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Luke Humphries is the two-time defending champion following triumphs in 2023 and 2024, having reached the semi-final stage the year prior to this sequence.
The Berkshire-born ace eliminated a handful of strong players en route to last season’s final against Luke Littler, starting out with the experienced Gabriel Clemens in round one.
After knocking out four-time WDF world champion Raymond van Barneveld in the last 32, Humphries beat Australian talent Damon Heta to set up a quarter-final showdown with Ryan Joyce.
Following a routine win over Joyce, the 2023 PDC Player of the Year delivered a superb comeback to edge past Dirk van Duijvenbode in the semi-finals.
He then held his nerve to dispatch Littler in the showpiece, after both players recorded 100+ averages in front of a boisterous crowd.
So, how are this season’s finals shaping up?
The backdrop to the 2025 Players Championship
The outcome of 34 non-televised Players Championship events determined who would be invited to this year’s finals.
Following the 34th event – October’s fourth meeting at the Robin Park Centre in Wigan – the top 64-ranked competitors in the Players Championship Order of Merit qualified for the finals. Functioning in the same way as the over-arching PDC Order of Merit, this tournament-specific ranking system orders players based on the volume of prize money they’ve accumulated at Players Championship events.
Having earned £103k on the circuit this term, Gerwyn Price currently sits at the summit of the Players Championship Order of Merit.
It’s also perhaps worth noting that there were previously just 30 non-televised Players Championship events throughout the season, so performances in four additional tournaments now count towards the overall ranking of participants.
There have been a total of 33 nine-dart finishes throughout this season’s Players Championship series, with Ross Smith, Dirk van Duijvenbode, Josh Rock, and Nathan Aspinall all claiming three apiece.
Teenage sensation Luke Littler delivered the best single-match average across the 34 events, registering a staggering 122.96 – the highest score of his short but already immensely successful career – during his quarter-final clash with Damon Heta at Players Championship 5 in Leicester.
The first round of the 2025 PDC Players Championship Finals commences on Friday, with the field being whittled down to eight remaining quarter-finalists within 48 hours. As has traditionally been the case since the inaugural edition of the competition in early 2009, the champion will be crowned on Sunday evening.
The finals were originally held at the Circus Tavern in Purfleet – a former long-term home of the PDC World Championships – before moving on to Doncaster Dome and later its current location in Somerset.
Michael van Gerwen has appeared at every edition of the tournament throughout its 16-year history, but won’t be in attendance this time around. The Dutch supremo withdrew from this season’s final three Players Championship meets, as he continues to focus on his family following the announcement of his divorce.
Having assumed 92nd position in the Players Championship Order of Merit heading into the business end of the campaign, the tournament’s all-time most successful player (more on this to follow) may not have qualified anyway.
There could easily have been further high-profile casualties, with world-class duo Luke Humphries and Luke Littler almost failing to make the cut. Littler was also outside the qualification places with only three events remaining, but clinched the Players Championship 32 title in Wigan – just a stone’s throw away from his hometown of Warrington – to ensure he progressed to the finals.
Meanwhile, reigning champion Luke Humphries left it to the very last day of the series, achieving qualification by defeating Martijn Dragt in the first round of Players Championship 34.
Having enjoyed arguably his most consistent season since the 2022 campaign, Gerwyn Price appears to be gradually returning to his imperious best. As well as lifting four Players Championship series titles, the Welshman advanced to the latter stages of several major televised and non-televised tournaments throughout 2025.
After reaching the last eight of the World Championships at the turn of the year, Price featured in May’s Premier League of Darts playoffs at London’s O2 Arena. A heart-wrenching World Cup final defeat in Welsh colours then followed, as he and teammate Jonny Clayton lost out to Northern Irish duo Daryl Gurney and Josh Rock in a dramatic last-leg shootout.
However, the Iceman bounced back with further quarter-final appearances – this time at the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix – and a run to the last four of the World Series of Darts Finals in Amsterdam.
Price then rounded off a positive season with an impressive semi-final finish at the Grand Slam of Darts, a competition he’s won on three previous occasions.
Although he deservedly arrives as the tournament’s top seed thanks to his Order of Merit ranking, Price is only considered third-favourite to land this season’s Players Championship crown.
The bookmakers believe reigning world champion Luke Littler is most likely to emerge victorious this weekend, while Luke ‘Cool Hand’ Humphries is priced at 11/2 to claim a third consecutive title.
Michael van Gerwen – a decade of Dutch dominance
No player has secured more Player Championship Finals titles than Michael van Gerwen, who won on seven separate occasions between 2013 and 2022. Legendary archer Phil Taylor is the closest to him, after ‘The Power’ triumphed in three of the first five editions of the competition.
Having also registered runners-up finishes in 2018 and 2023, van Gerwen also holds the record for the most final appearances. Mervyn King is the only other player to have also featured in all 17 previous editions of the tournament, but, like his esteemed peer, the 59-year-old won’t be present at Minehead’s Butlins Resort this weekend.
There have been four nine-darters at the Players Championship Finals, with van Gerwen accountable for delivering three of these. Alan Norris claimed the first in his opening round clash with Michael Smith in 2016 – the only nine-darter at the championships not to have occurred on the main stage – before van Gerwen did the same against Adrian Lewis three years later.
Further nine-darters followed in consecutive finals, with one helping to propel him to victory over Rob Cross and the other coming in the 14th leg of his 2023 defeat to Luke Humphries.
Michael van Gerwen also holds the record for the tournament’s highest single average, recording an eye-watering score of 118.52 during his last 32 meeting with Ross Smith in 2023. Luke Little overtook Josh Rock as the player with the second-highest all-time average last year, concluding his first-round tie against 2019 World Matchplay champion Cross on 112.73.
While Scotsman Gary Anderson has achieved a higher overall tournament average than any other Players Championship Finals participant, it’s perhaps symbolic that he achieved this feat alongside being knocked out in the semi-finals by van Gerwen.
Although he’s clearly produced several moments of individual brilliance, it’s van Gerwen’s incredible consistency that separates him from the rest. In addition to his considerable exploits listed above, the ‘Green Machine’ has incredibly generated a 100+ average on 40 occasions.
To put that into context, Phil Taylor achieved 18 centuries at the Players Championship Finals before retiring eight years ago, while the aforementioned Gary Anderson leads this metric – having recorded 16 averages of more than 100 – amongst the participants of this year’s edition.
Purely due to the hegemony van Gerwen established throughout a glittering nine-year spell, the Netherlands has enjoyed more success at the Players Championship Finals than any other country.
England are one behind on six titles following the triumphs of Phil Taylor, Luke Humphries, and a single success for the retired Kevin Painter in 2011, while Scotland rank third with two crowns thanks to the efforts of Gary Anderson and Peter Wright.
Aussie hero Paul Nicholson and Northern Irishman Daryl Gurney are the tournament’s only other champions, meaning just five countries have had a representative earn silverware at this event.
List of previous finals (winners in left-hand column)
2024: Luke Humphries (England) v Luke Littler (England)
2023: Luke Humphries (England) v Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands)
2022: Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands) v Rob Cross (England)
2021: Peter Wright (Scotland) v Ryan Searle (England)
2020: Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands) v Mervyn King (England)
2019: Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands) v Gerwyn Price (Wales)
2018: Daryl Gurney (Northern Ireland) v Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands)
2017: Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands) v Jonny Clayton (Wales)
2016: Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands) v Dave Chisnall (England)
2015: Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands) v Adrian Lewis (England)
2014: Gary Anderson (Scotland) v Adrian Lewis (England)
2013: Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands) v Phil Taylor (England)
2012: Phil Taylor (England) v Kim Huybrechts (Wales)
2011 (February): Kevin Painter (England) v Mark Webster (Wales)
2011 (December): Phil Taylor (England) v Gary Anderson (Scotland)
2010: Paul Nicholson (Australia) v Mervyn King (England)
2009: Phil Taylor (England) v Robert Thornton (Scotland)
N.B. To facilitate a change in the PDC Pro Tour calendar, two editions were held in 2011. From that year onwards, the
Players Championship Finals have served as the last tournament of the darts season ahead of the World Championships.
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