DISCUSSION | Players Championship 17 & 18: Are we going to see Luke Humphries again on ProTour as strength of Dutch darts in effect again

Players Championship 17 and 18 heralded two differing winners as you had Luke Humphries on his ProTour return no less providing the goods. 'Cool Hand' hasn't been in action outside of the Premier League for a bit and ironically he decided to withdraw again the day after.

Then we had a completely brand new winner as Luke Woodhouse rose to the occasion. Woody has been one of only a few players who has not yet won a title and he finally managed to achieve that this past week.

But will we see Humphries again this season on the ProTour and a word also in our discussion for the myriad of top Dutch darters as of late which has become an Indian summer for the nation with a surprise that they didn't figure in the conversation when it came to a title unlike every other double header.

(as per DartConnect)

Samuel Gill, Head Editor for DartsNews.com lauded Woodhouse and wonders what the future is for Humphries as to his schedule.

Like many I'm a bit perturbed as to what Luke Humphries will now do for the rest of the season. He promptly pulled out of remaining ProTour this week and won his second title presumably to say he could do it then left. While Luke Woodhouse is very much a top success story as he has grinded on the ProTour to try and win his first and has not been able to but has now done it and gets that monkey off his back.

I personally don't see Humphries playing much going forward. Minehead is in the bag so feasibly he doesn't have to worry about much more and he can go back to not playing.

Dutch darts too as ever is in the spotlight when it comes to these events with Doets being superb, Nijman being there or thereabouts without winning and for a nation that has relied on MVG for so long they finally have top stars all over the shop.

Pieter Verbeek, Editor for DartsNieuws.com lauded the strength of Dutch darts as well as airing concerns for Gian van Veen and Mike de Decker

It takes some getting used to seeing a ProTour double-header without a Dutch winner again. After all, the last time that happened was back in February. Still, the Dutch contingent was far from invisible, especially on Monday during Players Championship 17.

No fewer than five Dutch players reached the quarter-finals, with three of them progressing to the semi-finals. Once again, it underlined how strongly Dutch darts is performing at the top and sub-top level of the sport. Jermaine Wattimena eventually reached the final, but proved no match for a dominant Luke Humphries.

The Englishman claimed his second floor title of the season and no longer has to worry about qualification for the Players Championship Finals. More importantly, the manner of the victory will provide a huge confidence boost for ‘Cool Hand Luke’ ahead of the Premier League Darts play-offs. Humphries averaged 102 or higher in six of his seven matches and finished the tournament with an outstanding overall average of 104.57, showing that he has rediscovered his best form at exactly the right moment.

From a Dutch perspective, Tuesday was slightly less successful, although Kevin Doets once again reached the quarter-finals. It marked the ninth time already in 2026 that ‘Hawkeye’ has made at least the last eight on the floor circuit. Those are excellent numbers, and it is no coincidence that Doets has now broken into the world’s top 32 for the first time in his career.

While Humphries appears to have rediscovered his top level, the same cannot currently be said for Gian van Veen. The Dutchman endured another disappointing pair of tournaments, suffering defeats in the third round and first round respectively. Fortunately for Van Veen, his next truly major target does not arrive until mid-July with the World Matchplay in Blackpool. That is when ‘GVV The Giant’ will need to deliver and show why he is currently the world number three.

One player who does appear to be finding his way back is Dimitri Van den Bergh. The Belgian picked up five wins in Leicester and secured crucial prize money in the battle to retain his Tour Card. Kim Huybrechts also strengthened his position in the race for the World Matchplay, although ‘The Hurricane’ let several good opportunities slip to go even deeper on both tournament days.

For Mike De Decker, however, the outlook is far less positive. The former World Grand Prix champion suffered two first-round exits and appears set for a significant drop on the world rankings once the prize money from his World Grand Prix triumph falls off the ranking in October.

“I’ve been thinking about not playing any Players Championships next year, to be honest.” Those were the words of Luke Humphries last year at the Grand Slam of Darts. The packed darting schedule mixed with Players Championship, Euro Tour, World Series and Premier League Darts is a lot for someone like Humphries who has a young family.

The reason I pull this quote up is that after winning his second PC title of 2026, are we going to see him again this year on the floor? He has collected £37,000 on the floor this year from just seven events. That may be enough to qualify for the Players Championship Finals in Minehead, relieving any pressure on the world number two and allowing him to spend more time at home with him family instead of being on the road. His decision to not compete in PC18 was an interesting one in my eyes. Surely someone who has averaged over 100 in all but one game the day before would be brimming with confidence going into another day of action.

I also want to point out on the strength of Dutch darts at the moment. There were five top darters residing from the nation in the quarter-final stage, none of them boasting the name Michael van Gerwen or Gian van Veen. While outside the likes of Danny Noppert, Wessel Nijman and possibly Kevin Doets, the big two are still the most likely to be competing for major glory with the others a little off the pace. However, the fact that so many are going deep at this level is a hugely promising sign.

Onto PC18, and the return of Harry Ward has caught everyone off guard. It was seven years to the day since ‘Big H’ reached a PC semi-final, repeating the fate in fine fashion after taking down Doets in the quarter-final. While he averaged over 90 just twice throughout the day, he was winning matches of darts. A very key skill to have as he takes his chance after being drawn up as a late withdrawal. It will be interesting if he continues to make impressions back on the ProTour.

If we are on the discussion of winning, Luke Woodhouse knows a thing or two thanks to his impressive consistency. Whether on the floor or the big stage in recent times, you know what you are going to get with ‘Woody’: a very solid performance without a title. Well, the mantle has now passed down to Niels Zonneveld who is the highest ranked player not to win a PDC ranking title.

Here is the big question: can Woodhouse kick on? I believe he will to an extent. In his interview afterwards you could tell he was relieved and proud to get over the line, but that this was just the start. He wanted to plough on and win more things. That I think he will on the floor and maybe Euro Tour, but there are gears that are needed to rise for Woodhouse if he is going to challenge for a major title.

For Nicolas Gayer, Editor for DartsNews.DE, Humphries has got his mojo back but he has questioned whether Kevin Doets is getting too little out of his displays.

104.57 — that was the tournament average with which Luke Humphries crowned himself the winner of Players Championship 17 on Monday. It was the second-highest tournament average ever recorded by a Players Championship winner in the DartConnect era.

It was an incredible day of darts from the 2024 World Champion, who appears to have rediscovered his absolute best form over recent weeks. In his last twelve official PDC matches, Humphries has averaged below 100 only once — a run that includes absurd performances of 112.18, 110.98, and 109.11 points in the averages. The world number two looks ready to defend his Premier League Darts crown.

Another name that once again has to be discussed after both tournament days is Kevin Doets. The Dutchman’s current run must be one of the most remarkable purple patches by an emerging player that I can remember in recent years. Whenever you check DartConnect on a Pro Tour day and see an average somewhere between 105 and 110, you almost automatically expect the name next to those numbers to be Kevin Doets.

And yet, there is almost a debate to be had over whether the newly crowned PDC title winner is still getting too little out of his incredible performances. Looking at all of his floor matches up to and including the quarter-finals, Doets has won 44 of his last 52 matches. This season, across 18 tournaments, he has reached the semi-finals five times — but has only managed to win one of them. On that day, he also went on to claim the title. So far, the semi-final stage appears to be the Achilles’ heel of this incredible player, especially when looking at his averages, which curiously tend to drop unusually low in those matches.

Players Championship 18 then provided another feel-good story to close out the Pro Tour week: Luke Woodhouse finally rewarded himself for years of hard-earned, steady progress by winning his first senior PDC title. In the final, he faced a man who needed 442 attempts to win his first Players Championship title — only to reach another final less than a week later. Andrew Gilding is ageing better than any fine wine and, quite incidentally, remains one of the classiest characters on the tour. The way he asked Woodhouse after the match dart whether it was his first title — and then reacted with what, by Andrew Gilding standards, was an explosion of emotion in celebration for his fellow Englishman — was, for me, the most heart-warming moment of this Pro Tour week.