DRAW PDC Players Championship 2 | Michael van Gerwen vs Michael Smith as Beau Greaves faces Rob Cross in standout ties

With Players Championship 1 still fresh in the memory, the opening round draw for Players Championship 2 already feels loaded with consequence. Monday’s results in Hildesheim reset expectations across the ProTour, and Tuesday’s draw now reads less like a clean slate and more like a series of immediate response tests.

From former world champions looking to steady the ship, to momentum players trying to prove PC1 was no fluke, the first round of Players Championship 2 offers plenty of early pressure points.

The standout tie of the opening round sees Michael van Gerwen face Michael Smith in a clash that feels far bigger than a routine floor match. Van Gerwen arrives after a PC1 run that showed flashes of authority before being halted by James Wade in the semi-finals, while Smith continues to search for consistency after another uneven day on Monday.

With both players needing early momentum to settle into the new ProTour season, this is the kind of tie that can define a week in either direction.

One of the most eye-catching fixtures of PC2 involves Beau Greaves against Rob Cross. After her impressive debut run on Monday, Greaves is no longer framed as a curiosity in the draw. Instead, this becomes a genuine test of how her scoring and composure hold up against sustained elite pressure.

For Cross, it is also a dangerous opener. Greaves arrives with confidence and freedom, while Cross knows that floor events offer no margin for slow starts.

Elsewhere in the draw, several former world champions find themselves under quiet pressure to respond after difficult outings in PC1. Gerwyn Price meets Kim Huybrechts knowing he produced elite scoring on Monday but still exited early, while Peter Wright faces Tom Sykes with lingering questions after a worrying first-round defeat.

Neither match is straightforward, and both carry the subtext of damage limitation as much as progress.

The PC1 finalists are also back in action, with contrasting challenges. Champion James Wade opens against Christian Kist, a matchup that tests Wade’s ability to immediately reset after a long and emotionally demanding Monday.

Finalist Nathan Aspinall begins against Niall Culleton, with the focus firmly on how he responds after missed chances at the business end of the final. The early rounds of PC2 will reveal whether that run fuels him or lingers.

Two players with clear carry-over narratives from Monday also stand out in the draw. Gian van Veen faces Madars Razma after a PC1 exit that ended far earlier than expected, while Ryan Searle meets Darius Labanauskas knowing he was one of the form players undone early the day before.

Both are capable of deep runs, but PC2 offers immediate judgment on whether PC1 was an anomaly or a warning.

Further down the draw, attention will also fall on players who used PC1 to build real traction. Adam Gawlas takes on Mike De Decker after a confident run to the latter stages on Monday, while Wesley Plaisier faces Ryan Meikle having produced some of the most emphatic performances of the opening event.