Preview Friday afternoon at Players Championship Finals: Wade, Clayton, Cross among leading lights in opening session
PDC
For the second time this year, we are in Minehead, where the Players Championship Finals gets underway Friday afternoon. This tournament is considered the final event of the Pro Tour season and is considered the last major towards the World Darts Championship.
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The field of participants consists of the top-64 of the Players Championship Order of Merit, with the matches determined based on the participants' final positions on this ranking.
Playing schedule Players Championship Finals
Friday, Dec. 21
Afternoon session (from 12:45 p.m.)
Main stage
| Date + time | Results | ||
| 21/11 13:00 | Rob Cross | v | Sebastian Bialecki |
| 21/11 13:30 | Dave Chisnall | v | Ryan Joyce |
| 21/11 14:00 | Mike De Decker | v | Cam Crabtree |
| 21/11 14:30 | Danny Noppert | v | Ricky Evans |
| 21/11 15:00 | James Wade | v | Mickey Mansell |
| 21/11 15:30 | Jonny Clayton | v | James Hurrell |
| 21/11 16:00 | Ross Smith | v | Ryan Meikle |
Stage Two
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| Date + time | Results | ||
| 21/11 12:45 | Bradley Brooks | v | Martin Lukeman |
| 21/11 13:15 | Andrew Gilding | v | Dom Taylor |
| 21/11 13:45 | Scott Williams | v | Ian White |
| 21/11 14:15 | Niels Zonneveld | v | Nick Kenny |
| 21/11 14:45 | Kevin Doets | v | Callan Rydz |
| 21/11 15:15 | Cameron Menzies | v | Adam Lipscombe |
| 21/11 15:45 | Brendan Dolan | v | Daryl Gurney |
| 21/11 16:15 | Luke Woodhouse | v | Alan Soutar |
| 21/11 16:45 | William O'Connor | v | Ricardo Pietreczko |
Due to the high number of participants, games will be played on two different stages during the first two days of the tournament. The matches on the main stage will be televised, while the matches on the second board will be shown via a live stream on PDC TV.
The program on the main stage starts from 1 p.m. with former world champion Rob Cross, who will try to salvage his season in the final months of the season. Cross could not impress at all at the majors and has now dropped to 16th place on the PDC Order of Merit. In the first round he will meet Sebastian Bialecki, who surprisingly won a floor tournament this season. Next we get an English showdown between Dave Chisnall and Ryan Joyce. For Chisnall, 2025 also proved to be a disappointing year. Over the past three seasons, 'Chizzy' managed to capture no fewer than 11 PDC titles, including four in 2024. This year, the multiple major-finalist failed to reach more than one final on the floor. Joyce made it to a Euro Tour final for the first time this season and easily qualified for this event via floor.
Mike De Decker follows. His opponent Cam Crabtree was one of the best newcomers on the tour. Last week, Crabtree showed up at the Grand Slam of Darts, where he left no undeserving impression. After De Decker it is also time for Danny Noppert will face Ricky Evans. The Freeze' has been one of the most consistent players on the tour this season, with no less than four semifinals at the ranking majors. Also last week at the Grand Slam of Darts, Noppert made it to the final four. His opponent Evans also performed excellently in Wolverhampton. 'Rapid Ricky' surprisingly managed to reach the quarter-finals at this tournament.
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Wade reunites with Mansell, Clayton opens account
Another outsider for the title is James Wade, who will start his tournament against Mickey Mansell. Wade has also had a fine season, with finals at the UK Open and the World Matchplay. 'The Machine' has won 11 majors in his career, but this tournament is one of two active majors where Wade has never reached the final. The next big name on the main stage is Jonny Clayton, who had a disappointing Grand Slam with an elimination in the group stage. 'The Ferret' will face off with James Hurrell in the first round, and finally, we have a fixture between Ross Smith and Ryan Meikle. Smith was able to take some time off, as despite two floor titles in 2025, he was missing from last week's Grand Slam of Darts. Originally, Smith was supposed to face Niko Springer in the first round, but the German had to withdraw due to illness. Meikle was called up to replace him. 'The Barber' finished 65th on the Players Championship Order of Merit.
On Stage 2, the session begins as early as 12:45 p.m.. There, the program opens with a showdown between Bradley Brooks and Martin Lukeman. Brooks has made a strong return to the Pro Tour circuit after a year's absence. He qualified for the World Masters and managed to win a Players Championship tournament. As a result, he easily qualified for this tournament and the World Darts Championship.
Niels Zonneveld finished seventeenth on the Players Championship Order of Merit and will play Nick Kenny. Zonneveld has good memories of this tournament because in the past two editions 'Triple Z' managed to reach the last sixteen each time. After Zonneveld it is Kevin Doets' turn. 'Hawk Eye' had a fairly consistent year on the floor and managed to reach the quarterfinals in eight tournaments. The only setback is that he reached the last four in only one of these eight tournaments, but it is positive that Doets is increasingly showing up in the final stages of Pro Tour tournaments. For Doets, the tournament begins with a clash against Callan Rydz, the quarterfinalist of the previous World Championships. On the floor, however, 'The Riot' disappointed, making only one semifinal appearance.
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Cameron Menzies was paired with Adam Lipscombe, who reached the final of Players Championship 7 this year. Menzies himself became a winner of Players Championship 11 while also losing two floor finals. Also on Stage 2 is the Northern Irish showdown between Brendan Dolan and former Players Championship Finals winner Daryl Gurney. The next duel on the schedule is Luke Woodhouse against Alan Soutar, before the afternoon is closed by William O'Connor and Ricardo Pietreczko. If the matches on the main stage proceed quickly, there is still a good chance that the match between O'Connor and Pietreczko will be advanced to the main stage.
Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
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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