Dave Ladley is hoping he will be one of the select few to take one of the tour cards available at this week’s PDC Qualifying School and then work his way into the top 64.
The Scunthorpe thrower earned a tour card by finishing inside the top 24 of the Q-School Order of Merit back in 2014, but has found results hard to come by in the last two years on the PDC circuit.
Ladley finished the 2015 season 105th in the PDC Order of Merit having accrued £7,750 during the previous two years on the tour.
The 40-year-old returns to Wigan this week to try and regain his place on the tour, and if he does so is hoping to then fulfil the potential he showed during his run to the second round of the PDC World Championship in 2007.
“This year I’m hoping to win the card back and have two years where I can really go for it properly,” he said.
“It was disappointing to lose my card but it is very difficult to pick up enough money to get into the top 64. You do need to be earning £20,000 over the two years.
“The first year of my tour card in 2014 was a bit of a tough year really because my father was dying. So although I was playing in every tournament in my first year, all I was concentrating on was my dad, and trying to use it as a break.
“We sadly lost him on Boxing Day that year, which then gave me one full year to put all my effort in.
“I beat Raymond van Barneveld in one of the UK Open Qualifiers and I had several other good wins throughout the season.”
Ladley’s biggest success during the last two years was a run to the last 32 of the European Grand Prix back in October, where he lost to eventual winner Kim Huybrechts.
“It would be my dream to qualify for a TV event,” he said. “It was really good to be back on stage, with the TV cameras and the crowd for that European event.”
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