Magpie wrote:
How does the Q school work? is it pays you money and takes your chance free for all or is there a criteria for qualifying.
I know Fallon Sherrock keeps trying and not quite getting through so how many slots does it open to the main events? Just the one? Did Luke Littler get entry to the PDC Championships and subsequently the PL via that route?
Too many questions!
There are 128 tour card holders each year: the top 64 in the rankings hold onto theirs, as do (I think) players going into their second year on the tour. The top players in each year's Challenge and Development Tours (the next level down) win them as well. The rest become available through the two Q Schools - one in MK for British Isles players, and the other in Germany for international players.
Luke Littler has actually managed to qualify for a tour card three times over in the last six weeks.
He finished second on the Development Tour for junior players; he won the World Youth Championship (which is also how he qualified for the Worlds); and then his run to the world final means he's now number 31 in the world rankings.
Wrt the Premier League: the top four in the world rankings after the Worlds qualify, and the other spots are decided at the discretion of the PDC and Sky, based on publicity, marketing appeal, etc. Because it isn't open to everyone, the PL doesn't count for the rankings. Neither does the Masters here in a few weeks.