Darts Player Wins PDC Tour Card In 'One Of Biggest Shocks In Q-School History'

Polish darts star Filip Bereza will play on the PDC ProTour in 2026 after winning a surprise tour card on day one of EU Q-School.

Bereza went unbeaten throughout the entire day in Kalkar on Thursday, winning six matches.

Incredibly, the Pole also won all five of his matches in the first stage of Q-School, meaning he didn't need to play in either of the two remaining days of that stage.

He defeated former tour card holder Michael Unterbuchner in the last 32, before a 6-3 win over Maikel Verberk set up a winner-takes-all showdown against two-time Players Championship winner Jeffrey De Zwaan.

De Zwaan, who lost his tour card at the end of 2024, was the favourite to secure victory, given he thrashed Slovenia's Benjamin Pratnemer 6-1 in the quarter-finals with an average of over 100.

But it was Bereza who instead pulled off a 6-5 win, sealing one of the day's two automatic PDC tour cards.

Germany's Arno Merk, who defeated Kim Huybrechts and Peter Wright at the 2026 World Championship, was the other player to win his card.

De Zwaan, who had match darts against Bereza, was dealt another blow early on day two, as he lost 6-1 to Dutch compatriot Lorenzo te Hennepe in round one and therefore gained no points on the Order of Merit.

The nature of Q-School - with 128 competitors, a best-of-11 leg format and the quick turnaround between matches - means it is not unheard of for more unlikely tour card contenders to reel off a series of wins on one day to and secure a card.

Tom Bissell did exactly that in 2025, averaging 85 in each of his seven matches to win a card.

The Englishman was that much of a relative unknown before Q-School, however, that reporter Dan Dawson had to ask him on behalf of fans: "With the greatest of respect, Tom - who are you?"

And Aaron Beeney, who worked as a prison officer at the time of his entry into 2020 Q-School, came from nowhere to win a card on day one that year.

Bereza reached the second round of the WDF World Masters last year, though is otherwise unknown to most darts fans.

But he has arguably pulled off a more incredible feat than Bissell or Beeney this week.

In five of the Pole's six matches in the second stage, he failed to post an average of 85 or above.

And one of his wins in the first stage of Q-School saw him average just 64.46 in defeating Stefano Bozicek 5-2.

Poland’s Filip Bereza proves that averages are merely a guide and goes undefeated at Q School 🇵🇱😯 pic.twitter.com/mna8EVelin

— Ben Hudd (@benonsport) January 8, 2026

Perhaps the best way to sum up the brutality of Q-School is that, in the same round as Bereza's win over Bozicek, his compatriot and former PDC tour card holder Krzysztof Kciuk lost - while averaging 87.

As things stand, Bereza will be one of three Polish players on the ProTour in 2026, alongside World Championship quarter-finalist Krzysztof Ratajski and Sebastian Bialecki.

Six more players will join Bereza and Merk as daily winners over the next three days from EU Q-School, along with eight Order of Merit qualifiers.

In UK Q-School, Rhys Griffin and Australia's Adam Leek were the two winners on day one, with five more Order of Merit qualifiers set to secure cards along the six additional daily winners.