It is shaping up to be a record-breaking number of withdrawals ahead of the upcoming Players Championship darts double-header in Hildesheim, with a dozen Tour Card holders already confirming their non-attendance.
That currently tally matches the number of absentees seen at one of the Leicester events towards the end of February, as well as both at Wigan recently, and it looks certain to increase further. History suggests that many players are not particularly fond of travelling to this venue in Germany.
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With frequent issues such as delayed baggage and lengthy airport queues, it is easy to understand their reluctance. That said, the absence of Euro Tour qualifiers taking place does play a role in those decisions for some.
A significant proportion of those opting out this time are among the sport’s biggest names. Luke Littler, the reigning World Champion, is arguably the most notable absentee. If a short 20-minute trip to Wigan did not appeal, it was always unlikely that this journey would feature on his schedule.
Joining The Nuke in staying away are fellow Premier League stars Luke Humphries, Gian van Veen, Jonny Clayton, Gerwyn Price, Stephen Bunting and Josh Rock, leaving Michael van Gerwen as the sole representative from that group.
Multiple PDC major winners Nathan Aspinall and Daryl Gurney have also chosen to skip the event. Completing the list are Ryan Searle, Carl Sneyd and the still-winless Oskar Lukasiak.
All of this will be welcomed by those Challenge Tour players already set to attend Halle 39, with their next batch of events taking place immediately after these Players Championship tournaments.
As has been the case throughout the year, Joe Hunt, Jack Tweddell and Martin Dragt continue to seize their opportunities, maintaining their ever-present records.
The remaining beneficiaries have all had a solid taste of the main circuit this season and will get another chance to impress: Derek Coulson, Tommy Lishman, Tommy Morris, Florian Preis, Steve Lennon, Jack Aldridge, Nathan Potter, Daniel Klose and Ted Evetts. Potter, in particular, will be hoping to replicate his recent showing in Milton Keynes, where he enjoyed an impressive run to the quarter-finals.
Do not expect this to be the final list of withdrawals – merely the beginning.
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2026 PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP DARTS – EVENT 13
Hildesheim, Germany (Mon 4th May)
Jack Aldridge
Gary Anderson
Keane Barry
Owen Bates
Stefan Bellmont
Filip Bereza
Sebastian Bialecki
Tom Bissell
Andy Boulton
Bradley Brooks
Stephen Burton
Dave Chisnall
Gabriel Clemens
Derek Coulson
Cam Crabtree
Rob Cross
Joe Cullen
Niall Culleton
Maximilian Czerwinski
Mike De Decker
Jeffrey de Graaf
Jeffrey de Zwaan
Cor Dekker
Chris Dobey
Kevin Doets
Brendan Dolan
Martijn Dragt
Tavis Dudeney
Ritchie Edhouse
Matthias Ehlers
Ricky Evans
Ted Evetts
Adam Gawlas
Andrew Gilding
Kai Gotthardt
Beau Greaves
Rhys Griffin
Dominik Gruellich
Stefaan Henderyck
Damon Heta
Yorick Hofkens
Justin Hood
Max Hopp
Joe Hunt
James Hurrell
Kim Huybrechts
Ryan Joyce
Tytus Kanik
Nick Kenny
Mervyn King
Christian Kist
Daniel Klose
Marvin Kraft
Maik Kuivenhoven
Darius Labanauskas
Chris Landman
Sietse Lap
Adam Leek
Steve Lennon
Adam Lipscombe
Tommy Lishman
Pero Ljubic
Jim Long
Thomas Lovely
Martin Lukeman
Charlie Manby
Mickey Mansell
Shane McGuirk
Ryan Meikle
Cameron Menzies
Arno Merk
Alexander Merkx
Tommy Morris
Wessel Nijman
Danny Noppert
William O’Connor
Dennie Olde Kalter
Rob Owen
Adam Paxton
Ricardo Pietreczko
Darryl Pilgrim
Wesley Plaisier
Nathan Potter
Benjamin Pratnemer
Florian Preis
Samuel Price
Krzysztof Ratajski
Madars Razma
Cristo Reyes
Greg Ritchie
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Stephen Rosney
Pascal Rupprecht
Callan Rydz
Martin Schindler
Connor Scutt
Karel Sedlacek
David Sharp
Michael Smith
Ross Smith
Alan Soutar
Jeffrey Sparidaans
Niko Springer
Mensur Suljović
Tom Sykes
Tyler Thorpe
Viktor Tingstrom
Thibault Tricole
Jack Tweddell
Raymond van Barneveld
Dimitri Van den Bergh
Jurjen van der Velde
Dirk van Duijvenbode
Michael van Gerwen
Jimmy van Schie
Marvin van Velzen
Mario Vandenbogaerde
Richard Veenstra
James Wade
Adam Warner
Jermaine Wattimena
Leon Weber
Lukas Wenig
Ian White
Scott Williams
Luke Woodhouse
Peter Wright
Niels Zonneveld
2026 PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP – EVENT 14
Hildesheim, Germany (Tue 5th May)
Jack Aldridge
Gary Anderson
Keane Barry
Owen Bates
Stefan Bellmont
Filip Bereza
Sebastian Bialecki
Tom Bissell
Andy Boulton
Bradley Brooks
Stephen Burton
Dave Chisnall
Gabriel Clemens
Derek Coulson
Cam Crabtree
Rob Cross
Joe Cullen
Niall Culleton
Maximilian Czerwinski
Mike De Decker
Jeffrey de Graaf
Jeffrey de Zwaan
Cor Dekker
Chris Dobey
Kevin Doets
Brendan Dolan
Martijn Dragt
Tavis Dudeney
Ritchie Edhouse
Matthias Ehlers
Ricky Evans
Ted Evetts
Adam Gawlas
Andrew Gilding
Kai Gotthardt
Beau Greaves
Rhys Griffin
Dominik Gruellich
Stefaan Henderyck
Damon Heta
Yorick Hofkens
Justin Hood
Max Hopp
Joe Hunt
James Hurrell
Kim Huybrechts
Ryan Joyce
Tytus Kanik
Nick Kenny
Mervyn King
Christian Kist
Daniel Klose
Marvin Kraft
Maik Kuivenhoven
Darius Labanauskas
Chris Landman
Sietse Lap
Adam Leek
Steve Lennon
Adam Lipscombe
Tommy Lishman
Pero Ljubic
Jim Long
Thomas Lovely
Martin Lukeman
Charlie Manby
Mickey Mansell
Shane McGuirk
Ryan Meikle
Cameron Menzies
Arno Merk
Alexander Merkx
Tommy Morris
Wessel Nijman
Danny Noppert
William O’Connor
Dennie Olde Kalter
Rob Owen
Adam Paxton
Ricardo Pietreczko
Darryl Pilgrim
Wesley Plaisier
Nathan Potter
Benjamin Pratnemer
Florian Preis
Samuel Price
Krzysztof Ratajski
Madars Razma
Cristo Reyes
Greg Ritchie
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Stephen Rosney
Pascal Rupprecht
Callan Rydz
Martin Schindler
Connor Scutt
Karel Sedlacek
David Sharp
Michael Smith
Ross Smith
Alan Soutar
Jeffrey Sparidaans
Niko Springer
Mensur Suljović
Tom Sykes
Tyler Thorpe
Viktor Tingstrom
Thibault Tricole
Jack Tweddell
Raymond van Barneveld
Dimitri Van den Bergh
Jurjen van der Velde
Dirk van Duijvenbode
Michael van Gerwen
Jimmy van Schie
Marvin van Velzen
Mario Vandenbogaerde
Richard Veenstra
James Wade
Adam Warner
Jermaine Wattimena
Leon Weber
Lukas Wenig
Ian White
Scott Williams
Luke Woodhouse
Peter Wright
Niels Zonneveld
Tour Card Holders Absent: Nathan Aspinall, Stephen Bunting, Jonny Clayton, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler, Gerwyn Price, Josh Rock, Ryan Searle, Gian van Veen, Carl Sneyd, Oskar Lukasiak, Daryl Gurney.
Non-Tour Card Holders Competing: Joe Hunt, Derek Coulson, Tommy Lishman, Martijn Dragt, Jack Tweddell, Nathan Potter, Tommy Morris, Daniel Klose, Florian Preis, Steve Lennon, Ted Evetts, Jack Aldridge.
—–ENDS——
