PDC Tour Qualifying School: Lakeside champions Jimmy Van Schie, Shane McGuirk earn cards as Charlie Manby's bid goes to last day
Shane McGuirk, Jimmy Van Schie, Tom Sykes, Yorick Hofkens and Matthias Ehlers all secure first-time PDC Tour Cards at Q-School on Saturday; watch Premier League Darts live on Sky Sports from February until the finale at The O2
Saturday 10 January 2026 23:30, UK
Jimmy Van Schie and Shane McGuirk, the last two Lakeside world champions, secured PDC Tour cards for the first time on the penultimate day of Q-School.
Van Schie - who beat 15-year-old Mitchell Lawrie in last month's WDF World Darts Championship final - missed out on an outright win after he lost to 18-year-old Yorick Hofkens in the European qualifying school's semi-finals on Saturday.
But his run to the last four meant the Dutchman mathematically guaranteed a card through the event's Order of Merit irrespective of what happens on Sunday's final day.
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Hofkens, who won a last-leg decider to beat van Schie 6-5, will appear on the Pro Tour for the first time, where he will be joined by 44-year-old compatriot Matthias Ehlers after he won his own 11th-leg nail-biter against Belgium's Lennert Faes in Kalkar's other semi-final.
And at the UK Q-School in Milton Keynes, Ireland's McGuirk, the 2024 WDF champion, secured a maiden place on the tour after he beat Charlie Manby 6-2 in their semi-final.
England's Tom Sykes, 33, took the day's other tour card in Milton Keynes by beating Stephen Burton 6-4 in their last-four clash.
Manby still in the hunt heading into Sunday's finale
Sunday's final day of qualifying school will see two more cards at each venue awarded to the winning semi-finalists, while seven more places in Europe and five in the UK will be awarded via the respective Order of Merits.
By winning five matches on Saturday, Manby rose to 10th place on the UK Order of Merit to keep himself in with a chance of finishing in the top five should he not be not go one better on Sunday and win a card outright.
Burton leads the Order of Merit on 10 points with 20-year-old Manby, who starred en-route to the fourth round of the World Darts Championship last month, is on six points, one away from the top five.
But Steve Beaton's hopes of a return to the tour after a year away were dented by a round-one exit for the second successive day, dropping the 1996 Lakeside champion out of the top 20 positions.
John Part, the three-time world champion, and Fallon Sherrock also lost in round one and both remain without a point after three days' play at the finals.
Mervyn King is on five points in 19th place after a second-round exit on Saturday.
Who will win this year's Premier League Darts? Luke Humphries will be defending his title and you can watch the action every single Thursday from February until May on Sky Sports. Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.
