Q School 2015

[devosteve]

Entries being taken.

Where is the link to find who has entered or is it a case that no one has registered yet?

Has this rule always been there: "Playing at the 2015 PDC Qualifying School determines your agreement to accept a PDC Tour Card if achieved."

[trotter]

Entries have always been on the PDPA website and the very bottom of the QS link on it...updated every couple of days or so by the PDPA

They are updating the PDPA Ally Pally qualifier so I assume they will start updating the QS one shortly

[Addicks Fan]

Entries being taken.

Where is the link to find who has entered or is it a case that no one has registered yet?

Has this rule always been there: "Playing at the 2015 PDC Qualifying School determines your agreement to accept a PDC Tour Card if achieved."

Didn't someone refuse a tour card last year? If so, this sounds like a new provision

[trotter]

Entries being taken.

Where is the link to find who has entered or is it a case that no one has registered yet?

Has this rule always been there: "Playing at the 2015 PDC Qualifying School determines your agreement to accept a PDC Tour Card if achieved."

Didn't someone refuse a tour card last year? If so, this sounds like a new provision

Yes Stuart Bousfield qualified and then turned it down to play Challenge Tour instead..I doubt the PDC want this as they would want tour card winners to be just that, they don't want it to grow and more players win a card then turn it down...so I assume it's protection Against that happening which is fair enough.
You can still turn up for one day if you don't want a card ...or not at all if you want challenge tour only so I don't see it as a big deal.

[ifm]

Entries being taken.

Where is the link to find who has entered or is it a case that no one has registered yet?

Has this rule always been there: "Playing at the 2015 PDC Qualifying School determines your agreement to accept a PDC Tour Card if achieved."

Didn't someone refuse a tour card last year? If so, this sounds like a new provision

Yes Stuart Bousfield qualified and then turned it down to play Challenge Tour instead..I doubt the PDC want this as they would want tour card winners to be just that, they don't want it to grow and more players win a card then turn it down...so I assume it's protection Against that happening which is fair enough.
You can still turn up for one day if you don't want a card ...or not at all if you want challenge tour only so I don't see it as a big deal.

What if you want to be near the top of the OOM but not get a card?
If someone does win one and turns it down what does that mean?

[Booji Boy]

One assumes they wont be allowed to turn it down and will be required to pay whatever it is tour card holders pay.

[Zeyes]

What if you want to be near the top of the OOM but not get a card?
If someone does win one and turns it down what does that mean?

My guess:

Best-case scenario - membership voided, player limited to Challenge Tour only
Worst-case scenario - membership voided, player barred from all PDC events for the year

[Dicie]

Entries being taken.

Where is the link to find who has entered or is it a case that no one has registered yet?

Has this rule always been there: "Playing at the 2015 PDC Qualifying School determines your agreement to accept a PDC Tour Card if achieved."

Didn't someone refuse a tour card last year? If so, this sounds like a new provision

Yes Stuart Bousfield qualified and then turned it down to play Challenge Tour instead..I doubt the PDC want this as they would want tour card winners to be just that, they don't want it to grow and more players win a card then turn it down...so I assume it's protection Against that happening which is fair enough.
You can still turn up for one day if you don't want a card ...or not at all if you want challenge tour only so I don't see it as a big deal.

What if you want to be near the top of the OOM but not get a card?
If someone does win one and turns it down what does that mean?

You be ok lad.... Your still ok to play in the dog and duck open 3 a side.

[Deleted User]

As I understand it. Players can enter Q-School and not even turn up, making them eligible for the Challenge Tour.

If they win a card it cannot be declined. Obviously they can't make the player play ProTour, but they will not be able to play Challenge Tour.

I think that means that those playing Challenge can also then play in BDO events (as I understand the reduced restrictions from the BDO, or am I mistaken?)

[Dannyboy]

I think that means that those playing Challenge can also then play in BDO events (as I understand the reduced restrictions from the BDO, or am I mistaken?)

The ball is firmly in the BDO's court on that one.

[Zeyes]

If they win a card it cannot be declined. Obviously they can't make the player play ProTour, but they will not be able to play Challenge Tour.

That still leaves the possibility of the player not paying the £250 upgrade fee at all. Surely the PDC wouldn't just let "his" tour card go to waste, and will rather award it to someone else? Would leave the player without status for either tour, I guess.

[dion219]

Can't wait!

[Zeyes]

Just got to wondering, are tour card players allowed to resign their card and drop down to Challenge Tour-only status?

[trotter]

Just got to wondering, are tour card players allowed to resign their card and drop down to Challenge Tour-only status?

I would imagine they wouldn't but I've no idea..

I suppose anybody can resign their card and go back to playing BDO ranked events if there is no ban from the BDO so in effect there would be nothing stopping a card holder resigning their card, paying £250 to not show at QS and then playing challenge tour and BDO ranked events......no idea if that would be allowed or if anybody would actually want to do that.

[Zeyes]

Yeah, it's the new "pay for QS but don't play" part that's the interesting development in that scenario - pretty safe to say they wouldn't allow a tour card holder to downgrade to Associate status, but with the new CT-only deal in place where the players aren't actually members, it doesn't look like there should be any downside for the PDC to allow that. And I do think we'll see some tour cards being resigned again, several players have barely played since the summer break if not even longer - might as well see if they'd be willing to stick around for the lesser tour instead of sending them on their way to the BDO altogether.

[The Jolly Man]

But to be a non attending q schooler eligible for the challenger tour you have to enter q school. As a tour card holder you can't enter q school. As membership if I'm not mistaken runs upto q school there won't be time to enter. And if you give up membership early aren't you banned from playing "amateur" PDC qualifier for a year which q school effectively is.

[Steveo180]

With the new standing on challenge tour players being able to play BDO events. You could end up with a 1000 players (bit extreme) signing up for Q school, but how many of them will actually turn up is another matter, So I guess until January 14th next year we will not actually know who is really going to try and win a place on the pro tour.

[Dannyboy]

1000 probably not, but 500 I don't think is totally out of the question. There has been c350 the last couple of years.

[Zeyes]

But to be a non attending q schooler eligible for the challenger tour you have to enter q school. As a tour card holder you can't enter q school. As membership if I'm not mistaken runs upto q school there won't be time to enter. And if you give up membership early aren't you banned from playing "amateur" PDC qualifier for a year which q school effectively is.

Membership runs through the day of the Worlds final. And who says tour card holders can't enter Q School? Maybe under the old model where signing up = intending to play, but now that there are two separate reasons for signing up, who knows? The new path may still be called "Q School registration" for practical reasons, but it's really something completely different from an ordinary Q School sign-up. (And I wouldn't be surprised to see the PDC offer it separately next year, perhaps even at a different cost.)

The only thing that's safe to deduce is that "give up tour card -> sign up for Q School -> play Q School -> become an Associate member" isn't possible, because playing Q School now signifies an intent to accept a tour card if available, and that conflicts with giving up the card in the first place. I don't think the same logic can be applied to giving up a tour card to become an amateur non-member though.

[Zeyes]

With the new standing on challenge tour players being able to play BDO events. You could end up with a 1000 players (bit extreme) signing up for Q school, but how many of them will actually turn up is another matter, So I guess until January 14th next year we will not actually know who is really going to try and win a place on the pro tour.

It's still pretty pricey at £250. I wouldn't be surprised to see 100 or so players go the registration-only route (plus the same 300-350 as in past years actually show up), but anything beyond that... The new setup with 4 Challenge Tour weekends of 4 tournaments each probably works best for two groups of players - committed UK players who have lots of other things going on darts-wise, and players from abroad who can economise on travel costs now.

The players who form the backbone of the entry lists in BDO Opens don't strike me as the type to pay £250 just for a tour registration, they'll probably only find it worthwhile in combination with actually playing four days of Q School darts, just like in past years.