Luke Littler’s hopes of qualifying for the Players Championship finals suffered another setback yesterday, getting knocked out by Brendan Dolan in the semi-finals of PC28 in Leicester. It was a step up from PC27 where he only reached the quarter-finals, losing to Jermaine Wattimena, but still not enough to grab the title.
Another Tournament, Another Near Miss
The world champion did climb from 141st to 125th in the order of merit, pocketing £10,500 along the way. He even posted on Instagram, “We are so on the move,” which, hey, you gotta stay positive, right? On Wednesday, Littler had a solid run, beating Benjamin Pratnemer, Martin Schindler, and Krzysztof Ratajski to reach the final four before Dolan stopped him. But let’s be real, that semi-final defeat leaves the world number one with a ton of work to do. He’s gunning for a calendar sweep of ranking events this year, but with only the top 64 players making it to Minehead for the finals, he’s currently sitting £16,750 behind 64th-placed Shane McGuirk. That’s a huge gap to close!
The Champ Is Hunting, And So Is Humphries
Speaking of champions, it was fellow Englishman Luke Humphries who took home the PC28 title, beating Dolan 8-6 in the final. And get this, Humphries, the world number two, had some serious words after his win about Littler. He said, “Luke has been by far the best player in the last 18 months and he deserves the world number one spot. He’s won everything and I am going to be the only one who’s trying to stop him.” Humphries isn’t holding back, adding, “I want to go on and win a major this year. I don’t want him to have a clean sweep , as much as everyone would love to see it.” Talk about high stakes! Littler, who largely skipped the first 26 events to manage his schedule, is now looking at a projected cutoff of over £30,000 for the finals. That means his decision to only feature in UK events might be changing.
Only seven events are left in the qualification stage. Littler might have to travel to Den Bosch next month to boost his hopes of making the finals, a change from his stated intention to only play UK events. The final two qualification events are in Leicester on November 4th and 5th. This race is going down to the wire. Can the world number one claw his way into the top 64? Every single dart from here on out is gonna matter.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by BBC Sport.
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