DRAW PDC Players Championship 26 | Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith & Nathan Aspinall lead stacked lineup

Almost all the PDC's big guns are back in action at Players Championship 26 this afternoon in Germany, and the first round has served up some heavyweight contests. See the full opening round draw right here!

Michael van Gerwen faces a dangerous opener against Callan Rydz, who has the firepower to trouble any of the elite if he settles quickly, a repeat of their epic clash at the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship. Former world champion Michael Smith is also in for a test against former Lakeside semi-finalist Michael Unterbuchner, while Gerwyn Price begins his campaign against emerging Englishman Dom Taylor.

World number one Luke Humphries, fresh off the back of his Euro Tour win at the Czech Darts Open in Prague last weekend, takes on German thrower Lukas Wenig. Gary Anderson meanwhile is handed an all-Scottish clash with Darren Beveridge, while Nathan Aspinall must be on guard against fearless youngster Owen Bates.

From an English perspective, Ross Smith takes on rising prospect Cam Crabtree, Joe Cullen meets Connor Scutt, and Ryan Searle locks horns with former World Championship quarter-finalist Darius Labanauskas. Elsewhere, Dave Chisnall and Damon Heta will also be fancied to make progress from early ties against Kai Gotthardt and Berry van Peer respectively.

Also in the draw, five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld begins against Adam Hunt, while Dirk van Duijvenbode and Krzysztof Ratajski both look to build form heading into the business end of the season, where the ranking money will be on the line.

With the Players Championship Finals spots and crucial ranking places on the line, every round is carrying extra importance. The presence of big names such as the likes of Van Gerwen, Smith, Price, Humphries, Anderson, Aspinall, Cullen, Chisnall and Searle ensures darts fans have plenty of major names to follow throughout the day.