DRAW PDC Players Championship 1: Price, Van Gerwen and Beau Greaves land eye-catching openers as 2026 season kicks off in Hildesheim

The 2026 PDC Players Championship season gets underway in Hildesheim with a first-round draw that immediately gives the ProTour some early bite. From former world champions to breakout names from Ally Pally and long-awaited returns, Players Championship 1 opens with a slate of ties that feel far bigger than a routine floor event.

At the top end of the draw, Gerwyn Price begins his campaign against Marvin van Velzen, while Michael van Gerwen faces home interest in Matthias Ehlers. Both are familiar sights at the business end of Players Championship events, but early-season floor darts can be unforgiving, especially when rhythm and sharpness are still being established.

One of the most-watched ties of the opening round involves Beau Greaves, whose every ProTour appearance continues to draw attention. Her meeting with Jimmy van Schie is the sort of fixture that will pull a crowd regardless of the board number, underlining how much interest now follows her whenever she enters a PDC draw.

Elsewhere, the contrast between recent world stage success and new beginnings is clear. Gian van Veen, fresh from finishing runner-up at the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship, opens against Niall Culleton, who makes his ProTour debut after coming through Q-School. It is a classic early round dynamic that often defines floor events, where expectation and freedom collide.

There is also a strong narrative edge to Ryan Searle facing Cristo Reyes. Searle arrives in Hildesheim off the back of a World Championship semi-final run, while Reyes returns to the ProTour scene following a period away and a successful Q-School campaign. It is the kind of matchup that can quietly shape a quarter of the draw if it goes the distance.

Players Championship 1 also brings together a striking collection of former world champions starting their seasons side by side. Peter Wright, Gary Anderson, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross and Michael Smith all enter the draw with different questions hanging over their form, but with the same expectation that they should be factors deep into the event.

Floor tournaments often strip reputations down to leg by leg execution, and with so much pedigree concentrated in one opening round, an early exit for any of them would immediately become a talking point across the week.

Beyond the headline names, there is a quieter but no less compelling subplot involving those left outside the Premier League lineup. James Wade, Nathan Aspinall, Danny Noppert and Chris Dobey all begin their 2026 Players Championship seasons knowing the ProTour is their most direct route back into the spotlight.

Early-season events in Hildesheim rarely decide careers, but they do set tones. With ranking money, confidence and narrative momentum all on offer from the very first board call, Players Championship 1 already feels like more than just a curtain raiser.