Straight off the back of an epic nine days
of darts action at the Grand Slam of Darts, we’ve got the Players Championship
Finals coming up for you this weekend. Luke Littler is coming in fresh off
winning his first ranking major title on Sunday after he demolished Martin Lukeman and
had an all-time great match with Gary Anderson in Wolverhampton. Incredibly,
the Nuke has moved up to fifth in the world rankings within the first year of
his professional career, and he’ll be looking to claim another title this weekend.
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The Players Championship Finals will see
the top 64 ranked players in the Players Championship Order of Merit face off for the conclusion
of the Players Championships season. The event will kick off on Friday November
22nd, and will conclude on Sunday November 24th. Yep,
it’s going to be another action packed weekend of darts, as we build up towards
the World Championships next month.
All the action is coming from Butlin’s
Minehead, and there’s a total prize fund of £600,000 up for grabs, with
£120,000 going to the winner. Fans will
be delighted that the can catch all the action on free TV, with ITV4 having the
rights to the Players Championship Finals.
Let’s take a look at who the big favourites
are, and how the tournament works.
Who’s in the draw?
The number 1 seed is Chris Dobey, as he’s
earnt the most prize money throughout the Players Championships events in 2024,
and he’ll face off with the number 64 ranking Nathan Aspinall in the round of
64. Dobey’s best win so far was the Masters in 2023, when he beat Rob Cross in
the final. “Hollywood” will be hoping to make a strong run this weekend, but he
does not have a good record against Aspinall. Aspinall hasn’t quite been at the
form that saw him win the World Matchplay last year, but he’s beaten Dobey on 4
of the last five occasions they’ve faced off. The man from Stockport will be
hoping to keep that run going this weekend.
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But the best match of the first round is
surely when newly crowned Grand Slam champion Luke Littler takes on Rob Cross,
in the match up between number 8 and number 57 seeds. Littler was simply
stunning in Wolverhampton, and winning 15 legs in a row in the final showed
just how much talent he has. But, Rob Cross has caused him some problems
recently, most notably at last months World Grand Prix where Cross knocked out
Littler in the first round, with a bullseye to finish. Cross, who was PC Finals
runner up in 2022, might be one of the most underrated players out there, even
if he has a world title to his name, and he is more than capable of beating
Littler if he’s on his game.
Michael van Gerwen has the most PC Finals
wins to his name with 7, a massive 4 ahead of Phil Taylor who is the only other
person to have won this competition multiple times. Whilst Van Gerwen has
definitely had a difficult season, you cannot count him out. He’s the number 17
seed, and he’ll take Ian White in the round of 64. White beat Van Gerwen the
last time the duo met back in April, and MvG was not near his best at the Grand
Slam of Darts, but the Dutchman has proved time and time again how good he is, and
he’ll be looking to recapture the title he last won in 2022 when he beat Rob
Cross.
Last year’s winner Luke Humphries had a
difficult time in Wolverhampton, but he’s the world number 1 for a reason.
Whilst Littler is the player that gets all the attention, and rightfully so
given his age and incredible scoring, Humphries is still the man to beat in
2024. His German rival Gabriel Clemens made it to the semi finals this time
last year, and should provide a tough opener for Cool Hand. Clemens beat
Humphries when they last met in September, but Humphries will certainly be the
favourite heading in to this won. He’ll be hoping to use the Players
Championship Finals to get back to his best, before heading to London for the
World Championships next month.
Newly crowned European champion, Ritchie Edhouse faces Luke
Woodhouse in a repeat of Dortmund, Josh Rock takes on Ricky Evans, while Ross
Smith faces Dimitri van den Bergh. Daryl Gurney also will pit his wits against
Peter Wright. As Dave Chisnall faces Joe Cullen also.
Teenage sensation Luke Littler will be one of the favourites at the Players Championship Finals in Minehead
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What happened last year?
This time last year, Humphries won his
third major title in the space of seven weeks, as he defeated Michael van
Gerwen in a brilliant battle. Michael van Gerwen, aiming for his eighth title, looked
set for victory after he raced into a 9-5 lead. But Luke Humphries refused to
quit, and mounted an incredible comeback as he stamped his authority on the
final.
Starting with a crucial 130 on the bull,
Humphries steadily chipped away at MVG’s advantage, holding his nerve as MVG
began to realise just how good his new rival was. Van Gerwen’s missed chances,
including a bullseye for a 170 checkout, allowed Humphries to stay in
contention, and an eight title began to slip away. Humphries broke back with a
double 10 to narrow the gap and then capitalised on MVG’s errors to level the
match and take the lead. In a fantastic final, after multiple missed darts from
both players, Humphries clinched the victory 11-9 with a double one.
The win completed a remarkable period for
Humphries, including hat-trick of wins as he added to the World Grand Prix and
Grand Slam of Darts titles that he’d already won. Humphries, of course, then went
on to claim the World Championship in London, and he’ll be hoping he can use
the PC Finals as a springboard once again.
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How does the tournament work?
Winners from the first round on Friday will
move forward to Saturday's double session, which features the second round in
the afternoon and the third round in the evening. The tournament will then come
to an end on Sunday, November 24, starting with the quarter-finals in the
afternoon. This will be followed by the semi-finals and the final in an
action-packed evening session.
Between the semi-finals and the final on
Sunday night, the Winmau World Youth Championship final will take place, with
an all-Dutch clash between Van Veen and Jurjen van der Velde.
As we begin the run in to the World
Championships over Christmas, the Players Championship Finals is the last
chance for the world’s best to fine tune their form before going for the big
one. So will Humphries retain his title, or will Littler prove unstoppable
again? Or will we have a different winner? We don’t have to wait too long, as
another action packed weekend of darts begins on Friday.
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The schedule of play for the opening day of the 2024 @Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals has been confirmed!
— PDC Darts (@OfficialPDC) November 18, 2024
The action gets underway on Friday afternoon at Butlin's Minehead Resort! 🎪
👉 https://t.co/Xj9eYSN0S2 pic.twitter.com/AUXpYV0nVE
FM
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- 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
- Not even slightly interestedrick6730-10-2026
- And yet the PDC has decided to aggravate this problem by doubling the Players Championship Finals field from 2027. I can't imagine there will be fewer withdrawals next year with even less reason to turn up. I can only hope that a whole slew of Challenge Tour top-up players receive enough prize money in the absence of much of the elite, that some of the more complacent among them struggle to scrape into even a heavily diluted field! More semi-pro players will get to test their mettle, but the standard of competition will be much inferior. It could hardly be said that the Players Championship series will provide an opportunity for darts' second string to test their Tour Card credentials anymore, but at least it will underscore the achievements of those Challenge Tour players of current and previous years, who were able to prove themselves as more than capable of competing with, and beating, the elite of the sport on a consistent basis, and reaping the due rewards.Deduce635828-10-2026
- No point in being there? Champions want to win.Deduce635828-10-2026