The 2026 PDC Players Championship continues next week, with Wigan once again serving as the destination for the next brace of darts’ ‘floor’ events.
For the second time this season, all but a sprinkling of the 128 Tour Card holders will congregate en masse in the north-west English town for the ninth and tenth tournaments on the calendar, with many also spending a third consecutive afternoon at Robin Park in pursuit of qualification for upcoming Euro Tour events.
As always, there are a number of absentees, including some notable names. Reigning World Champion Luke Littler is yet to appear at a Players Championship event this year, and despite Wigan being in relatively close proximity to his hometown of Warrington, that statistic will remain unchanged next week.
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The Nuke’s absence is not particularly surprising. In fact, it may prove more noteworthy when he does opt to compete on the floor this season. A further two former Ally Pally champions, boasting five world titles between them – Gary Anderson and Michael van Gerwen – have also chosen not to travel. This is understood to be a matter of scheduling rather than anything more concerning, such as injury.
Current European Champion and world number three Gian van Veen has also elected to stay put as he continues his recovery from recent surgery. After undergoing an operation to remove kidney stones, the young Dutchman is understandably taking a cautious approach, preferring additional rest in the Netherlands over a return to competitive action in Lancashire.
For the second time this year, Ryan Searle will not be heading to Wigan. Heavy Metal claimed a title during his most recent Players Championship appearance in Leicester, and whether that influenced his decision to skip Robin Park again remains known only to him. And obviously, those he has told too.
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Completing the list of absent Tour Card holders begins with Pero Ljubić, who is still searching for his first win of the season. The Croatian endured a difficult start to the campaign, losing all of his opening-round matches before opting to miss the recent Leicester events. Not hopping over to England won’t help address that stat.
Swedish thrower Oskar Lukasiak is another finding the Players Championship circuit challenging this year. Having competed in every event so far, he currently holds an unenviable record of eight appearances and eight first-round exits – though at least that tally will now not worsen in Wigan.
Pascal Rupprecht won’t be in attendance. The German withdrew from the earlier Leicester events in March and has now opted out of this upcoming double-header as well. Finally, Stefaan Henderyck will be absent for the first time this season. Aside from a run to a board final back in February, his campaign has entirely consisted of opening round exits.
Naturally, these absences create opportunities for a plethora of ever-willing Challenge Tour competitors. Of the nine call-ups, five – Joe Hunt, Martijn Dragt, Jack Tweddell, Tommy Morris, and Steve Lennon – have benefited from withdrawals at every event this season, making them continuous ever-presents on the Players Championship circuit in 2026.
Tommy Lishman, who has featured in four of the eight events so far, will now increase that tally to six. Meanwhile, Aden Kirk, alongside German duo Daniel Klose and Florian Preis, will make their first appearances of the season.
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It would take a brave individual to wager against further withdrawals, but at the time of writing, this is the current landscape for Monday and Tuesday’s double-header in Wigan.
2026 PDC Players Championships Entries
Robin Park Tennis Centre, Wigan
Players Championship 9 (Mon 13thApril)
Nathan Aspinall
Keane Barry
Owen Bates
Stefan Bellmont
Filip Bereza
Sebastian Bialecki
Tom Bissell
Andy Boulton
Bradley Brooks
Stephen Bunting
Stephen Burton
Dave Chisnall
Jonny Clayton
Gabriel Clemens
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
Adam Gawlas
Andrew Gilding
Kai Gotthardt
Beau Greaves
Rhys Griffin
Dominik Gruellich
Daryl Gurney
Damon Heta
Yorick Hofkens
Justin Hood
Max Hopp
Luke Humphries
Joe Hunt
James Hurrell
Kim Huybrechts
Ryan Joyce
Tytus Kanik
Nick Kenny
Mervyn King
Aden Kirk
Christian Kist
Daniel Klose
Marvin Kraft
Maik Kuivenhoven
Darius Labanauskas
Chris Landman
Sietse Lap
Adam Leek
Steve Lennon
Adam Lipscombe
Tommy Lishman
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
Benjamin Pratnemer
Florian Preis
Gerwyn Price
Samuel Price
Krzysztof Ratajski
Madars Razma
Cristo Reyes
Greg Ritchie
Josh Rock
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Stephen Rosney
Callan Rydz
Martin Schindler
Connor Scutt
Karel Sedlacek
David Sharp
Michael Smith
Ross Smith
Carl Sneyd
Alan Soutar
Jeffrey Sparidaans
Niko Springer
Mensur Suljovic
Tom Sykes
Tyler Thorpe
Viktor Tingstrom
Thibault Tricole
Jack Tweddell
Raymond van Barneveld
Dimitri Van den Bergh
Jurjen van der Velde
Dirk van Duijvenbode
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
Players Championship 9 (Tues 14th April)
Nathan Aspinall
Keane Barry
Owen Bates
Stefan Bellmont
Filip Bereza
Sebastian Bialecki
Tom Bissell
Andy Boulton
Bradley Brooks
Stephen Bunting
Stephen Burton
Dave Chisnall
Jonny Clayton
Gabriel Clemens
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
Adam Gawlas
Andrew Gilding
Kai Gotthardt
Beau Greaves
Rhys Griffin
Dominik Gruellich
Daryl Gurney
Damon Heta
Yorick Hofkens
Justin Hood
Max Hopp
Luke Humphries
Joe Hunt
James Hurrell
Kim Huybrechts
Ryan Joyce
Tytus Kanik
Nick Kenny
Mervyn King
Aden Kirk
Christian Kist
Daniel Klose
Marvin Kraft
Maik Kuivenhoven
Darius Labanauskas
Chris Landman
Sietse Lap
Adam Leek
Steve Lennon
Adam Lipscombe
Tommy Lishman
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
Benjamin Pratnemer
Florian Preis
Gerwyn Price
Samuel Price
Krzysztof Ratajski
Madars Razma
Cristo Reyes
Greg Ritchie
Josh Rock
Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Stephen Rosney
Callan Rydz
Martin Schindler
Connor Scutt
Karel Sedlacek
David Sharp
Michael Smith
Ross Smith
Carl Sneyd
Alan Soutar
Jeffrey Sparidaans
Niko Springer
Mensur Suljovic
Tom Sykes
Tyler Thorpe
Viktor Tingstrom
Thibault Tricole
Jack Tweddell
Raymond van Barneveld
Dimitri Van den Bergh
Jurjen van der Velde
Dirk van Duijvenbode
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: Gary Anderson, Luke Littler, Pero Ljubic, Oskar Lukasiak, Michael van Gerwen, Ryan Searle, Gian van Veen, Pascal Rupprecht, Stefaan Henderyck
Non-Tour Card Holders Competing: Joe Hunt, Tommy Lishman, Aden Kirk, Martijn Dragt, Jack Tweddell, Tommy Morris, Daniel Klose, Florian Preis, Steve Lennon.
