2025 Players Championship Finals Preview – JP
2025 Players Championship Finals Preview
Now, it is time for James Punt’s 2025 Players Championship Finals preview. James tipped up Luke Littler to win the Grand Slam (2 points), find out who he fancies this weekend below.
2025 Players Championship Finals
This will be the 18th Players Championship Finals. The tournament comprises of a field of the top 64 players on the Players Championship OOM. Prizemoney was won in the 34 qualifying events played in 2025.
There is no draw. The players are ranked in their OOM order. Gerwyn Price, who won four titles, is the number 1 seed and he will play Max Hopp, the 64th seed. The number 2 seed, Wessel Nijman plays the 63rd seed Richard Veenstra and so on.
The original idea was that the best players would be at or near the top of the rankings, and weaker players near the bottom. That way, the top seeds get an easier path to the later stages.
However, now that the darting calendar is so extensive, many of the top players, especially the Premier League players, choose to skip many of the qualifying events. That means they can’t win enough money to get anywhere near the top of the rankings.
No MVG
This year for example, will not have Michael van Gerwen in the 2025 Players Championship Finals field. He only played in fifteen of the thirty-four events and didn’t win enough money to qualify. Luke Littler only played in twelve qualifiers, but he won PC31 and had a semi-final and a quarter final earlier in the season. That means he is the 36th seed and will face 29th seed, Jeffrey de Graff in round one.
Even worse was that two-time winner and defending champion, Luke Humphries, left it until the final qualifying event of the year to make sure that he crossed the qualifying threshold. He is a lowly 58th seed.
His reward for such tardiness? A first round clash with the 2025 European Champion, Gian van Veen. So, in a best of eleven leg first round match, we get a repeat of that European Championship final. I don’t know which of the two players will have been more disappointed? Humphries is going for his third straight Players Championship Finals title, while Van Veen going for his second major title.
Trends
In the last ten years, the number 1 seed has won the title twice, but the last time was back in 2016. The Number 2 seed won it in 2021 but recent trends have seen the winner being ranked outside the top 10.
However, the actual players who have contested the finals have all been top players. There have been just four different winners in the last ten years. MVG won six, Humphries two and Wright and Gurney one each.
The list of runners up is just as stellar. Adrian Lewis, Dave Chisnall, Jonny Clayton, MVG (X2), Gerwyn Price, Merv King, Ryan Searle, Rob Cross and Luke Littler. Out of that lot, only King and Searle would have been considered long shots, and not that long.
The seedings have become less important as form guide, but the quality players will rise to the top come Sunday. By skipping so many events, players like Humphries are taking the risk that they will face tough opening rounds, but that is just how it is nowadays.
Fast And Furious
The tournament is fast and furious. Sixty-four players down to a winner in three days. The first two rounds are played in a best of eleven leg format, round three and the quarter finals best of nineteen and the semi-finals and final, best of twenty-one legs.
All of the first-round matches are played on Friday, across two stages. There is the Main Stage, which will feature the matches to be shown on the host broadcaster’s channel (ITV), and the second stage, downstairs in Reds Bar. Those matches are covered by PDCTV.
Every year, without fail, the commentators on the Main Stage will give out the results of matches still being shown ‘live’ on PDCTV, which is very annoying. The main stage gets the bigger names but you can get some big-name players getting a bit miffed at being sent down to the dungeon to play on stage 2.
Saturday sees the second round played in the afternoon and round three in the evening. Sunday sees only the main stage in use for the quarters, semis and the final.
Tricky Tournament
The Players Championship Finals is always a tricky one to preview. There are sixteen players in each quarter of the draw and rather than do a preview of every player, I will break it down into quarters and try and pick out the real contenders in each one, Hopefully whittling it down to a handful of players who might just go and a) win their quarter, and b) make the final.
Judging players’ recent form for this event can be a bit tricky. The final qualifying events were played on the 29th and 30th of October. For those players who did not qualify for the Grand Slam of Darts, that means those players will not have played competitively for three weeks.
They can practice, maybe do exhibitions, but it is harder to judge who is hot, and who is not. It is probably wise to go easy in the first round for that reason, at least when looking at players who missed out on the Grand Slam.
2025 Players Championship Finals: The First Quarter
Gerwyn Price ended up at the top of the Players Championship OOM. He skipped twelve events, so to finish as top dog was some going. Four tournament wins and six finals reached.
Price was runner up in 2019 and a semi-finalist in 2020, but he has gone out in the first or second round seven times. He is another player who has gone on a bit of a crash diet, losing three stone. It is not uncommon for players form to change when they lose a lot of weight in a short time.
Price cannot be said to be badly out of form, but his last major final was in 2023 and his last win in 2021. Price reached the semi-final of last week’s Grand Slam of Darts and has won seven of his last ten matches.
Bunting Earning
Stephen Bunting hasn’t lost any weight, but he has gained a lot of money in 2025. He won twice on the Euro Tour, twice on the World Series and won two Players Championships. The ranking Majors remain elusive, however.
His recent form sees Bunting having lost eight of his last ten matches. He is playing better that sounds, but his confidence will be rather low. He faces Ritchie Edhouse in round one, and Madhouse was last seen averaging 112 in a 2-5 defeat to Wessel Nijman in the Grand Slam qualifier.
Gerwyn Price looks like the standout candidate to progress to the semi-final.
2025 Players Championship Finals: The Second Quarter
If the first quarter looks like a matchup between Price and Bunting, the second quarter is packed with players who could have a good run.
Ross Smith and Chris Dobey are the highest-ranking seeds in the quarter. Smith has been a steady performer on the floor in 2025, winning twice, reaching two more semi-finals and a further five quarter finals but his most recent form was not his best, losing five of his last ten matches. Smudger was a semi-finalist here last year, but his form in the majors in 2025 has been poor.
Chris Dobey finished the Players Championship qualifiers in fine form. He won the penultimate event, PC 33 and was a semi-finalist in PC 34. He won three Players Championship titles in total, as he did in 2024, but his stage form leaves a lot to be desired.
Hollywood goes well at Ally Pally but outside of that, he doesn’t have the kind of record that a player of his ability should. Dobey has won eight of his last ten matches but he really can’t be backed in the TV events.
Littler Favourite
Luke Littler is the tournament favourite. He doesn’t really care much for the floor events but this is a TV major and he will be fully wound up for it. Littler was runner up here in 2024 and he has won five of the seven ranking majors played in 2025. He has won nine of his last ten matches.
Littler is now the official world number 1 player and will be expected to win this tournament and the World Championship. The biggest threat to his chances are that first two rounds are played in a best off eleven leg format. That gives his opponents a puncher’s chance. He got off to a few slow starts in last week’s Grand Slam but the long matches played to his strengths.
De Graaf Not In Top Form
Littler will face Jeffrey de Graaf in round 1 and they last met in October with Littler winning 6-4. De Graaf is a good player, but not in great form, losing five of his last ten.
Littler would then play the winner of Niko Springer v. Ross Smith. Littler is 4-1 vs. Smith, but they have had some very close matches. Niko Springer has lost six of his last ten matches, but he took Littler to a deciding leg in their only previous match, back in March.
Other players of interest include Gary Anderson. He won this way back in 2014 but hasn’t made it past the third round since 2018. He is a better player on the floor than on stage these days.
The Ferret
Jonny Clayton won this in 2017 and reached the semi-final in 2021 and 2022. The Ferret made the final of the World Masters early in the year and the semi-finals of the UK Open, Matchplay and Grand Prix. He won a Euro Tour title and a Players Championship. However, his most recent form has not been good, losing six of his last ten matches.
Luke Woodhouse is in good form, winning eight of his last ten matches. He won his group in last week’s Grand Slam and he was a quarter finalist here two years ago. Another good run would be no surprise.
It is hard to see past Littler as his draw is OK for the first couple of rounds and once we get into the longer format, it will suit him even more. De Graaf, Ross Smith or Springer are dangerous opponents in a best of eleven leg format, however, so he does face not one, but two banana skins in the first two rounds.
2025 Players Championship Finals: The Third Quarter
Another quarter packed with contenders. Wessel Nijman is the top seed in this quarter having won two titles, both at the tail end of the season. Nijman’s form figures in the last six Players Championship events of the season were SF/W/QF/QF/SF/W.
The question now is, can he take that form on to the TV stages? Nijman played in last week’s Grand Slam but got hammered by Luke Littler in the second round. Nijman really hasn’t made much impression in the TV majors, but he is still very young and inexperienced.
His time will come, but maybe he is just not ready yet. Nijman has won eight of his last ten matches. His overall form is good, but not so much on stage.
Tricky Draw For The Asp
Nathan Aspinall was full of confidence going into last week’s Grand Slam but got knocked out in the group stage and he has never got beyond the second round in his previous six Players Championship finals. The Asp has the talent to go deep but he faces the talented Karel Sedlacek in the first round and would then likely face Wessel Nijman in round two.
He is one of the players who has skipped many qualifying events (19) and that means he gets a tougher draw when it comes to the finals. That partly explains his poor record in the event, and he didn’t even qualify last year.
Consistent Noppert
Danny Noppert reached his fourth major semi-final in last week’s Grand Slam. He is very consistent and could well reach another here, but can he actually be considered as potential Champion? He has now lost nine major semi-finals.
The Freeze faces the in-form Ricky Evans in the first round and possibly Dirk van Duijvenbode in the second. Two tough opponents in the short format matches.
Gian van Veen did little wrong in last week’s Grand Slam, except losing four legs to Lisa Ashton in his first group match. He eventually got knocked out on leg difference. The new European Champion has won eight of his last ten matches and is in good form. He will face world number 2 Luke Humphries in round one, a tough draw for both players.
Frustrated Humphries
Luke Humphries was the runner up in the Grand Slam last weekend, was runner up in the European Championship (to Van Veen) and runner up in the Grand Prix. He must be getting frustrated.
Humphries has won this for the last two years and he has to be a strong contender to make another final, but he has a tough draw. That’s what happens when you qualify as the 58th seed.
Josh Rock looks to have a good draw, for the first two matches at least. He turned around some poor form to reach the Grand Slam quarter final, where he lost to Littler. Rock has reached two major semi-finals in 2025 and can have another good run, but he has failed to get past the second round in his previous three Players Championship finals.
There are plenty of contenders in this quarter, Humphries and Van Veen being the two most obvious ones, but one of them is going out in the first round. Josh Rock looks to have a decent start to the event, but he will have to face the Humphries/Van Veen part of the draw at some point.
2025 Players Championship Finals: The Fourth Quarter
This quarter is a bit light on genuine title contenders. James Wade has had a good season, but he has lost six of his last ten matches and has been too inconsistent lately. He has ended up in a quarter of the draw which is full of out of form players, so the opportunities are there, but he needs to up his game.
Jermaine Wattimena has won two Players Championship titles and been runner up in another. His most recent form has seen him win six of his last ten matches, but he has come off his best form that he was playing in October. If he could find that heavy scoring game again, he could have a decent run.
Joyce Inconsistent
Ryan Joyce has won six of his last ten matches, which makes him one of the form players in this quarter, but he has been very inconsistent with a lot of sub 90 averages.
Ryan Searle was runner up here in 2021 and it is a bit of a home event for him as he lives relatively close to the venue. His recent form see five losses in his last six matches and his performances in the majors in 2025 has been disappointing.
You get quarters that are ‘the group of death’, but this is just a quarter of players who are not in good form. Somebody has to come through it. Maybe Wattimena?
Summary
This is a big, TV ranking major, but the qualifiers come through a long series of events not played on TV, with no crowd. The finals are a very different beast.
Some players are very happy playing on a board in a sports centre, with no TV lights or an audience. It is a low-pressure environment. The less experienced players then have to play in a very different environment in the finals.
Many of the players are used to playing on TV, the less experienced not so much. This is one reason that we tend to end up with the big names come the final day’s play. That, and the fact that they are better players.
Quick Start Needed
The less fancied players’ job is to try and get a couple of wins in the opening legs of the best of eleven leg matches, and pick up some decent ranking prizemoney. Some of them will take a big scalp and you have to expect a few surprises, a few fancied runners going out early, but whatever of the cream is left, will rise to the top.
The tournament sponsor, Ladbrokes, are offering each way terms on the first four places, at 1/5 the odds. Given the domination of the two Lukes, that is a sensible concession for the outright market.
Of the seven ranking majors played so far in 2025, Luke Littler has won five, Luke Humphries one and Gian van Veen one. Luke Humphries is a two-time runner up, James Wade a two-time runner up and Jonny Clayton and MVG one-time runners up. It is a pretty short list of finalists.
It terms of semi-finalists not on the above list, we have Mr. Semi-Final, Danny Noppert who has reached four. Jonny Clayton has had three more semi-finals to go with his one final. Josh Rock has had two and one each for Bunting, Dobey, and Price. The absent MVG and Van den Bergh also got one each.
2025 Players Championship Finals: Outright Selections
I like Gerwyn Price’s draw, at least to make the semi-final. Along with Bunting, he is the standout player in the quarter, but his recent form is better than Bunting’s. It is true that he has only made the semi-finals twice here, and the last time was back in 2020. However, it looks like a weak quarter and he is the form player in it.
Price is 9.00 with Ladbrokes outright, or 11.00 with firms offering 1/2 the odds 1st and 2nd. I think it is quite likely that he will face Littler in the final, and he has lost his last six in a row against The Nuke.
Go e/w with Ladbrokes and break even if he loses the semi-final, or take 11.00 and hope he can turn that form with Littler around? Or just back him to win the quarter at a stingy 2.63.
Littler 3.25 To Win It All
The second quarter contains Luke Littler. He is the 3.25 to win the title, and just 1.67 to win the second quarter. It is a tougher quarter than Price faces, but we are talking about a player who has won five of the seven ranking majors in 2025.
The only logical thing to do is to back Littler to win the tournament. Yes, the first two rounds are potential trap doors, but he is very hard to beat on a stage.
The third Quarter is the toughest to call. Humphries and Van Veen meet in round one, so one must fall. Nijman is a dark horse, but not great on stage. Mr. Semi-final, Danny Noppert, has to be considered to make another and is 8.00 to make it that far.
One player with the talent to come through and make his third semi-final of the year is Josh Rock. He looked in good form at the Grand Slam and he looks reasonable value to win the 3rd quarter.
The 4th quarter is wide open. It is full of players not at their best. One player in it who has had something of a breakthrough year, thanks to two wins in Players Championship events, is Jermaine Wattimena. His recent form is as good as anyone’s in the quarter.
