Jurjen van der Velde lost in the PDC final Junior World Championships At the end of last month, he lost 6-5 to his compatriot Gian van Veen. Van der Velde thus missed qualifying for the World Darts Championship and subsequently lost his Tour Card.
Van der Velde is currently 85th in the world rankings, with only the top 64 players guaranteed Tour Cards for the next two years after the World Darts Championships. This means that the 22-year-old Dutchman must go Q School recover your Tour Card. “I go to Q-School with a good feeling, although I realize that it will not be the easiest week of the year,” says Van der Velde Double Top Podcast though. “Everything has to be in place, although I have the advantage of not having to be in action until the last stage, so I can skip the first three days of qualifying.”
“But of course you never know how everything will turn out there,” the Dutchman honestly admits. “Just look at Wesley Plaisier, who was seen as certain to get his Tour Card for several years, and yet Q-School continued to do poorly. Although Wesley finally got his Tour Card and rightfully so.”
Jurjen van der Velde in action
But what if something goes wrong at Q-School? “Then I will take part in the Development Tour and Challenge Tour tournaments anyway,” Van der Velde said. “I was also thinking about Lakeside, but when you qualify for the WDF World Championships you only get 750 euros for the first round. Joining the WDF Tour for this purpose is also quite expensive. Of course, it remains an iconic place, so “I have to see it.”
Van der Velde is guaranteed a place in the 2025 Grand Slam of Darts anyway due to his last place in the Youth World Championships. “Of course I hope to play there as a Tour Card holder. But even otherwise, it’s something worth waiting for. Although it’s still a long way and right now I’m mostly busy getting my Tour Card back.”
