McGuirk through to final stages on good first day for the Irish at PDC Q School

MONAGHAN'S Shane McGuirk has qualified for the final stages of PDC Q School following a good first day for the Irish players at Milton Keynes.

The recently crowned WDF World Champion claimed one of the eight automatic qualification slots with a series of impressive wins throughout the day.

It means McGuirk can sit out the next two days of qualifying and get set for the final four days when the coveted PDC Tour cards will be dished out.

Waterford's Dean Finn has also done his chances of making the final stages no harm either as he made it through to the final 32, while the Donegal pair of Dean Gallagher and Adrian Devine made it to the last 64.

It means all three  are well placed on the Q School Order of Merit with two days of qualifying still to go.

Galway's Dylan Dowling, Cork's Ciaran Teehan, Carlow's Niall Culleton and James Brogan, Mayo's Conor Heneghan and Dublin's Killian McCormack also all picked up wins which will give them confidence going into the next two days.

However it was McGuirk who was the star of the show for the Irish, winning all five of his games to progress into the last eight, which means qualification for the final stages.

He began his day in stunning fashion, averaging 105.56 in an opening win over England's Shane Turner, and picked up three further wins before keeping his nerve to beat Mark McGeeney 5-3 in the crucial last 16 match.

Dean Finn's run to the last 32 included impressive wins over Mark Twist and Scotland's Nathan Girvan, before he lost out in a last leg decider to England's Tommy Morris.

It means Finn has ended the first day in 21st place on the Order of Merit, with Dean Gallagher in 41st and Adrian Devine in 48th place, with the top 64 in that on Wednesday likely to progress to the final stages.