Tricole becomes the first Frenchman to qualify for the PDC World Championships meaning last year’s runner-up will miss Lakeside

Thibault Tricole has written himself into the record books by becoming the first Frenchman to qualify for the PDC World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace In the final of the Western European qualification competition in Kalkar, ‘The French Touch’ defeated Wesley Plaisier.

In recent years, the French have begun to build a foothold in the world of darts. Tricole advanced to the Lakeside final in 2022, while his countryman Jacques Labre made history this year by becoming the first French dart player to gain a PDC Tour Card at the Q-School. The French have yet to compete in the PDC World Darts Championship, but that will change in December.

The Kalkar qualifying tournament was eligible for players from Western European countries who did not rank in the top 64 of the PDC Order of Merit. A large number of Tour Card holders were removed early on. Tony Martinez, Jurjen van der Velde, Luc Peters, Owen Roelofs, Jeffrey de Zwaan, Jose Justicia, Ronny Huybrechts, Jimmy Hendriks, Geert Nentjes, Rusty-Jake Rodriguez, and Damian Mol were all eliminated in the last 64.

Tricole was also in charge of removing certain well-known names. Brian Raman (6-5), Robbie Knops (6-3), Jelle Klaasen (6-3), and Danny van Trijp (6-5)  as the Frenchman was on the rampage.

Plaisier advanced to the final by defeating, among others, Vincent van der Meer (6-4), Ryan de Vreede (6-4), Danny Jansen (6-5) and Stefan Bellmont (6-3)

With Tricole booking his place at Ally Pally there is a knock-on effect for the WDF Lakeside tournament at the start of December. Players are not permitted to play in both competitions meaning Tricole will pull out of Lakeside at short notice.

This will come as a blow to the WDF, as Tricole was runner-up to Neil Duff in last year’s final and seeded 11 for this year.

Because the draw for Lakeside has already taken place and been published, John Scott, who was next on the WDF ranking, will now become the number 11 seed in place of Tricole.

Results 

Last 16

Maik Kuivenhoven 6-1 Philip van Gasse

Danny van Trijp 6-4 Jeroen Mioch

Thibault Tricole 6-3 Robbie Knops

Jelle Klaasen 6-2 Martijn Dragt

Wesley Plaisier 6-4 Ryan de Vreede

Danny Jansen 6-4 Dennie Olde Kalter

Mareno Michels 6-2 Mario Schmelcher

Stefan Bellmont 6-1 Ricky de Vos

Quarterfinals

Danny van Trijp 6-3 Maik Kuivenhoven

Thibault Tricole 6-3 Jelle Klaasen

Wesley Plaisier 6-5 Danny Jansen

Stefan Bellmont 6-4 Mareno Michels

Semi-final

Thibault Tricole 6-5 Danny van Trijp

Wesley Plaisier 6-3 Stefan Bellmont

Final

Thibault Tricole 7-4 Wesley Plaisier