The draw for the 2026 Players Championship Finals has been set, with the tournament scheduled to take place from November 27-29 at Minehead, featuring the top 64 players from the Players Championship Order of Merit. Wessel Nijman is the top seed and will face rising star and ProTour winner Henry Coates in the opening round. Coates stormed to a memorable victory back in July, but only just qualified by £250. Chris Dobey is the second seed and will take on former World Grand Prix winner Mike de Decker.
Nijman, Dobey and Luke Humphries were the standout performers over the course of the season, as the only players to win three or more Players Championship titles. Humphries only played 11 events but won four titles. He will face Darryl Pilgrim in Round One, having won the title in 2023 and 2024. Michael van Gerwen is also involved and begins his bid for a record-extending eighth title against Connor Scutt, while Gary Anderson, who forced his way through qualification late on, faces Karel Sedlacek in a tough opening round.
Ross Smith will go head-to-head with 2022/23 World Champion Michael Smith, with the former aiming to add to his two major triumphs this season. Gian van Veen faces Jeffrey de Graaf, and the winner could face Gerwyn Price, who takes on Sebastian Bialecki in the first round. Beau Greaves, one of the real stars of the year, makes her debut in the event as the eighth seed against Christian Kist.
Round One will take place on Friday November 27, with Round Two and Round Three set to be held across Saturday’s double session. This will be followed by the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final on Sunday November 29, as well as the World Youth Championship. Luke Littler is one of the leading lights not to be involved this time around, having finished outside the top 100 in qualification. Nathan Aspinall and Josh Rock also lead the high-profile contingent who won't be playing.
Full draw:
(1) Wessel Nijman v (64) Henry Coates
(32) Gabriel Clemens v (33) Dave Chisnall
(16) Charlie Manby v (49) Martin Schindler
(17) Cameron Menzies v (48) Mensur Suljovic
(8) Beau Greaves v (57) Christian Kist
(25) Tom Bissell v (40) Rob Owen
(9) Ross Smith v (56) Michael Smith
(24) Niels Zonneveld v (41) Niko Springer
(4) Luke Woodhouse v (61) Alexander Merkx
(29) Stephen Bunting v (36) Max Hopp
(13) Sebastian Bialecki v (52) Gerwyn Price
(20) Jeffrey de Graaf v (45) Gian van Veen
(5) Jermaine Wattimena v (60) Keane Barry
(28) Ryan Searle v (37) Brendan Dolan
(12) William O’Connor v (53) James Hurrell
(21) Tommy Morris v (44) Callan Rydz
(2) Chris Dobey v (63) Mike De Decker
(31) Richard Veenstra v (34) Joe Cullen
(15) Cristo Reyes v (50) Darius Labanauskas
(18) Michael van Gerwen v (47) Connor Scutt
(7) Luke Humphries v (58) Darryl Pilgrim
(26) Krzysztof Ratajski v (39) Damon Heta
(10) Danny Noppert v (55) Scott Williams
(23) Jonny Clayton v (42) Tom Sykes
(3) Kevin Doets v (62) Ritchie Edhouse
(30) James Wade v (35) Justin Hood
(14) Dirk van Duijvenbode v (51) Alan Soutar
(19) Maik Kuivenhoven v (46) Daryl Gurney
(6) Andrew Gilding v (59) Bradley Brooks
(27) Kim Huybrechts v (38) Joe Hunt
(11) Karel Sedlacek v (54) Gary Anderson
(22) Rob Cross v (43) Mickey Mansell
