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The newly-boosted £750,000 tournament features the top 64 players on the Players Championship Order of Merit but Littler's decision to miss all but two of the season's 34 Players Championship events means he failed to qualify by quite some distance.
Littler only began a last-gasp attempt to book his place at Butlin’s Minehead Resort in late August when his hopes of a calendar clean sweep of majors was still on but as soon as that mission was ended at the World Series of Darts Finals, he effectively surrendered his status as defending champion.
Nathan Aspinall and Josh Rock are two other big name absentees from the tournament, which runs from November 27-29, due to putting the Players Championship events towards the bottom of their priority list while fellow household names Peter Wright and Raymond van Barneveld didn't do enough to qualify.
Apart from them, the rest of the world's biggest stars will be in action, including top seed Wessel Nijman and Humphries.
Nijman, a winner of six Players Championship titles in 2026, will kick off his campaign against 20-year-old Henry Coates, who stormed to a memorable Event 25 victory on the ProTour circuit back in July.
Coates faced a nervous wait to discover his fate following an opening round exit at Players Championship 34, eventually claiming the final qualification place by a mere £250.
Second seed Chris Dobey will face Belgian number one Mike De Decker in another intriguing clash, after former World Grand Prix winner De Decker snatched the penultimate spot in this year’s field.
Nijman, Dobey and Luke Humphries were the only players to claim three or more Players Championship titles across the season, with Humphries winning four titles despite featuring in just 11 events.
The world number two celebrated back-to-back Players Championship Finals wins in 2023 and 2024, and has been pitted against Darryl Pilgrim in his round one tie.
Michael van Gerwen begins his bid for a record-extending eighth title against Connor Scutt, while 2018 champion Daryl Gurney faces Maik Kuivenhoven - a two-time runner-up on the Players Championship circuit this year.
Scottish icon Gary Anderson forced his way into the qualification places during this week’s double-header, although the 2014 champion will meet Czechia’s trailblazer Karel Sedlacek in a tough opening round assignment.
One of the stand-out ties will see newly crowned European Champion Ross Smith go head-to-head with 2022/23 World Champion Michael Smith in their first televised meeting since January 2023.
Swedish number one Jeffrey de Graaf finished the year in 20th spot on the Players Championship rankings, and his reward is a showdown against world number three Gian van Veen.
Poland’s number two Sebastian Bialecki will play number 52 seed Gerwyn Price in his opener, with De Graaf or Van Veen awaiting the winner in round two.
Eighth seed Beau Greaves will make her Players Championship Finals debut against Dutchman Christian Kist, as third seed Kevin Doets goes up against 2024 European Champion Ritchie Edhouse.
Round One will take place on Friday November 27, with Round Two and Round Three set to be held across Saturday’s bumper double session.
This will be followed by the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final on Sunday November 29, while the Winmau World Youth Championship final between Cam Crabtree and Jan Schmidt will take place during Sunday’s evening session.
The exact schedule of play for the 2026 Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals will be announced in due course.
Friday November 27
Afternoon Session (1245-1700 GMT)
Main Stage
Stage Two
Evening Session (1900-2300 GMT)
Main Stage
Stage Two
Saturday November 28
Afternoon Session (1245-1700 GMT)
Evening Session (1900-2300 GMT)
Sunday November 29
Afternoon Session (1245-1700 GMT)
Evening Session (1900-2300 GMT)
The 2026 Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals will be broadcast live on ITV4 in the UK, and through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay. Coverage will also be broadcast live on PDCTV (excluding subscribers in the UK, Germany, Austria and Switzerland), while action from Stage Two will be broadcast worldwide on PDCTV across Friday and Saturday.
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