Luke Littler will make his first Players Championship appearance of 2026 on Tuesday afternoon, with the world champion drawn against Archie Self at Players Championship 27 as his late push to qualify for Minehead begins. The Mattioli Arena in Leicester hosts the latest stop on the PDC ProTour, with 128 players competing for the 27th Players Championship title of the season from 13:00 BST. It is the first half of a double-header, with Players Championship 28 following at the same venue on Wednesday.
Littler skipped the opening 26 Players Championship events of the season and starts the day on £0 on the dedicated Order of Merit. Only the top 64 qualify for the Players Championship Finals, with Martin Schindler currently occupying 64th place on £25,500 and eight events still remaining. The appearance follows Littler's World Matchplay triumph in July, after which he confirmed his intention to return to the ProTour and chase the ranking money required to defend his Minehead title. A win over PDPA Associate Member Self would send him into the last 64 against the winner of William O'Connor and Cor Dekker.
Wessel Nijman has won six of the opening 26 Players Championship events, three times as many as any other player, and begins his pursuit of title number seven against Lukas Wenig. Luke Humphries, one of only three players alongside Nijman to have won multiple Players Championship titles this season, opens against Cam Crabtree. Michael van Gerwen has been paired with Nick Kenny, while Michael Smith faces James Hurrell and Rob Cross takes on Christopher Wickenden.
Beau Greaves begins against Tom Sykes after making history on the same circuit earlier this season. Greaves became the first woman to win a PDC ranking title when she claimed Players Championship 11 in April. The two most recent champions are also back in action. Non-Tour Card holder Henry Coates, who stunned Damon Heta to win Players Championship 25 in Hildesheim, faces Keane Barry, while Players Championship 26 winner Sebastian Bialecki takes on Jack Aldridge.
Elsewhere, former world champion Peter Wright meets Cristo Reyes, Nathan Aspinall faces Thibault Tricole and Chris Dobey has been drawn against Ricky Evans. Recent Leicester winner Gabriel Clemens starts against Viktor Tingstrom, with Martin Schindler taking on Darius Labanauskas.
