Nathan Aspinall remains outside the qualification places for the Players Championship Finals despite an improved run in Den Bosch, while Gary Anderson is hanging on to the final spot in the Players Championship Order of Merit. The top 64 players over the course of the season qualify for the Finals, which take place in Minehead at the end of November.
Aspinall sits in 71st spot and will not be able to skip further events if he is to make it to Minehead. He made the latter stages in Den Bosch before losing to Karel Sedlacek, a marked improvement, but still sits outside the top 64 — ironically just behind his good friend Andy Boulton, with bragging rights to be had there. Anderson, meanwhile, is hanging on in 62nd spot. He didn't play this week, but it shows how quickly it can change and he will soon potentially be out of the reckoning.
Scott Williams made the final today and sits in 63rd spot, just getting into Minehead after starting the day with his Tour Card likely to go and also his Ally Pally and Minehead hopes shot. He is now not out of the woods, but he certainly isn't in 93rd spot now. Karel Sedlacek was in 27th and now makes the top 10. For Raymond van Barneveld, his run isn't over as he is up to 84th, up 11 spots — not enough to make it to Minehead but solace for sure.
The Players Championship series comprises a total of 34 tournaments, which take place over Hildesheim, Wigan, Leicester, Milton Keynes, and, for 2026, a trip to Den Bosch. It sees the top names, including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, and Gian van Veen, in action over the course of the year, with the PDC ProTour being seen as the so-called Bread and Butter tournaments that help towards qualifying for most majors, including the PDC World Darts Championship.
The Order of Merit is determined based on total prize money won by each player in the Players Championship events throughout the year. The top 64 qualify, and it also spells some issues, as it did in 2025 for the likes of Luke Littler, Nathan Aspinall, and Luke Humphries, who had to qualify late. Michael van Gerwen, for instance, did not qualify at all.
After Event 29, Wessel Nijman leads the Order of Merit with £150,250, followed by Kevin Doets on £106,250 and Chris Dobey on £102,500. Luke Woodhouse is fourth on £88,000, Andrew Gilding fifth on £79,500, Jermaine Wattimena sixth on £79,250, Ross Smith seventh on £65,500, Beau Greaves eighth on £62,250, Sebastian Bialecki ninth on £62,000 and Karel Sedlacek tenth on £61,250.
