DRAW PDC Players Championship 25 | Michael van Gerwen and Beau Greaves headline first ProTour event after World Matchplay
PDC
Michael van Gerwen and Beau Greaves headline the field for Players Championship 25 as the PDC ProTour resumes in Hildesheim on Tuesday. The 128-player tournament takes place at Halle 39 only two days after the conclusion of the World Matchplay in Blackpool.
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Van Gerwen will begin against Adam Warner, while newly crowned Women’s World Matchplay champion Greaves faces Chris Landman. Six-time winner Wessel Nijman, Chris Dobey, Gian van Veen and German favourites Martin Schindler and Gabriel Clemens are also among the leading names competing for the £15,000 top prize.
Van Gerwen and Greaves carry headline billing
Van Gerwen returns to the floor looking to rediscover the level that carried him to victory at Players Championship 15 earlier this season. His 8-5 final win over Dirk van Duijvenbode ended a wait of more than 12 months for a PDC ranking title and included some of his best darts of 2026.
The three-time world champion opens against Warner, with either Leon Weber or Darius Labanauskas awaiting the winner in round two. Greaves heads directly from her second Women’s World Matchplay triumph into another ProTour appearance. The 22-year-old defeated Fallon Sherrock 6-5 in Sunday’s Blackpool final, adding another major honour to a season in which she has also broken new ground on the mixed PDC circuit.
Her 8-7 victory over Michael Smith in the PC11 final made her the first woman to win a PDC ranking title. That followed the nine-darter she produced at PC6, another first for a woman on the PDC ProTour, while her consistent results have lifted her to seventh on the Players Championship Order of Merit.
Can anyone halt Nijman’s floor dominance?
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Although Van Gerwen and Greaves provide the biggest names in the draw, Nijman remains the player everyone must beat in Hildesheim.
The Dutchman has won six of the opening 24 Players Championship events and collected £134,500, placing him £48,250 clear of Dobey at the top of the dedicated Order of Merit. His victories have come at PC2, PC8, PC10, PC12, PC14 and PC21.
Nijman became the first player in 14 years to win six Players Championship titles during a single season when he defeated Ryan Searle 8-6 in the PC21 final. He starts his pursuit of number seven against Darryl Pilgrim, one of the more dangerous unseeded players in the field.
Dobey, the only player other than Nijman, Luke Humphries and Ross Smith to win multiple Players Championship events in 2026, faces Maximilian Czerwinski. Kevin Doets, third on the circuit standings after his breakthrough PC13 triumph, takes on Jenson Walker.
Andrew Gilding opens against Cor Dekker after combining his PC16 title with the highest match average recorded on the Players Championship circuit this season. The former UK Open champion averaged 118.66 in a 6-0 demolition of Joe Cullen at PC13.
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Gilding starts off against Cor Dekker
Clemens returns to Germany as a PDC champion
Clemens will compete on home soil for the first time since finally ending his long wait for a maiden PDC title.
The German Giant defeated Luke Woodhouse 8-6 in the PC24 final and sealed victory with a 170 checkout. That success came in his eighth PDC final after seven previous defeats and moved him up to 16th on the Players Championship Order of Merit.
Clemens begins against Rhys Griffin, while German number one Schindler takes on Nick Kenny. Ricardo Pietreczko faces Daniel Ayres and Max Hopp meets Owen Bates Hopp has already contested one Players Championship final in Hildesheim this season, although he was beaten 8-1 by Nijman at PC14.
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De Graaf handed tough Williams opener
One of the strongest matches in the opening round pits PC19 champion Jeffrey de Graaf against Scott Williams. De Graaf defeated Jonny Clayton 8-5 to claim his second PDC title in June, but Williams possesses the scoring power to punish any drop in level.
Keane Barry’s meeting with Raymond van Barneveld is another notable contest, while former world champions Peter Wright and Michael Smith face Adam Paxton and Greg Ritchie respectively.
Van Veen opens against Tom Sykes, Van Duijvenbode meets Sietse Lap and Dave Chisnall has been paired with Mario Vandenbogaerde. Niko Springer, who pushed Luke Littler in a high-quality World Matchplay opener, faces Cam Crabtree.
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Littler is among the most prominent absentees and is yet to play a Players Championship event in 2026. Humphries, Gerwyn Price, Stephen Bunting, Jonny Clayton, Gary Anderson and PC23 winner Cameron Menzies are also missing from the final draw.
Play begins at 13:00 local time and 12:00 BST, with matches from four boards available through PDCTV.
DRAW PDC Players Championship 25
| Player 1 | Player 2 | |
| Wessel Nijman | v | Darryl Pilgrim |
| Michael Smith | v | Greg Ritchie |
| Rob Owen | v | Ritchie Edhouse |
| Jeffrey de Zwaan | v | Radek Szaganski |
| Dave Chisnall | v | Mario Vandenbogaerde |
| Stephen Rosney | v | Marvin van Velzen |
| Kim Huybrechts | v | Tytus Kanik |
| Dominik Gruellich | v | James Hurrell |
| William O'Connor | v | Arno Merk |
| Lewis Pride | v | Alan Soutar |
| Beau Greaves | v | Chris Landman |
| Wesley Plaisier | v | Harry Ward |
| Niko Springer | v | Cam Crabtree |
| Florian Preis | v | Marvin Kraft |
| Madars Razma | v | Tavis Dudeney |
| Martijn Dragt | v | Joe Hunt |
| Kevin Doets | v | Jenson Walker |
| Jurjen van der Velde | v | Thibault Tricole |
| Mensur Suljovic | v | Steve Lennon |
| Callan Rydz | v | Justin Hood |
| Martin Schindler | v | Nick Kenny |
| David Sharp | v | Scott Waites |
| Cristo Reyes | v | Pero Ljubic |
| Ricardo Pietreczko | v | Daniel Ayres |
| Krzysztof Ratajski | v | Adam Lipscombe |
| Oskar Lukasiak | v | Levy Frauenfelder |
| Mike De Decker | v | Pascal Rupprecht |
| Jack Tweddell | v | Alexander Merkx |
| Damon Heta | v | Dennie Olde Kalter |
| Ted Evetts | v | Ryan Meikle |
| Richard Veenstra | v | Martin Lukeman |
| Matthias Ehlers | v | Niall Culleton |
| Jermaine Wattimena | v | Thomas Lovely |
| Adam Paxton | v | Peter Wright |
| Tom Bissell | v | Adam Gawlas |
| Nathan Potter | v | Bradley Brooks |
| Sebastian Bialecki | v | Stefaan Henderyck |
| Adam Leek | v | Mervyn King |
| Karel Sedlacek | v | Stefan Bellmont |
| Filip Bereza | v | Henry Coates |
| Gian van Veen | v | Tom Sykes |
| Jim Long | v | Kai Gotthardt |
| Mickey Mansell | v | Stephen Burton |
| Keane Barry | v | Raymond van Barneveld |
| Niels Zonneveld | v | Ricky Evans |
| Andy Boulton | v | Christian Kist |
| Maik Kuivenhoven | v | Yorick Hofkens |
| Christopher Wickenden | v | Daniel Klose |
| Chris Dobey | v | Maximilian Czerwinski |
| Carl Sneyd | v | Jimmy van Schie |
| Lukas Wenig | v | Gilbert van der Meijden |
| Tommy Morris | v | Brendan Dolan |
| Michael van Gerwen | v | Adam Warner |
| Leon Weber | v | Darius Labanauskas |
| Jeffrey de Graaf | v | Scott Williams |
| Charlie Manby | v | Shane McGuirk |
| Andrew Gilding | v | Cor Dekker |
| Tyler Thorpe | v | Connor Scutt |
| Max Hopp | v | Owen Bates |
| Samuel Price | v | Viktor Tingstrom |
| Dirk van Duijvenbode | v | Sietse Lap |
| Oliver Mitchell | v | Jeffrey Sparidaans |
| Gabriel Clemens | v | Rhys Griffin |
| Benjamin Pratnemer | v | Rusty-Jake Rodriguez |
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Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Ultimately it is a bye for whoever draws Barney. It will be another stroppy and sulky performance once he goes behind. Barney was excellent but really must completely call it a day now.richieburnettrocks07-11-2026
- I'm disappointed he was not able to secure a spot at the Grand Slam. With Carl Sneyd taking care of Daryl Gurney, he would have had to beat Andy Boulton before facing the winner of Sneyd vs Mensur Suljović for a Grand Slam spot. Unfortunately, after beating Filip Bereza comfortably, he succumbed to Boulton, and the board would ultimately be won by the highly inconsistent Carl Sneyd. Since he could instead have been drawn against the likes of Cristo Reyes, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Stephen Bunting, I think once Gurney was out of the picture he would have been favourite to win his board, and it seems like a massive missed opportunity to put 5 grand on his ranking and seal another major TV appearance ahead of the Worlds. The highs and lows of following Raymond van Barneveld!Deduce635806-11-2026
- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026
- Fair play to Fallon. But...shows the mockery when a professional players wins what was meant to be an amateur v Pro event, Littlers performance was poor, and what about the players who didn't get a game? Would have been better if the pot was split amoungst all the winners and they all got a leg.BandB31-10-2026