Humphries wins fourth Players Championship title of 2026 despite illness

English darts player Luke Humphries, the world number three, won PDC Players Championship 33 at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester on Wednesday, 4 November. The event is part of the PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) ProTour. He beat Dutchman Niels Zonneveld 8-4 in the final, taking his fourth Players Championship title of 2026.

Humphries said he had been seriously ill in recent weeks. Food poisoning left him barely moving for about three and a half weeks, unable to eat, and he lost around 15 pounds, more than a stone. The illness forced him to miss the European Championship, which he said was the first major he had ever missed. He did not practise for two weeks and threw only a few darts in the last four days.

Route to the title

Humphries won back-to-back 6-2 matches against Steve Lennon and Gerwyn Price, then beat Gary Anderson 7-4 in the semi-final, despite Anderson averaging 106.75. In the final he broke Zonneveld's throw twice in 12 darts and averaged 103.77. Zonneveld had beaten Michael van Gerwen 7-5 in his semi-final.

Humphries said he still wants to win another major, whether the Grand Slam, the Players Championship Finals or the World Championship.

World Championship race

Dutch veteran Raymond van Barneveld reached the quarter-finals, his second ProTour quarter-final of 2026, a big step towards World Championship qualification. Anderson's run to the last four put him in the provisional field for the Players Championship Finals. Twenty-year-old Henry Coates moved into the provisional World Championship places at the expense of David Sharp.

The Players Championship Finals take place in Minehead on 27–29 November, and the field will be confirmed after event 34. The winner receives £130,000.