Players Championship 18 takes place today, Tuesday 19 May 2026, with the full first-round draw now confirmed. However, the event will proceed without Luke Humphries, who won Players Championship 17 in Leicester by beating Jermaine Wattimena 8-4 in the final, and Michael van Gerwen is also absent. Attention turns to the likes of Wessel Nijman, Beau Greaves, Jonny Clayton, Andrew Gilding and several other ProTour regulars.
Wessel Nijman remains the clear leader on the Players Championship Order of Merit and opens against Mario Vandenbogaerde as he looks to add another strong run to his dominant 2026 floor campaign. Beau Greaves, who continues to be one of the major stories of the ProTour season, has been drawn against Bradley Brooks. Dimitri Van den Bergh, fresh from his first Players Championship board win of the season at PC17, faces Wesley Plaisier. Jonny Clayton starts against Cam Crabtree after finishing runner-up to Andrew Gilding at PC16, while Gilding begins this latest event against Leon Weber.
There are also plenty of major names scattered through the first round. Michael Smith takes on Alexander Merkx, Rob Cross faces Stephen Rosney, James Wade meets Scott Williams, Stephen Bunting plays Tom Bissell, and Danny Noppert opens against Filip Bereza. One of the most interesting first-round matches sees Joe Cullen face Mike De Decker, while Dirk van Duijvenbode takes on Connor Scutt and Jermaine Wattimena meets Gabriel Clemens after reaching the PC17 final. Josh Rock begins against Ian White, Damon Heta faces Marvin Kraft, Peter Wright meets Adam Gawlas, and Kim Huybrechts starts against Samuel Price after hitting a nine-darter at PC16. Elsewhere, Niko Springer faces Shane McGuirk, Martin Schindler meets Cor Dekker, Dave Chisnall takes on Jurjen van der Velde, and Luke Woodhouse opens against Greg Ritchie.
The full first-round draw is listed below, featuring 64 matches as the ProTour action continues in Leicester.
