The First Stage of Q-School is history. 28 German participants made it to the final. In the UK Q-School, two prominent names secured their ticket for the Final Stage.
Strong performance from the German hopefuls at the European Q-School 2026! On the last day, four more players directly qualified for the Final Stage – a total of 16 more joined via the ranking.
Marc Spalt, Matthias Ehlers, Finn Behrens and Jarod Becker made it into the grand final on Wednesday in Kalkar. The day before, Jason Riedtke and Björn Quoiffy, two other German players, had qualified for the final round – on day one there were six (Arno Merk, Paul Krohne, Florian Preis, Pascal Rupprecht, Daniel Klose and Marvin Kraft).
European Q-School: 28 German Qualifiers
In total, 28 German players even secured their ticket for the Final Stage, as 16 other starters obtained a spot via the point ranking of the best 54 players who could not directly qualify.
Hempel with a remarkable announcement
Florian Hempel, who would actually have been directly qualified for the Final Stage, competed in the First Stage on Wednesday “to ensure maximum sporting fairness and not take a spot in the Final Stage from anyone,” as he had announced beforehand.
Because: Hempel is not playing for a Tour Card this year. The 35-year-old, who reached the third round twice at the PDC World Championship (2022 and 2024), announced this on social media. Hempel lost to Frenchman Nicolas Thuillier (1:5) in the round of 32 on Wednesday.
From a German perspective, Michael Unterbuchner and Jannis Barkhausen are also directly eligible to play in the Final Stage. The duo will then start on Friday alongside the 28 other German participants.
UK Q-School: Part and Beaton in the Final
At the UK Q-School 2026 in Milton Keynes, the finalists were also determined in parallel with the European Q-School 2026. Among others, two-time PDC World Champion John Part (2003 and 2008) secured his ticket for the Final Stage.
The Final Stage will then take place from January 8 to 11. A total of 29 Tour Cards (14 European and 15 UK Q-School) will be awarded.