'Callaghan
Daniel Day 6-1 Ronny Huybrechts
Josh Jones 6-1 Darren Williams
Peter Evison 6-4 Dafydd Edwards
Richard van Zijtveld 6-5 Ashley Holgate
Sam Hamilton 6-2 Tony Cole
Richard Slater 6-3 Toon Greebe
Michael Blake 6-2 Danny Summers
Matt Padgett 6-0 Joshua Carter
Dave Place 6-4 James Young
Ian Jopling 6-1 Rob Commerford
David Dodds 6-1 Graham Mills
Edwin Max 6-2 Peter Nightingale
Nigel Birch 6-5 Simon McCall
Lee Saville 6-3 Gary Rigby
Dave Honey 6-0 Leon Bailey
Paul Rowley 6-0 David Hambrook
Ewan Hyslop 6-1 Dean Coe
Chris Skeates 6-4 Andrew Beaumont
Ryan De Vreede 6-0 John Power
Jason Wilson 6-4 Andrew Johnson
Mick Taylor 6-2 Mark Gordon
Mark Lawrence 6-3 Alan Cliffe
Harry Miles 6-4 Jonathan Worsley

Second Round
Stuart Dutton 6-2 Andy Parsons
Mick Todd 6-4 Hugo Deysel
Colin Fowler 6-2 Chris Dale
Dale Quince 6-2 Steven Pearson
Rob Modra 6-5 Mark Forman
Andre Welge 6-0 Oliver Stell
Patrick Pace 6-2 Andy Hutchings
Jason Hogg 6-5 Simon Burt
Prakash Jiwa 6-5 Mark Frost
Joseph Heywood 6-3 Wouter Vaes
Tomas Seyler 6-5 Jake Patchett
Jani Haavisto 6-3 Robert Wagner
Lee Palfreyman 6-2 Davyd Venken
Aden Kirk 6-4 David Copley
Steve Coote 6-2 Lee Hayes
Lee Bryant 6-2 Andrew Howarth
David Pallett 6-2 Jamie Atkins
Mark Pritchard 6-2 Matthew Medhurst
Clive Lewis 6-4 Sean McArdle
Steve Kirkby 6-2 Mike Gorst
Kevin Thomas 6-1 Manuel Croskery
Terry Temple 6-2 Lewis Venes
Ricky Williams 6-5 Scott Taylor
Kevin McDine 6-3 Torbjorn Gustafsson
Marc Dewsbury 6-3 Ross Lowe
Martyn Turner 6-4 Lionel Sams
Chris Hartrey 6-4 Jason Marriott
Stuart White 6-5 Vernon Sheppard
Eduardo Sales Lopez 6-2 Alan Priestley
Stephen McNally 6-0 John Burgess
Louis Blundell 6-1 Alan Derrett
Adam Smith-Neale 6-3 Brian Woods
Dylan Duo 6-5 Kentaro Suzuki
Steve Hine 6-3 Rocco Maes
Paul Amos 6-0 David Broome
Jamie Robinson 6-5 Jon Jukes
Ian Moss 6-4 Chris Allen
Ricky Sudale 6-3 Matthew Dennant
Carlos Rodriguez Bye (Wilfried Hoberg timed out)
Dan Russell 6-5 Veijo Viinikka
Jordy Terburg 6-0 Jimmy Chojnowski
Darren Johnson 6-3 Mike Nott
Graham Hall 6-5 Ben Songhurst
Andrew Hibbert 6-3 Chris Mason
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Scott MacKenzie
Keith Rooney 6-1 Mike Veitch
Martin Murphy 6-3 Mike Norton
Kevin Dowling 6-3 Jamie Landon
Max Hopp 6-3 Darron Brown
Ryan Harrington 6-2 Nathan Richards
Marko Kantele 6-3 Damien Sherwood
Ian Walters 6-5 Andrew Kavanagh
Daniel Day 6-3 Pete Dyos
Peter Evison 6-3 Josh Jones
Sam Hamilton 6-0 Richard van Zijtveld
Michael Blake 6-0 Richard Slater
Dave Place 6-4 Matt Padgett
Ian Jopling 6-4 David Dodds
Edwin Max 6-3 Nigel Birch
Dave Honey 6-4 Lee Saville
Ewan Hyslop 6-2 Paul Rowley
Chris Skeates 6-4 Ryan De Vreede
Jason Wilson 6-4 Mick Taylor
Mark Lawrence 6-5 Harry Miles

Third Round
Mick Todd 6-3 Stuart Dutton
Colin Fowler 6-0 Dale Quince
Rob Modra 6-4 Andree Welge
Patrick Pace 6-3 Jason Hogg
Prakash Jiwa 6-5 Joseph Heywood
Jani Haavisto 6-4 Tomas Seyler
Lee Palfreyman 6-4 Aden Kirk
Lee Bryant 6-4 Steve Coote
David Pallett 6-3 Mark Pritchard
Clive Lewis 6-3 Steve Kirkby
Kevin Thomas 6-3 Terry Temple
Ricky Williams 6-2 Kevin McDine
Marc Dewsbury 6-3 Martyn Turner
Stuart White 6-4 Chris Hartrey
Stephen McNally 6-4 Eduardo Sales Lopez
Louis Blundell 6-2 Adam Smith-Neale
Steve Hine 6-2 Dylan Duo
Paul Amos 6-4 Jamie Robinson
Ricky Sudale 6-4 Ian Moss
Dan Russell 6-0 Carlos Rodriguez
Darren Johnson 6-3 Jordy Terburg
Graham Hall 6-5 Andrew Hibbert
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Keith Rooney
Kevin Dowling 6-2 Martin Murphy
Ryan Harrington 6-5 Max Hopp
Ian Walters 6-5 Marko Kantele
Daniel Day 6-5 Peter Evison
Sam Hamilton 6-4 Michael Blake
Dave Place 6-3 Ian Jopling
Edwin Max 6-1 Dave Honey
Ewan Hyslop 6-2 Chris Skeates
Mark Lawrence 6-4 Jason Wilson
Losers receive two ranking points

Fourth Round
Colin Fowler 6-5 Mick Todd
Rob Modra 6-5 Patrick Pace
Jani Haavisto 6-4 Prakash Jiwa
Lee Palfreyman 6-1 Lee Bryant
David Pallett 6-3 Clive Lewis
Kevin Thomas 6-2 Ricky Williams
Marc Dewsbury 6-5 Stuart White
Louis Blundell 6-3 Stephen McNally
Paul Amos 6-2 Steve Hine
Dan Russell 6-2 Ricky Sudale
Darren Johnson 6-1 Graham Hall
Daryl Gurney 6-4 Kevin Dowling
Ian Walters 6-4 Ryan Harrington
Sam Hamilton 6-4 Daniel Day
Edwin Max 6-5 Dave Place
Ewan Hyslop 6-4 Mark Lawrence
Losers receive three ranking points

Fifth Round
Colin Fowler 6-2 Rob Modra
Jani Haavisto 6-5 Lee Palfreyman
David Pallett 6-4 Kevin Thomas
Louis Blundell 6-1 Marc Dewsbury
Paul Amos 6-4 Dan Russell
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Darren Johnson
Ian Walters 6-0 Sam Hamilton
Edwin Max 6-5 Ewan Hyslop
Losers receive five ranking points

Sixth Round
Jani Haavisto 6-4 Colin Fowler
Louis Blundell 6-5 David Pallett
Daryl Gurney 6-2 Paul Amos
Ian Walters 6-1 Edwin Max
Winners receive Tour Card
Losers receive nine ranking points

Latest Q School Order of Merit (following Day Two)