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5.1 Both the UK and European Q Schools shall comprise four separate one-day Events, all played over a best of nine leg format under standard ProTour rules. The entry deadline shall be 1400 on the Tuesday prior to the opening day.
Players shall enter the appropriate Q School based on the eligibility criteria in rule 4.5.
Players who are eligible to enter UK European Tour qualifiers shall play in the UK Q School. Players who are eligible to enter West & South Europe, Nordic & Baltic or East Europe qualifiers shall play in the European Q School. Players from other nations may choose in which Q School to participate.
5.2 Tour Cards shall be awarded to the finalists of each day’s play at the UK Q School and the winner of each day’s play at the European Q School. Once a player has been awarded a Tour Card he shall not play in the remainder of Q School. The remaining Tour Cards will be awarded to the remaining players who occupy the qualifying positions in the Q School Merit Table which shall be comprised of points as awarded in 5.3.
Entrance to Q School constitutes acceptance of a Tour Card, if a player’s performance earns one. If a player earns a Tour Card by virtue of his performance at Q School but declines a Tour Card, he is not eligible to appear on the Q School Merit Table or play in ProTour (including qualifiers) or Secondary Tour Events in 2018.
5.3 A Merit Table for each Q School shall be compiled with players awarded one point per win from the first round which is drawn without byes to determine the allocation of any additional Tour Cards as necessary.
If two or more players are tied on points, they will be separated in the ranking list by a countback, one Event at a time, until they can be separated. If they can not be separated after all matches have been taken in to consideration, legs won will be used to determine positions in the Merit Table and then leg difference if that does not separate the players. If the players still can not be split, a play-off will be organised.
5.4 Entry to the Q School shall cost £400 plus a £50 2018 DRA Sanction Fee and be paid in advance. The player shall then be deemed to be an Associate Member of the PDPA for the year providing the player participates in at least one day of Q School. Players who achieve their Tour Card must upgrade to Full PDPA membership at a cost of an additional £100 in order to be granted their Tour Card.
5.5 The players who finished in the top eight of the final 2017 Challenge Tour and Development Tour Orders of Merit and who were not awarded a Tour Card for 2018 will be invited in to the 2018 Q School. If any of these players achieve a Tour Card through the Q School, they must pay £100 for PDPA membership and £50 DRA Sanction Fee before a Tour Card is granted to them.
