Players Championship Finals 2026: Littler misses PC 33 and 34 – world champion to miss the Major

Luke Littler withdraws from Players Championship 33 and 34 in Leicester and so misses the Players Championship Finals 2026 in Minehead. All the facts.

Luke Littler will not play another Pro Tour event this season – and so will not line up at the Players Championship Finals either. As Dartsnews.de reported on Saturday morning, the world champion is missing from the entry lists for Players Championships 33 and 34, which take place on 4 and 5 November at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester. They are the last two floor tournaments of the year – and for Littler it was the final theoretical chance to still qualify for the season finale.

Only two floor tournaments in the whole year

The withdrawal comes as no surprise. Littler has played just two Players Championships this year and has therefore picked up hardly any prize money on the decisive Players Championship ranking.

The top 64 players on that ranking, which is built from the 34 floor events of the season, qualify for the Players Championship Finals. Since Littler is not turning up in Leicester, the maths is settled: the world champion is not in the field.

A Major without the defending champion

That stings twice over, because Littler is the defending champion: in 2025 he won the final in Minehead 11:8 against Nathan Aspinall.

The Players Championship Finals 2026 are scheduled for 27 to 29 November at the Butlin's Resort in Minehead, played as a straight knockout with 64 participants. A Major without the dominant player of the present noticeably loses some of its shine – at the same time it opens up the field for everyone else.

Four names sweating on the last tickets

While a place stays free at the top, things are getting tight at the bottom of the table. These players are under particular pressure in Leicester:

Raymond van Barneveld – 81st with 25,750 pounds, 6,000 pounds behind 64th-placed Wesley Plaisier. He would need at least two semi-final runs, a final or a tournament win.
Nathan Aspinall – 78th. At least one semi-final on one of the two days is a must.
Josh Rock – 80th. The Northern Irishman also has to reach the last four at least once.
Gary Anderson – still outside the top 64, but only 2,000 pounds adrift. He has to win his matches and hope that his direct rivals do not go too far.

Two prominent names who are currently still on track can be pushed down as well: Gerwyn Price is 58th with 34,000 pounds and therefore only 2,250 pounds ahead of Plaisier, Mike De Decker is 61st with 33,250 pounds. Two early defeats could shove both out of the top 64.

More withdrawals – five players move up

Littler is not the only one missing in Leicester. Five players have pulled out in total:

Luke Littler
Pero Ljubic
Kai Gotthardt – had broken his hand
Yorick Hofkens
Pascal Rupprecht

Moving up are Henry Coates, Joe Hunt, Derek Coulson, Tommy Morris and Archie Self. The field therefore still comprises 128 names, among them Luke Humphries, Michael van Gerwen, Michael Smith, Peter Wright, Price, Anderson, Aspinall, Rock and van Barneveld.

Schedule and coverage

Wednesday, 4 November 2026 – Players Championship 33, Mattioli Arena Leicester, start 9.00 am
Thursday, 5 November 2026 – Players Championship 34, Mattioli Arena Leicester
Field: 128 players each (Tour Card holders and associate members who moved up)
TV/stream: live on PDCTV

A draw for the first-round pairings is not available yet; the PDC traditionally publishes it shortly before the tournament.

What is at stake now

After the double event the Players Championship ranking will be final. Only then will it be official who is in Minehead at the end of November – and who, like Littler, has to watch.

For van Barneveld, Anderson, Rock and Aspinall the two days in Leicester are a shootout for the season. For the PDC, Littler's absence is the side effect of a packed calendar: anyone who skips the floor tournaments cannot play the Pro Tour finale – no matter how good their record on the big stage looks.