Opening rounds are brutal on the Pro Tour. Only seven players have survived all four so far

Four Players Championship tournaments into the 2026 season, the Pro Tour is already separating short-term success from something far rarer. Consistency.

Across Players Championship 1 to 4, only seven players have managed to win their opening round match at every event. In a floor circuit defined by short formats, fine margins and relentless depth, that is an increasingly exclusive group.

Those seven players are Rob Cross, Max Hopp, Wessel Nijman, Madars Razma, Tom Sykes, Lukas Wenig and Luke Woodhouse.

All seven have successfully negotiated the opening hurdle at every Players Championship tournament held so far this season, something the vast majority of the field has already failed to do at least once.

At first glance, winning a first-round match may not feel like a defining statistic. In reality, it is often the most dangerous point of the tournament. Players Championship events offer no protection based on ranking or reputation, and with matches played without a crowd in a floor setting, lower-ranked players are regularly given opportunities to punish any lapse in focus.

One poor leg, one missed double, or a slow start can be enough to end a campaign before it has begun. That is why surviving round one repeatedly is such a strong indicator of form and concentration rather than just scoring power.

Among those seven players, only Nijman has so far turned that consistency into a title, lifting the trophy at Players Championship 2. For Cross, the statistic reinforces his long-established reliability on the floor, while Razma and Woodhouse continue to underline their growing stability on the Pro Tour. The presence of both Hopp and Wenig also reflects the increasing depth of German darts at this level.

With the majority of the Players Championship season still ahead, maintaining this record will become harder with every passing event. For now, these seven players stand alone as the only ones to have cleared the opening hurdle every single time.