World Championship PDPA Qualifier- Report & Results!

Mark Frost, Kevin Simm, Simon Stevenson and John Bowles secured qualification for next month’s World Championships at the Alexandra Palace after progressing through the PDPA World Championship qualifier at the Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan on Monday afternoon.

There were four spots available to the 120 participants in this year’s qualifier, after the already qualified Corey Cadby triumphed in last night’s World-Youth final. The winner was guaranteed a place in the first-round of next month’s event, whilst the remaining three players will be left to battle it out in the preliminary rounds.

Mark Frost was the first player to secure his qualification for the World Championships. The St Helen’s star cruised through to round-three with successive 5-1 victories over Adam Hunt & Brett Claydon respectively. ‘Frosty’ then saw off Peter Hudson 5-3, before dumping out former World-Youth champion Keegan Brown in a nail-biting decider.

Frost faced Ritchie Edhouse at the decisive quarter-final stage, after Edhouse caused a minor shock by beating Andy Jenkins. However, Frost held his nerve to secure a precious 5-3 victory to reach the semi-finals, guaranteeing his qualification to his first ever PDC World Championship.

Kevin Simm was arguably the surprise package of today’s World Championship qualifier. The Lancashire ace failed to secure a tour-card at Q-School in January and competed on the Challenge Tour throughout the year, but failed to go beyond the last 16 of any event, finishing 56th on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit.

Simm began his campaign with an emphatic 5-1 win over Simon Preston, before edging out Steve McNally in a deciding-leg shootout. Simm then defeated Prakash Jiwa and Paul Milford, before defeating sixth seed Ross Smith 5-2 in the decisive quarter-final clash to seal his spot at Ally Pally.

Simon Stevenson continued his fine form to secure his World Championship debut. Stevenson made his televised debut at the Players Championship Finals last weekend, narrowly losing out 6-4 to Jelle Klaasen. The 44-year-old has also been achieving strong results on the PDC Pro Tour and maintained this consistency in Wigan on Monday.

Stevenson reached the third-round after recording consecutive 5-3 wins over Richie Corner and Dirk van Duijvenbode respectively. ‘The Mirror Man’ then saw off Ricky Williams, before edging out Kurt Parry 5-4 to move to within one victory of sealing his qualification, which he subsequently secured by easing past Scott Taylor 5-2.

John Bowles will compete in the PDC World Championships for the second time, after seeing off a host of big names to qualify. Bowles made his sole World Championship appearance back in 2013, losing out 4-3 to Gary Anderson in a thrilling second-round tie, having beaten Jamie Caven in the first-round.

Bowles whitewashed former World-Youth champion James Hubbard in round-two of qualifying, before seeing off 2012 World Championship finalist Andy Hamilton 5-3. ‘The Bulldog’ then beat Darren Johnson by the same scoreline in the last 16, before confirming his spot at Ally Pally with a hard-fought win over Stuart Kellett.

The four qualifiers then battled it out to see who would enter the competition in round-one. Frost edged out Stevenson in a ninth and deciding leg, whilst Simm secured a stunning semi-final whitewash victory over Bowles.

However, Frost clinched victory in the final, beating Simm 5-3 to secure his place in round-one at the Ally Pally, and his reward is a first-round showdown with reigning world champion Gary Anderson.

Nevertheless, there are a host of big names missing out on this year’s event, none more so than 2012 World Championship finalist Andy Hamilton. ‘The Hammer’, now ranked 40th in the world,  was beaten 5-3 in the third-round of qualifying by John Bowles, who was one of the four players to seal qualification.

Former Premier League star Wes Newton will miss out on his first World Championship since 2005 after losing 5-2 to former UK Open finalist Barrie Bates in the second-round. Elsewhere, 2010 Players Championship Finals winner  Paul Nicholson suffered defeat at the same stage, losing to the experienced Michael Barnard.

2014 World-Youth champion Keegan Brown won’t be gracing the Ally Pally stage in 2017 after suffering a heart-breaking 5-4 defeat to Mark Frost in the last 16, whilst James Hubbard and Arron Monk, also former World-Youth champions, were condemned to premature exits.

David Pallett, who stunned Kim Huybrechts at the World Championships twelve months ago, will not be returning this year after he was edged out by Paul Milford, whilst recent Grand Slam of Darts participants Nathan Aspinall and Ted Evetts suffered early exits against Prakash Jiwa and Nigel Heydon respectively.

Former World Championship finalist Ronnie Baxter was just two wins away from securing qualification after going down to Stuart Kellett, as 2007 semi-finalist Andy Jenkins was beaten by Ritchie Edhouse at the same stage.

Photo Credit: Lawrence Lustig/PDC

The full list of results from today’s PDPA World Championship qualifier can be viewed below:

William Hill World Darts Championship
PDPA Qualifier
Monday November 28, Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan
First Round
Keegan Brown (1) Bye
Jim Walker 5- 4 Sam Head
Lee Moffat 5-2 Roger Scrivens
Mark Lawrence 5-3 Darren Brown
Mark Frost (16) 5-1 Adam Hunt
Brett Claydon 5-2 Darron Brown
Colin Fowler 5 -3 Sean Johnson
Peter Hudson 5-3 Kevin Lane
Wayne Jones (8) Bye
Matt Dennant 5-3 Arron Monk
Kirk Shepherd 5-4 Nick Fullwell
Ritchie Edhouse 5-1 Michael Blake
Andy Jenkins (9) Bye
Jason Lovett 5-4 Darren Mawer
Lee Shewan 5-1 Jack Todd
Ian Lever 5-0 Gareth Illidge
Dirk van Duijvenbode (5) Bye
Simon Stevenson 5-3 Richie Corner
Ricky Williams 5 -2 Gary Stone
Ryan Palmer 5-1 Alan Wilkinson
James Richardson (12) Bye
Kevin Dowling 5-3 Mark Hylton
Kurt Parry 5-3 Mark Forman
Mark Walsh 5-1 Nigel Boeg
Wes Newton (4) Bye
Barrie Bates 5-1 Steve Evans
Matt Edgar 5-1 David Evans
Eddie Dootson 5-0 Fabian Herz
Paul Nicholson (13) 5-2 Johnny Haines
Michael Barnard 5-2 Terry Temple
Stuart Stubbs 5-1 Terry Creed
Scott Taylor 5-4 Brian Woods
Andy Hamilton (2) Bye
Scott Dale 5-2 Robert Owen
James Hubbard 5-1 Billy Holmes
John Bowles 5-3 Michael Power
Darren Johnson (15) 5 -1 James Young
Martyn Turner 5- 1 Dave Ladley
Mick Todd 5-3 Alan Tabern
Yordi Meeuwisse 5 -3 Callum Loose
Ronnie Baxter (7) Bye
Matt Clark 5-3 Mark Barilli
Jay Foreman 5-4 Lee Palfreyman
Jamie Bain 5-2 Martin Thomas
Stuart Kellett (10) Bye
Nigel Heydon 5- 1 Ted Evetts
Nigel Daniels 5-2 Jason Wilson
Luke Woodhouse 5-1 Joey Palfreyman
Andy Boulton (6) Bye
Dennis Smith 5-4 Steve Hine
Nathan Derry 5-2 Josh Richardson
Chris Quantock 5-1 Ryan Harrington
Andy Smith (11) Bye
Jonathon Worsley 5- 2 Ian Withers
Ross Smith 5-1 Kevin Garcia
Kelvin Hart 5-4 Jamie Robinson
David Pallett (3) Bye
Paul Milford 5-4 Tony Newell
Harry Robinson 5-4 Curtis Hammond
Coni Singh Nagi 5-0 Ian Moss
Nathan Aspinall (14) 5-0 Richard Baillie
Prakash Jiwa 5-2 Ryan Meikle
Kevin Simm 5-1 Simon Preston
Steve McNally 5-4 Jason Marriott

Second Round
Keegan Brown (1) 5-4 Jim Walker
Darren Brown 5-1 Lee Moffatt
Mark Frost (16) 5-1 Brett Claydon
Peter Hudson 5-1 Colin Fowler
Matt Dennant 5-2 Wayne Jones (8)
Richie Edhouse 5-3 Kirk Shepherd
Andy Jenkins (9) 5-1 Jason Lovett
Ian Lever 5-4 Lee Shewan
Simon Stevenson 5-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode (5)
Ricky Williams 5-4 Ryan Palmer
James Richardson (12) 5-3 Kevin Dowling
Kurt Parry 5-1 Mark Walsh
Barrie Bates 5-2 Wes Newton (4)
Matt Edgar 5-2 Eddie Dootson
Michael Barnard 5-2 Paul Nicholson (13)
Scott Taylor 5-2 Stuart Stubbs
Andy Hamilton (2) 5-4 Scott Dale
John Bowles 5-0 James Hubbard
Darren Johnson (15) 5-3 Martyn Turner
Mick Todd 5-4 Yordi Meeuwisse
Ronnie Baxter (7) 5-0 Matt Clark
Jamie Bain 5-2 Jay Forman
Stuart Kellett (10) 5-1 Nigel Heydon
Nigel Daniels 5-4 Luke Woodhouse
Andy Boulton (6) 5-1 Dennis Smith
Nathan Derry 5-4 Chris Quantock
Jonathan Worsley 5 -2 Andy Smith (11)
Ross Smith 5-3 Kelvin Hart
Paul Milford 5-4 David Pallett (3)
Harry Robinson 5-4 Coni Singh Nagi
Prakash Jiwa 5-4 Nathan Aspinall (14)
Kevin Simm 5-4 Steve McNally

Third Round
Keegan Brown (1) 5-0 Darren Brown
Mark Frost (16) 5-3 Peter Hudson
Ritchie Edhouse 5-4 Matt Dennant
Andy Jenkins (9) 5-3 Ian Lever
Simon Stevenson 5-3 Ricky Williams
Kurt Parry 5-4 James Richardson (12)
Barrie Bates 5-3 Matt Edgar
Scott Taylor 5-2 Michael Barnard
John Bowles 5-3 Andy Hamilton (2)
Darren Johnson (15) 5-2 Mick Todd
Ronnie Baxter (7) 5-3 Jamie Bain
Stuart Kellett (10) 5-3 Nigel Daniels
Andy Boulton (6) 5-2 Nathan Derry
Ross Smith 5-3 Jonathon Worsley
Paul Milford 5-4 Harry Robinson
Kevin Simm 5-3 Prakash Jiwa

Fourth Round
Mark Frost (16) 5-4 Keegan Brown (1)
Ritchie Edhouse 5-2 Andy Jenkins (9)
Simon Stevenson 5-4 Kurt Parry
Scott Taylor 5-4 Barrie Bates
John Bowles 5-3 Darren Johnson (15)
Stuart Kellett 5-3 Ronnie Baxter (7)
Ross Smith 5-3 Andy Boulton (6)
Kevin Simm 5-2 Paul Milford

Quarter-Finals
Mark Frost (16) 5-3 Ritchie Edhouse – Mark Frost qualifies
Simon Stevenson 5-2 Scott Taylor – Simon Stevenson qualifies
John Bowles 5-3 Stuart Kellett – John Bowles qualifies
Kevin Simm 5-2 Ross Smith – Kevin Simm qualifies

Semi-Finals
Mark Frost 5-4 Simon Stevenson
Kevin Simm 5-0 John Bowles

Final
Mark Frost 5-2 Kevin Simm

PDPA Qualifier Winner: Mark Frost
PDPA Qualifier Runner-Up: Kevin Simm
PDPA Qualifier 3: Simon Stevenson
PDPA Qualifier 4: John Bowles