Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals

Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals

Alex Moss |

GET READY FOR THE 2024 PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

The Players Championship Finals marks the final stop on the road to Ally Pally and the PDC World Darts Championship. First held in 2009, the Players Championship Finals is staged by the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) every November and sees 64 of the world’s top players battling it out to be crowned the Players champion.

The stakes are high once again in this year’s event as a who’s who of the darts world compete for the £120,000 top prize. Luke Humphries won a thrilling final against Michael van Gerwen to be crowned the Players Championship darts champion last year, but faces tough opposition in a star-studded line-up that also includes the newly crowned Grand Slam of Darts champion Luke Littler.

EVENT INFORMATION

The 2024 edition of the Players Championship Finals, known for sponsorship reasons as the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals, will be the 16th staging of the competition and will take place over three days from November 22-24 at Butlin’s Minehead.

The darts Players Championship Finals begins with a bumper first day on Friday with all 64 players in action in the first round. Saturday’s double session includes the second and third rounds of the tournament as the field is cut from 32 to eight, before the Players Championship 2024 darts champion is crowned on Sunday in a dramatic final day when the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final all take place.

Butlin’s Minehead has been the host venue for the PDC Darts Players Championship Finals every year since 2012, apart from the 2020 edition which took place in Coventry behind closed doors during the pandemic. The holiday camp site also stages the UK Open, another PDC major event, which takes place in early March.

The 2024 Players Championship Darts Finals will be broadcast live on ITV4 in the UK, as well as through the PDC’s various global broadcast partners. Additional coverage is also available for matches played on stage two via the PDC’s own streaming platform PDCTV.

PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS FORMAT AND RULES

The Players Championship Darts Finals is made up of the top 64 players on the Players Championship Order of Merit. Each year the PDC stages a number of Players Championship events in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands that are open to all 128 PDC tour card holders. The prize money won from those events makes up the Players Championship Order of Merit, with the top 64 players all qualifying for the finals in Minehead.

The seedings for the Ladbrokes Players Championship Darts Finals are based on these rankings, with the number one player on the Order of Merit facing the 64th-ranked player, the number two player taking on the 63rd-ranked player and so on.

Each match in the tournament is played under the legs format where the first player to win a certain number of legs wins the match. For example, first round matches are played over the best of 11 legs with the player who wins six legs first declared the winner.

Here is a breakdown of the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals format for 2024:-

  • Round 1 – best of 11 legs
  • Round 2 – best of 11 legs
  • Round 3 – best of 19 legs
  • Quarter-finals – best of 19 legs
  • Semi-finals – best of 21 legs
  • Final – best of 21 legs

WHAT’S AT STAKE: 2024 PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS PRIZE MONEY

The Players Championship darts prize money has increased several times during its near 20-year history. The first staging of the Players Championship Finals in 2009 had a prize fund of £200,000, including £50,000 for the winner. The total prize pot has jumped several times since then, with the latest increase coming in 2023 when the prize fund rose to £600,000, with £120,000 going to the champion.

All of the prize money from the Players Championship Finals is added to the PDC Order of Merit – the official world rankings of the PDC. In 2023, Luke Humphries won the title and it helped catapult him up to number three in the rankings. Less than six weeks later, ‘Cool Hand’ followed up that success in Minehead by winning the World Darts Championship to climb to the top of the Order of Merit.

Below is the darts Players Championship Finals prize money breakdown for 2024:-

  • Winner - £120,000
  • Runner-up - £60,000
  • Semi-finals - £30,000
  • Quarter-finals - £20,000
  • Round 3 (Last 16) - £10,000
  • Round 2 (Last 32) - £6,500
  • Round 1 (Last 64) - £3,000

WHO’S COMPETING AT THE 2024 PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS?

The order of play has been released for the first round of this year’s Players Championship Finals. All 64 players will be in action on the opening day of the tournament on November 22, including the defending champion Luke Humphries (pictured above) and the Grand Slam champion Luke Littler.

Below is the darts Players Championship 2024 schedule for the first round:-

Friday November 22

Afternoon Session (12.45pm start - GMT)

Main Stage
Gian van Veen v Scott Williams
Brendan Dolan v Martin Schindler
Ritchie Edhouse v Luke Woodhouse
James Wade v Stephen Burton
Ryan Searle v Jeffrey de Graaf
Martin Lukeman v Connor Scutt
Dave Chisnall v Joe Cullen

Stage Two
Andrew Gilding v Kevin Doets
William O'Connor v Niels Zonneveld
Krzysztof Ratajski v Madars Razma
Cameron Menzies v Jim Williams
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Callan Rydz
Ryan Joyce v Karel Sedlacek
Wesley Plaisier v Mensur Suljovic
Alan Soutar v Jermaine Wattimena
Wessel Nijman v Kim Huybrechts

Evening Session (7pm start - GMT)

Main Stage
Daryl Gurney v Peter Wright
Gerwyn Price v Thibault Tricole
Chris Dobey v Nathan Aspinall
Michael van Gerwen v Ian White
Luke Littler v Rob Cross
Luke Humphries v Gabriel Clemens
Gary Anderson v Ryan Meikle

Stage Two
Damon Heta v Mervyn King
Jonny Clayton v Florian Hempel
Danny Noppert v James Hurrell
Raymond van Barneveld v Chris Landman
Stephen Bunting v Mario Vandenbogaerde
Mike De Decker v Richard Veenstra
Michael Smith v Dom Taylor
Josh Rock v Ricky Evans
Ross Smith v Dimitri Van den Bergh

The winners of these first-round matches will go through to the second round, which starts at 12.45pm on the Saturday (November 23). Third-round ties get under way later that day at 7pm, before the tournament concludes on the Sunday (November 24) with the quarter-finals at 12.45pm, followed by the semi-finals and final from 7pm.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

The darts Players Championship 2024 Finals boasts a stacked line-up of players which includes many former major champions. Michael van Gerwen (pictured above) holds the record for the most titles in the Players Championship Finals, having lifted the trophy an impressive seven times. The legendary Phil Taylor is the only other player to have won this tournament on more than one occasion, winning in 2009, 2011 and 2012 during his playing career.

Chris Dobey enters this year’s competition as the top seed, having won three Players Championship titles during 2024, as well as reaching two more finals over the 30-event season. Stephen Bunting will be another player to watch after making an eye-catching six finals in Players Championship events this year, a run of results that sees him go to Minehead as the second seed.

Amongst the debutants in the 2024 edition, the newly crowned Grand Slam of Darts champion Luke Littler will have plenty of eyes on him to see if he can back up his triumph in Wolverhampton with another title. Young Dutchman Wessel Nijman has also grown plenty of admirers for his performances in 2024, winning a Players Championship title and finishing top of the Development Tour Order of Merit.

PAST HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

The Players Championship Finals has produced plenty of memorable moments over the years, including nine-dart legs, nail-biting finals and shock upsets. There have been four nine-dart finishes in the history of the Players Championship Finals, with Alan Norris and Michael van Gerwen (three times) the only two players to complete the perfect leg in the tournament.

Van Gerwen has an impressive record in the Players Championship Finals, having won the title seven times. ‘Mighty Mike’ also broke the record for the highest match average last year, posting a 118.52 average in a 6-1 win against Ross Smith in last year’s competition.

Another memorable Players Championship Finals moment came in 2010 when Paul Nicholson won the title at the Circus Tavern. ‘The Asset’ knocked out the defending champion Phil Taylor 10-9 in the semi-finals, before getting past Mervyn King 13-11 in the final to win his first major title.

PLAY LIKE THE PROS: OFFICIAL PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP EQUIPMENT

The Winmau Blade 6 is the dartboard of choice for the Players Championship Finals, with the Winmau Blade 6 Triple Core Dartboard being used for every match in the tournament as part of the brand’s deal as the official equipment supplier of the PDC. Replicate a professional-like setup at home with a Winmau Blade 6 Dual Core Dartboard, made from the finest East African Sisal and designed to withstand plenty of use.

Darts Corner also stocks many of the signature darts and accessories used by players competing in this year’s tournament including Michael Smith, Gary Anderson, Ross Smith and Alan Soutar. Upgrade your darts equipment to help improve your own game and enhance your playing experience at home!

DON’T MISS THE ACTION AT THE 2024 PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS

The latest edition of the Players Championship Finals is just around the corner as 64 of the world’s best players get ready to battle it out for the title. The 2024 Players Championship Finals takes place from November 22-24 at Butlin’s Minehead, and will be broadcast live on ITV.

Get in touch with the Darts Corner team and let us know your predictions for this year’s event. Tweet us your predicted winner on X (Twitter) or leave a comment on our Facebook page.

Keep up to date with all the action at this year’s Players Championship Finals with updates in the ‘Darts News’ section of our blog. Explore our ‘Professional Darts’ collection for a wide range of pro-level gear to take your game to the next level!

Pictures: PDC

Alex Moss is a content creator for Darts Corner and the co-host of the Weekly Dartscast podcast. Alex co-founded the Weekly Dartscast in 2017 and has helped produce 350+ episodes of the podcast, with their list of previous guests on the show a who’s who in the world of darts.

Alex also writes content for the Darts Corner blog, including the weekly darts news round-ups and how-to guides.

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