Tommy Morris becomes latest non Tour Card holder to win a Players Championship title, denies Luke Humphries back-to-back and books Grand Slam of Darts spot
PDC
Tommy Morris has become only the sixth non-Tour Card holder to win a ProTour title and has become the second of the season after Henry Coates taking down Luke Humphries in the final of Players Championship 34.
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On a day when Minehead was in the forefront with the Players Championship Order of Merit, it was yesterday's champion and one of the leading standouts outside of the tour this year who contested the final.
Tommy Gun hits gold in Leicester
Humphries ran out of steam in the end, as Morris won through 8-5 with a blockbuster 161 to seal it. He now also gets a spot at the Grand Slam of Darts also and joins the field, and given he will also play at Ally Pally, Morris will be a familiar face on screens for the next few months despite not being in the 128 currently.
Humphries in his run to the final took down Jack Aldridge in the semi-finals, who was one of the Q-School standouts for his massive averages, and although he didn't get a Tour Card, he has continued in that vein, topping up from the Challenge Tour.
Michael van Gerwen continued his renaissance again, posting massive averages, and has been one of the true stars with a near 110 as he thrashed Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-0 in a run to the quarter-finals, where he lost to Humphries. Prior to that, Humphries beat Ricardo Pietreczko, Justin Hood, Bradley Brooks and Mike de Decker.
While Morris has been superb all year, standing out not only on the Challenge Tour, which has seen him qualify for the PDC World Darts Championship, but also on the MODUS Super Series, and he has for a long time been one of the best without a tour card.
Morris saw off Rob Cross, denied Ricky Evans a spot in Minehead or Ally Pally, Rob Owen, Wessel Nijman, who ends this year as the top Pro Tour player, Jermaine Wattimena and also Cristo Reyes.
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A 170 to leave double 20, and with Morris unable to hit 141, Humphries returned. But he missed all three on the wire, and Morris returned to miss two at double 20 himself. Humphries missed yet more, as did Morris, and finally Humphries hit double five for the lead. Double 18 for Morris to break for 2-1. He was set to throw for 2-2. Morris hit 70 for 2-2.
A doubling disaster for Humphries, missing three at double six. Morris couldn't hit 114, though, and Humphries split it. He went for a double one to make it 3-2. Double 16 for Morris to make it 3-3. A hold for 'Tommy Gun'.
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Double 18 went astray for Humphries, but Morris couldn't pin 140. Three more missed doubles followed as Morris looked at double 18 for 96. Morris hit double 18 for it, and he was 4-3 up, throwing for 5-3. A 171 to leave 36 for Morris, who put a 5-3 lead up. Two more missed darts for Humphries. Morris went for 115 but drifted into the one and handed Humphries a level game.
Morris missed 124 on the bull; Humphries looked at 68. He drifted into the five, hit treble 13 but missed double 12 in a checkout that summed it up. Morris hit double 19 for 6-5 and had broken. Morris missed a chance at double 18, and Humphries missed double 16 for 152. Morris hit double nine to go one leg away at 7-5. Morris gets a dart at 161 for the win on the bull, and he hits it. What a way to complete it. A great story to end the ProTour season.
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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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- 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
- Not even slightly interestedrick6730-10-2026
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