The PDC Winmau Challenge Tour wasted absolutely no time reminding everyone what it’s all about – graft, chaos and opportunity – as the 2026 curtain-raiser unfolded in Milton Keynes with barely a breath to spare.
Front and centre stood Hull hotshot Tommy Lishman, who turned an English ‘Tommy Derby’ into a personal statement. In a final stacked with quality, the 30-year-old brushed aside namesake Tommy Morris 5-2 to hoist the season’s first piece of silverware.This felt like a response.
Lishman’s recent pilgrimage to Arena MK for the unforgiving grind of PDC Q-School had been a dead end, but with his passport stamped for the Challenge Tour, the Humberside man returned looking sharper, freer and far more dangerous.
The field was predictably massive, the kind that eats players alive. Lishman didn’t blink. He stormed into the last 16 having dropped just six legs, then edged former Czech Darts Open champion Jamie Smith before dispatching Luke Smith to book his semi-final spot.
Another compatriot stepped into the firing line next, and once again Lishman kept his nerve when it mattered, nicking a deciding leg to squeeze past Lewis Pride. The job was nearly done. One more composed performance followed, and Morris was brushed aside to crown Lishman the first Challenge Tour winner of 2026.
Also lurking in the field was former Grand Slam champion José de Sousa, beginning the long road back towards a tour card. This time, the Portuguese exited at the second hurdle – but anyone who knows the Special One understands this is a marathon, not a dash.
Then it was straight back to work.
Tournament two landed with over 300 players ready to suffer … and suffer they did. Long days, longer queues, and for those still standing late on, legs that felt twice their normal length.
Londoner Joe Hunt didn’t mind one bit. He was still smiling well past teatime after clinching the second title of the day, dismantling José Justicia 5-2 in the final.
Hunt, already a Challenge Tour winner last summer, showed that pedigree isn’t something you lose overnight. His route was ruthless – six English scalps and a Dutch casualty en route to the semis, before easing past Ireland’s Dylan Dowling 5-1. Then came his best showing of the day, shutting down Justicia to seal it.
A quick tip of the cap, too, to Steve Beaton and Harrison Leigh, both of whom found the magical nine-dart leg along the way.Same again tomorrow. Two more tournaments. Another endurance test. Welcome back to the Challenge Tour.
