When is it?

Thursday, January 17 through to Sunday, January 20

Where?

Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan

Who?

The PDC reports that a field of 397 players has registered to take part.

Among the entries is newly-crowned Lakeside world champion Glen Durrant as well as three-time world champion John Part.

Former PDC World Championship finalists Kevin Painter, Andy Hamilton and Kirk Shepherd are on the list too.

Wes Newton, Colin Osborne, Barrie Bates, Richie Burnett and Mark Walsh – all of them runners-up previously in PDC competitions on television – will be competing as well.

Durrant heads a list of British Darts Organisation (BDO) players taking part alongside two-time champion Scott Waites and 2018 Grand Slam of Darts participants Mark McGeeney and Jim Williams.

Lisa Ashton and Anastasia Dobromyslova, both former Lakeside Women’s champions who played on the main stage at the PDC World Championships last month, headline a list of female entries that also includes Deta Hedman and recent Lakeside runner-up Lorraine Winstanley.

Simon Preston, from Middlewich, is part of a sizeable Cheshire contingent hoping to make an impression.

The 51-year-old, a victor on the opening day of the PDC Challenge Tour in 2018 who went on to rank 10th on the Order of Merit, has been a tour-card holder in the past.

To see a full list of entries, click here

What happens?

There is a new tournament each day.

Play starts no later than 10.30am after an open draw, and all games are the best of nine legs.

The two players that progress from the semi-finals on each of those days receive a two-year tour card – for the 2019 and 2020 seasons – as a reward.

That’s eight in total, and those individuals take no further part.

What is the Q School Order of Merit?

The PDC has confirmed that a total of 11 tour cards will be up for grabs via a rankings system compiled over the four days.

Players will be allocated one point based for every win they record from the first full round during each day’s play, excluding byes.

Legs difference and countback will be used to separate any ties.

How can I follow what’s happening?

The venue is closed to spectators. However the PDC has promised to post results online here

You can also follow scores at DartsConnect

And if Stuart Kellett does not win back his tour card?
He will be classified as an associate member of the Professional Darts Players Association (PDPA).

As he has done in the past two years he can choose to play on the Challenge Tour, the PDC’s second-tier, which in 2019 provides access to Players’ Championship events via its Order of Merit.

If he wishes, he can also play in UK qualifiers for European Tour events providing he occupies a place in the Challenge Tour’s top 32 by the entry deadline.