Gerwyn Price and Nathan Aspinall have withdrawn late from Players Championship 9 and 10 in Wigan, with the player entries updated on Sunday night ahead of the double header starting Monday. Price's absence is noted as somewhat surprising given his history of playing most ProTour tournaments, while Aspinall's withdrawal also raises eyebrows as he was playing exhibitions in Purfleet and Epsom with Michael van Gerwen and Stephen Bunting over the weekend, suggesting he isn't on holiday. Only Stephen Bunting from that trio has decided to play in Wigan, leaning toward the others returning this weekend at the European Darts Grand Prix in Sindelfingen instead.
In terms of the field, Luke Humphries and Jonny Clayton lead the entries for the two-day action, alongside Wessel Nijman and Chris Dobey, with Price sitting third in the Order of Merit behind Nijman and Dobey, and Aspinall down in 19th. The tournaments feature 128 players, including Tour Card holders and PDPA Associate Members. Notable absentees beyond Price and Aspinall include Michael van Gerwen, Gary Anderson, Luke Littler, Gian van Veen, and Ryan Searle, with Littler skipping this week entirely as he continues to mostly play non-German European Tours and the Premier League, having made it clear he would likely only play ProTours near his house in Wigan this year.
Deputizing for the absent players are non-Tour Card holders Joe Hunt, Tommy Lishman, Aden Kirk, Martijn Dragt, Jack Tweddell, Tommy Morris, Daniel Klose, Florian Preis, Steve Lennon, Ted Evetts, Scott Waites, and Jack Aldridge. Other players listed as absent include Oskar Lukasiak, Pero Ljubic, Pascal Rupprecht, Stefaan Henderyck, and Kai Gotthardt.
