Modus Legends Week

Modus continues to innovate and mix things up with their Super Series. 

Last week was a successful Women's tournament, won by Kirsi Viinikainen .

This week is the turn of some former legends of the game. And it's a tough field. 

The two favourites are Steve Beaton and Vincent van der Voort. This is no surprise as they have been at the top for so many years. This year both have dropped off the Main Tour, but want to still remain competitive. Here is our first chance to see how they perform. Both players have an outstanding chance of winning this week.

Devon Petersen, has shown some of his old form of late, by winning the ADC Global title. If he continues this run, then he will be a tough opponent to beat. 

World Seniors and Modus stalwarts, Martin Adams and Robert Thornton will also provide tough opposition. Both players are very familiar with the venue and format. Thornton, in particular is still playing to a very high standard. 

World Seniors specialist, Richie Howson is yet another to consider in this tight field. Anything that incorporates Senior's darts will see Howson there or thereabouts. 

Hard to know how Chris Mason and Darryl Fitton will get on. Obviously they are still good players, but there's not much data to go on. I think this could be too strong a field, but if they are consistent, they could cause a surprise or two. 

Former World Champions Richie Burnett and Neil Duff cannot be discounted. Both still playing top level darts and both familiar with the Modus stage. It's whether they can keep in touch with the likes of Beaton and Van der Voort. If they can make the final stage, then they will have as good a chance as anyone. 

Finally there is Wes Newton and Trina Gulliver. Gulliver showed moments of brilliance in the Womens field, last week. However, she does need to be more consistent. Wes Newton is an unknown quantity. He will need a good start, otherwise he may fall away. Worth keeping an eye on. 

So in summary, the favourites Van der Voort and Beaton seem to be the main contenders. I think they will be the finalists, but Devon Petersen will be waiting in the wings if either slip up. 

Q School Top Performers 2025

 

Q School is over, so here is an overview of the top performers. 

I have created my own Performance Model called PDB. This gives scores to performance in various areas. It aims to show who is playing well, and in time, who is likely to win or improve. (Maximum score is 800)

The PDB scores for Q School are as follows:

UK

Bradley Brooks       500

Jim Long                 400

Shane McGuirk      320

David Pallett           240

Paul Rowley            220

Mervyn King          220

Beau Greaves         220

Scott Waites           200

EU

Viktor Tingstrom                 740

Kai Gotthardt                      420

Maik Kuivenhoven              400

Jeffrey de Zwaan                 380

Stefaan Henderyck              320

Karel Sedlacek                     260

Gilbert van der Meijden     160

Stefan Bellmont                   140

Daniel Bauerdick                140

In terms of qualifying for Q School, there were two stand out performers in the UK with Bradley Brooks and Jim Long performing well across all areas.  The rest of the field was quite even. There doesn't seem a particular area that would help a player qualify. The best 180 hitters were not the best checkout players for example. This is why the top end of the UK Order of Merit was so close. Bradley Brooks seemed a cut above, but after that, it really was a lottery. Other factors such as nerves or feeling on the day seemed to be a bigger factor. 

This bodes well for the Challenge Tour, as there doesn't seem to be a clear favourite, especially from a UK point of view

In the EU Q School, things seemed a little different. Viktor Tingstrom was the stand out player. He came top in several categories. Then came 3 other qualifiers, suggesting there were more stand out players in the EU tournament at the top end. Jeffrey de Zwaan performed well across the board, so maybe he will have a good Challenge Tour season. 

It will be interesting to see how the year goes on the Main Tour and whether the players will play according to their early promise. Will Bradley Brooks and Viktor Tingstrom perform better than other qualifiers? 

Qualifiers:

UK: Day Winners

Tom Bissell

Justin Hood

Tavis Dudeney

Jim Long

Order of Merit Qualifiers

Bradley Brooks

Darryl Pilgrim

Greg Ritchie

Adam Lipscombe

Adam Paxton

Cam Crabtree

Adam Warner

Andy Boulton

Thomas Lovely

EU:Day Winners

Viktor Tingstrom

Kai Gotthardt

Dennie Olde Kalter

Maik Kuivenhoven

Order of Merit Qualifiers

Cor Dekker

Pero Ljubic

Karel Sedlacek

Oskar Lukasiak

Tytus Kanik

Rusty-Jake Rodriguez

Dominik Gruellich

Stefaan Henderyck

Maximilian Czerwinski

Max Hopp

Leon Weber

Marvin van Velzen

Highest Average UK                                                   Highest Average EU

Bradley Brooks                                                           Maik Kuivenhoven

Jim Long                                                                      Jeffrey de Zwaan

Paul Rowley                                                                Kai Gotthardt

180%  UK                                                                   180% EU

Shane McGuirk                                                          Viktor Tingstrom

David Davies                                                               Maik Kuivenhoven

Jim Long                                                                     Jeroen Mioch

Check Out % UK                                                      Check Out % EU

Christian Perez                                                          Viktor Tingstrom

Carl Wilson                                                                 Kai Gotthardt

Mervyn King                                                              Gilbert van der Meijden

Legs Won % UK                                                          Legs Won % EU

David Pallett                                                                 Viktor Tingstrom

Bradley Brooks                                                             Daniel Bauerdick

Scott Waites                                                                  Stefaan Henderyck

My thoughts on a different way to allocate automatic Pro Tour spots.

With Q School nearly finished, it got me thinking about the spots that are automatically given to players on the Pro Tour. For the last decade, at least, it has been a case of going through Q School, or getting an automatic spot by finishing in the top 2 of the Challenge and Development Tours. However I think there could be better ways of doing this, Only my opinion, of course, but darts is an ever expanding sport and there may be room for change, which would expand the game globally, as well as making the secondary tours more relevant. I also feel that the PDC would benefit from this, as the numbers of participants across all tours should increase. 

I would definitely keep Q School in its current format, however, the number of qualifiers would be slightly less. 

Currently the top 2 in the Challenge Tour and Development Tour gain a place. I agree with that. the best players over a whole year should get a card. However to make these tours more relevant, I would have a final qualifier at the end of the year. I would also include the Women's Series in this too. 

So, I would say positions 3-30 on the Challenge and Development Tours, along with the top 8 on the Womens Series play a final one-off tournament of 64 players. The finalists of this would get a card. It would be like a pre-Q School, for those that have played particularly well, an extra chance if you like. 

This, I think, would create much more interest in the secondary tours. For example, the numbers dwindle significantly as the year progresses on these tours. In particular the last couple of events. From a PDC point of view, there's extra entry money that can be made. Players lower down the rankings would now have a chance at a card, without having to go to Q School, so more likely to attend more events.  It also gives a chance for the Womens game to progress, with 8 women given a chance for a tour card, rather than 1 or 2.

The PDC is growing more and more global, and I think this could also be reflected with automatic Tour cards. The standard of the Asian, North American and Oceania darts tours is increasing - in particular in Asia, where they showed what they can do at the 2025 PDC World Championships. With Q School operating in Europe, it makes it so difficult for those further afield to qualify. The World Series helps with highlighting these parts of the world, but doesn't help in terms of getting players from these areas on the Main Tour.  

I would suggest that the winners of the Asian and North American (CDC) Tours get an automatic card. If that was this year, then Alexis Toylo and Leonard Gates would represent. They would both be a welcome addition, and more than capable of competing .

Then in Oceania, the winners of the DPA Australian Tour and DP New Zealand Tour have a play-off for another automatic card. This would have been Joe Comito or Mark Cleaver

The need for more automatic global places on the Pro Tour can only improve the event and create interest. Areas like South America are pretty much untouched. Africa is growing and needs more exposure, as does the Middle East, with countries like Bahrain,Egypt and UAE all developing. 

The PDC is the World lead in an every increasing sport and would be great if they could see beyond the UK and Europe. Fingers crossed they will. 

So, I would like to see five automatic spots added. It wouldn't make that much of difference to the amount of overall qualifiers from Q School. What it would add is more interest all season on the secondary tours, and also bring the Main Tour to the rest of the world. 

Special Discount Offer!

 To celebrate Q School and the growth of my site, www.dartwarehouse.com have kindly sent me my own special discount code to share with you. 

Simply quote Q-School10 on any product for a 10% discount on any product. 

Having a look at their site, they have a massive range of darts and products and I highly recommend them.  Please take the time to check out for yourself. 

Hopefully I will have more offers and giveaways in the near future!

Q School 2025 - Stage One done!

 So, I thought I'd write about a few thoughts and things I noticed during Stage 1 of Q School. 

First thing I notice, is that it can be a lottery. It's the same for every player, so no advantage is gained, however by players helping out, by beating players in close contention, or by getting a draw with lower averages, means chances of progressing to Stage 2 become better.  However, I guess that can be said of a lot of tournaments, depending on seedings or whether it is totally random, such as the UK Open format. 

'Averages do not play a significant role'. This appears to be a pure match-play process. Beat your opponent and get the point. It happened several times, where players with a high overall average, have not progressed. Q School is definitely about hitting the right shot at the right time. A player that can finish well, is more likely to progress than a 180 specialist. It's the old adage 'doubles for dough'. This was very much the mantra in Stage 1.

'Win, but win well'. I believe this was the most significant part of progressing to Stage 2. Aside from eight qualifiers per day, there are then around 80-90 places available in the Order of Merit. Whilst watching the live qualifying table (www.dartsrankings.com), it was very noticeable how advantageous it was to be winning 5-0 or 5-1. This large leg difference can be as important as an extra point. Players were soon overtaken by players due to their leg average, even if they had the same amount of wins. This will be key in Stage 2. Yes, get the win, that is obvious, but by winning well, the pressure goes to the players who won 5-4 and 5-3. 

'Reputation counts for nothing'. This tournament is brutal and takes no notice of previous form or historical reputation. Stage 1 is about playing your very best for 3 days. If you can do that, it doesn't matter how you performed on the Challenge Tour or World Championship, or any tournament. The hunger for the Pro Tour is such that players will not think twice about the other player - it's all about each win.

In both the UK and Euro Q Schools, each had 'names' that made it to Stage 2, but equally some that did not. 

Examples include:

Qualified Stage 2 UK                                                                         Didn't Qualify for Stage 2 UK

Mark McGeeney                                                                                   Scott Taylor

Cam Crabtree                                                                                        Scott Waites

Bradley Brooks                                                                                     Mark Dudbridge

Ted Evetts                                                                                             Robert Thornton

Shane McGuirk                                                                                    Steve West

Qualified Stage 2 EU                                                                        Didn't Qualify for Stage 2 EU

Max Hopp                                                                                            Arjan Konterman

Kai Gotthardt                                                                                       Noa-Lynn van Leuven

Brian Raman                                                                                        Marko Kantele

Jose Justicia                                                                                         Rene Eidams

Michael Unterbuchner                                                                         Dragutin Horvat

So, Stage 2 begins and I very much suspect the same observations will be made. Just play well and win well for 4 days!

I will add a more statistical analysis tomorrow. 

First Tournaments of 2025 for me

I played two tournaments in the first week of January with very mixed results. I can only put this down to tiredness or one competition too many. 

On 1st January, I played in an Open event, so no cap on ability. I drew a tough group, but not impossible, by any means. I got off to a good start with 63 average, despite losing, but my form dipped after that. Most of it, as is the way at my level, was the wasted shots at doubles. I won one and lost two of my first three games, so was still in the hunt. Annoyingly I should have won the fourth game, but for missing doubles yet again. What was really annoying, was that players were beating me with averages, that I'd normally expect to get. I know averages are just a guide, but it is frustrating knowing you are not playing as well as you know you can. That's darts, I guess. The story was much the same for the last two games. I felt I was throwing ok, but just couldn't hit doubles. So I'll take the positive that the darts were straight and scoring wasn't too bad. 

Stats: Average 48.10: First 9: 52.11 100+ 8 :140+ 3: 180 0

2nd January, I felt good and thought that I might play well. However, this was not the case. I just couldn't hit the trebles. 5s and 1s played a big part too, and I never got out of first gear. I think I had just played too much and was overthinking. 

Stats: Average 44.00: First 9: 45.85 100+ 3 :140+ 1: 180 0

Modus Super Series Womens Week 1

 

With many players opting for Q School, the Modus Super Series turns to the Women's event. And it is a top line up. Maybe no Beau Greaves or Fallon Sherrock, but the very best in Women's darts are here. It is also exciting to see two of the games up and coming stars appear, in Paige Pauling and Sophie McKinlay.

The favourites, and rightly so are Gemma Hayter and Lisa Ashton. Hayter had a storming end to last year, picking up the ADC Women's title on the Modus stage, beating Fallon Sherrock 4-0. She has mixed it with her male counterparts on this stage too, more than matching them. Ashton has showed glimpses of her old form too and will be a danger. Even a below par Ashton, is more than a match for her peers.

Lorraine Winstanley and Trina Gulliver represent two very experienced players, that will not be overawed by the event. On their day, they are still very much able to compete and will be tough opponents. 

Scandinavia are represented here by Kirsi Vinikainen and Vicky Pruim. Vinikainen was so close to making history at the WDF World Championships, by narrowly missing a double 12 for a 9-dart checkout. Those within the game are well aware of her talent. Pruim is a consistent performer. She has played on this stage several times and is always very competitive on the Women's Series .

The interesting prospects of Paige Pauling and Sophie McKinlay may give an early indication of the prospect of new talent coming through. Both are teenagers and both are climbing rapidly to the top in the Women's game. McKinlay, in particular, made the final of the WDF World Championship in 2024 and did not look out of sorts playing Beau Greaves.

Ireland are represented by the duo of Katie Sheldon and Robin Byrne. Byrne is a multiple Women's Series winner and can be very dangerous. Sheldon showed promise as a youngster and is gradually finding her way through to the top end of Women's darts. This could be a great springboard. 

Finally Laura Turner and Steph Clarke make up the field. Clarke showed her form at the ADC Finals and has the talent to match any of the above. Perhaps not quite as consistent as some of her opponents, but certainly has the ability. Fresh from her commentating duties, Turner returns to her playing side. Again, another player with the ability to challenge when on form. 

Of the players contending, I believe the steepest trajectory in improvement comes from Gemma Hayter and Sophie McKinlay. There is more than enough experience in the field to challenge these two, but if all play their 'A' game, I see these two in the final. Lisa Ashton and Paige Pauling, in particular, will certainly be hot on their heels though.