NICK Kenny will be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Michael Van Gerwen, Peter Wright and fellow Gwent darts ace Gerwyn Price over the next two years after winning a prized PDC Tour card.

Cwmbran’s Kenny, who suffered an early exit at the BDO World Championships earlier this month, won eight matches on the fourth and final day of Qualifying School to earn his place on the tour.

He beat Jason Wilson, Lee Evans, Martin Atkins, Jim Williams, Dave Prins, Darren Penhall and Stephen Burton before crossing the finish line with a stunning display against Scott Taylor.

The 26-year-old, a two-time winner on the PDC Development Tour in his younger days, recorded a sensational three-dart average of 110 as he beat Taylor 5-2, sealing victory on double 16.

If he can repeat that sort of form among the game’s elite then Kenny could well make a big impression.

“I’d just like to give a good account of myself, that’s all I want to do, and for people to say I’m a good player”, he said.

“The way I played today proves I’m capable, I just need to do it against the big boys.

“I’ve beaten a lot of the top 64 when I was playing youth, it’s just doing it consistently now.

“This is the perfect environment to play darts, there’s no-one to put you off.

“You’re not in a holiday camp anymore, like in the BDO, where someone’s dropping a glass.

“It’s great, I’m so happy. This was my next step. I’ve just played for Wales. I wanted to go to the World Cup, I’ve done that, and now I’m a professional darts player, so we’ll see what happens.”

Kenny made a disappointing start to Q School in Wigan, losing 5-4 to Adam Jenkinson in his first match on day one.

Things improved on the second day as Kenny beat Tommy Lishman, Paul Phillips and Justin Hood, before a last-64 loss to Steven Morrison.

And a 5-3 reverse to three-time world champion John Part on day three meant it was all or nothing for Kenny going into the final day of competition at the Robin Park Leisure Centre.

Reflecting on the winner-takes-all clash with Taylor and his reward for an excellent year on the oche, he said: “I know Scott has beaten me a few times, so I just tried to play how I’d been playing in the last four rounds, because I played really well against Jim Williams.

“I was 4-0 up against Jim and he came back at me like a train, his 180s were unbelievable, he hit about seven, but he missed three darts and gave me a chance, and I took it out.

“And I never looked back from there, so thanks Jim.”

He added: “I said to my manager that I like Sundays. On the BDO tour this year I’ve won a few tournaments on a Sunday.

“I’ve played really well all year and went up a couple of levels today.”