Once again, the forthcoming brace of Players Championship events will proceed in the conspicuous absence of several luminaries. Of the six confirmed tour card non-attendees declining the pilgrimage to Leicester next week, four are current Premier League protagonists – a quartet whose star wattage would ordinarily illuminate the Mattioli Arena without assistance.
Having bypassed the opening two events in Germany, Stephen Bunting and Luke Humphries made their 2026 Pro Tour bow in Wigan last week, with the latter promptly annexing a title in emphatic fashion. It is therefore scarcely astonishing that Luke Littler has elected to swerve Leicester altogether, the teenage phenomenon having thus far abstained from all four Players Championship instalments this season and that now extends to half a dozen.
Dutch number one Gian van Veen will likewise be absent from the Midlands, as will two-time PDC major champion Nathan Aspinall. Completing the sextet of withdrawals is another Netherlands representative, Alexander Merx, whose omission further thins the orange contingent. Although there will be plenty more of them on show.
Ambiguity still shrouds the participation of Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price. The Green Machine withdrew from the recent Premier League evening in Glasgow before subsequently pulling out of the Poland Darts Open due to illness. Meanwhile, The Iceman made a late decision to forgo the trip to Krakow, a withdrawal that materialised at the eleventh hour.
Both superstars remain provisionally listed, yet seasoned observers of the Players Championship circuit will recognise that confirmations are occasionally fluid. Attrition is hardly anomalous at this level, particularly within the relentless cadence of the Pro Tour. Patience, as ever, will provide clarity.
The confirmed absences, however, create a vacuum eagerly occupied by others. Opportunity, that most democratic of sporting forces, knocks loudly for Joe Hunt, Martijn Dragt, Jack Tweddell, Steve Lennon, Tommy Morris and Tommy Lishman. With the exception of Lishman, each has directly benefited from the withdrawals so far this season, inheriting a platform upon which to recalibrate ranking trajectories and perhaps engineer an unforeseen surge.
Stephen Bunting presently presides atop the Pro Tour Order of Merit and is in competitive action in Poland this weekend. Should van Gerwen ultimately compete, his world number four ranking would render him the most exalted figure on the principal Order of Merit present. Failing that, the distinction would fall to Jonny Clayton, fresh from a Premier League nightly triumph in Glasgow and currently positioned one place beneath the three-time World Champion.
Proceedings will commence at 1pm GMT on each day, with coverage from four boards per event streamed via PDCTV and assorted bookmakers’ platforms worldwide. For our German friends, commentary in that language will accompany streaming board one, ensuring that the narrative resonance extends well beyond the East Midlands.
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Images: PDC
