Two Welsh stars join PDC in hope to emulate Gerwyn Price

Two Welshmen earned their two-year invite onto professional darts tour in hope to emulate world champion, Gerwyn Price.

Nick Kenny and Callum Goffin became the latest Welshmen to earn a spot on the PDC Pro Tour after a gruelling seven days of qualifying school.

The duo become the seventh and eighth representatives of Wales on the 128-man tour, joining most recent addition Robert Owen, who earned his place for the next two years on the PDC’s Challenge Tour throughout 2022.

Cwmbran-based Kenny, 29, is no stranger to the professional circuit after holding a tour card previously between 2020 and 2022. A period of time which brought him two appearances in the prestigious World Championship at Alexandra Palace.

Meanwhile, 24-year-old Goffin has made his surge to the top from a relatively unknown darting background to the average viewer.

After some success on the Amateur Darts Circuit in 2022, Goffin impressed in Milton Keynes with shock upsets over established players, proving experience past his age suggests.

After a slow start to phase two in the two-part qualifying process, he reached a last 16 and a semi-final in the final two days in order to qualify through the UK order of merit as one of 27 new tour card holders for 2023-24.

Kenny also qualified via the order of merit with consistent performances throughout being topped off with a run to the final on day four where he was defeated by Adam Smith-Neale despite beating Goffin in the previous round.

The pair will join former world champions Gerwyn Price and Richie Burnett on tour as well as world number seven, Jonny Clayton and other Welsh stars and namesakes, Jim and Lewy Williams to go with the aforementioned, Owen.

By qualifying through Q-School, Kenny will be required to give up his place at the 2023 World Darts Federation’s World Championship which he had qualified for during 2022.

The Welshmen will begin their PDC Pro Tour experience on February 11th at Barnsley Metronome in a behind closed doors, Players Championship event before their first televised major of the calendar year, the UK Open, in March.

Former PDC World Championship semi-finalist and fellow Welsh star, Jamie Lewis was also in attendance at Q-school although he fell short of regaining his tour card after a week in Milton Keynes.

Published on Exposport.