5. UK and European Q Schools

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 January 1 2019 for European Q School and 1400 on January 15 2019 for the UK Q School.

Players shall enter the appropriate Q School based on the eligibility criteria in rule 4.4.

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 they 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 so earned by a player’s performance. If a player earns a Tour Card by virtue of his performance at Q School but declines a Tour Card, they are not eligible to appear on the Q School Merit Table or play in ProTour (including qualifiers) or Secondary Tour Events in 2019.

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. Wins by virtue of a walkover or bye shall be disregarded for this purpose, however if a player withdraws midway through a match their opponent shall be awarded the win and legs won and leg difference as the match stood at the time of their opponent’s withdrawal.

If two or more players are tied on points, they will be separated in the ranking list by (in order until they can be split): number of matches won, legs won, leg difference. 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 2019 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 2018 Challenge Tour and Development Tour Orders of Merit and who were not awarded a Tour Card for 2019 will be invited in to the 2019 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.