Gary Anderson has pulled out of the World Series of Darts Finals, despite being handed a wildcard for the event, which takes place September 17-20 at AFAS Live in Amsterdam. The PDC has confirmed that Jermaine Wattimena will take his place, becoming the fifth Dutch entrant in the 24-player field.
The field is headlined by Michael van Gerwen, who topped the World Series Order of Merit after winning titles in Bahrain and Denmark and reaching the final of the Saudi Arabia Masters. He will be joined by heavy hitters Gerwyn Price, Luke Humphries, and Luke Littler, as well as Gian van Veen, who reached the Bahrain Darts Masters final and finished fifth on the World Series Order of Merit. Danny Noppert also qualified after picking up valuable points during the Middle East double-header.
Other qualifiers via the World Series Order of Merit include Nathan Aspinall, Damon Heta, James Wade, Jonny Clayton, and Ross Smith, alongside international names such as Brody Klinge, Raymond Smith, Man Lok Leung, Motomu Sakai, and Simon Whitlock. The four highest-ranked players on the PDC Order of Merit who had not yet qualified were Ryan Searle, Wessel Nijman, Chris Dobey, and Anderson, but Anderson chose not to travel, passing his spot to Wattimena.
The final four berths were decided at the Tour Card Holders Qualifier on Monday, August 24th, with Kevin Doets, Callan Rydz, Rob Cross, and Karel Sedlacek booking their places. Dirk van Duijvenbode nearly became a seventh Dutchman but lost to Cross in the final round.
The tournament begins with the opening round split across two sessions on Thursday and Friday, followed by the second round on Saturday, 19.09.2026, also over two sessions. The finals day on Sunday, 20.09.2026, features the quarter-finals in the afternoon and the semi-finals and final in the evening. Van Gerwen is the defending champion, having beaten Luke Littler 11-7 in the 2025 final after wins over Wessel Nijman (6-5), Rob Cross (6-5), Luke Humphries (10-5), and Josh Rock (11-6).
