eight qualifying events. 2011 proved to be a better year for Michels. He qualified for the UK Open where he lost in the first round to Antonio Alcinas and reached the last 16 of a Players Championship event in Canada. In January 2012, he entered the PDC 'Q School' qualifying tournament. He didn't qualify directly through any of the four events, but did finish joint 7th on the Order of Merit, comfortably inside the top 24 who received a Tour Card. In April, Michels earned a place in the Austrian Darts Open by defeating Dyson Parody and Tobias Hontsch in the European qualifier. He played Simon Whitlock in the first round and lost 6–4. He also qualified for the second European Tour event, the German Darts Championship courtesy of wins over Ante Vranjeka and Gino Vos. Michels played compatriot Raymond van Barneveld in the first round of the event in Berlin and was beaten 6–1. Michels failed to qualify for the 2013 UK Open as he finished 142nd on the Order of Merit, outside of the top 96 who claimed their places. He qualified for the European Darts Open, but lost 6–3 to Wes Newton in the first round. In September, Michels qualified for the German Darts Masters and beat Andy Smith 6–2 in the opening round, before coming back from 4–2 down to see off top 20 player Kim Huybrechts. Michels kept his run going with a 6–1 victory over compatriot Vincent van der Voort to reach the quarter-finals of a PDC event for the first time. However, the pressure of the occasion seemed to affect Michels as he averaged just 79.03 in a 6–0 defeat against Wayne Jones. His run in the event earned him £3,000 which was the main reason in Michels finishing the year ninth on the European Order of Merit which has seen him qualify for his first PDC World Championship by claiming the second of four spots which were available to non-qualified players. Michels played John Part in the first round and lost the first two sets and was 2–0 down in legs in the third. However, Michels rallied to win the set and the next by taking out 120 with treble 20, double 20, double 10 to level the game, but couldn't win a leg in the decider to bow out of the tournament 3–2. Michels was 75th on the Order of Merit