Luke Humphries lands second ProTour title of 2026 at Players Championship 17
Luke Humphries clinched his second ProTour title of the season at Players Championship 17 with an 8-4 win over Jermaine Wattimena in Leicester on Monday.
Humphries registered a tournament average of 104.7 as he swept through the 128-player field at the Mattioli Arena to land a sixth Players Championship title.
The world number two followed up last Thursday’s Premier League Night 15 triumph in Birmingham by making it back-to-back titles and ten games unbeaten in all competitions.
Humphries set his stall out in sensational style by defeating Rhys Griffin 6-3 with a 112.2 average, before thrashing German youngster Yorick Hofkens 6-1 with a 103.8 average.
The Premier League champion then overcame World Championship quarter-finalist Justin Hood 6-2 with a blistering 109 average, before averaging 105.6 in a 6-2 success against Christian Kist.
Humphries’ only sub-100 average came in the quarter-finals against Wessel Nijman, though he sufficiently swept aside the in-form Dutchman 6-3, before going on to thrash Danny Noppert 7-3 with a 102.8 average for a place in the final.
It was Wattimena who began the brighter of the pair, establishing an early 2-0 lead, but only for Humphries to hit back with three legs on the spin.
Wattimena responded with a five-visit leg of his own, before Humphries once again reeled off three legs in a row to extend his lead to 6-3.
Wattimena stopped the rot in leg ten, but Humphries resumed normal service by securing successive legs to add to his initial ProTour triumph back in February.
“I was gutted about the Wessel Nijman game, I thought it was going to be one of those days,” said Humphries.
“I said to my family members throughout the day that it was just going to be one of those days.
“When it clicks for me, it clicks for me! When it does, I think people see I’m one of the best players in the world.
“It sets a standard for myself, I can do this a lot more, it’s just up to me to try and provide it a lot more than I do.
“As soon as I walked into that game against Rhys [Griffin], I think I almost had four 11-dart legs on the spin, I knew the game was there today.
“I remember thinking throughout parts of the day that I felt like I just couldn’t miss, and that’s always a dangerous person when you feel like that.”
Wattimena, meanwhile, kicked off his campaign with back-to-back victories over compatriots Alexander Merkx and Jeffrey Sparidaans, before beating Stephen Burton in a comfortable 6-2 win to progress to the Last 16.
The 38-year-old, who finished runner-up at Players Championship Twelve earlier this year, then eased past Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-2, before facing Stephen Bunting in the quarter-finals.
Bunting raced into a 3-1 lead despite the Dutchman producing a 13-dart leg in the second, before Wattimena fired back with five consecutive legs — all won in five visits or fewer — to dispatch the former Masters champion 6-3.
Wattimena then produced his best average of the day in his semi-final clash against Kevin Doets, winning seven of the nine legs to defeat his compatriot 7-2 with an average in excess of 111.
Noppert and Doets were joined in the quarter-finals by Premier League star Bunting – who came through three last-leg deciders against Cristo Reyes, Mensur Suljović and Damon Heta.
ProTour leader Nijman continued his good form in Leicester despite falling short to Humphries, while Robert Owen made a surprise surge into the quarter-finals, defeating Joe Hunt, Maik Kuivenhoven, Ryan Meikle and Gabriel Clemens along the way.
Dirk van Duijvenbode, who fell short in the final of Players Championship 15 to compatriot Michael van Gerwen, failed to overcome Doets despite averaging nearly 100 against his fellow Dutchman.
Josh Rock, James Wade, Rob Cross and Michael Smith were amongst the notable first round casualties.
Players Championship 17 Results
Monday May 18
First Round
Wessel Nijman 6-3 Daniel Ayres
Darryl Pilgrim 6-4 Marvin van Velzen
Mickey Mansell 6-4 Richard Veenstra
Nathan Potter 6-4 Scott Williams
Gian van Veen 6-4 Mike De Decker
Max Hopp 6-3 Ian White
Andrew Gilding 6-0 Martin Lukeman
Sietse Lap 6-2 Peter Wright
Samuel Price 6-5 Josh Rock
Christian Kist 6-5 Thibault Tricole
Cameron Menzies 6-2 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Jimmy van Schie 6-5 Dominik Gruellich
Luke Humphries 6-3 Rhys Griffin
Yorick Hofkens 6-3 Filip Bereza
Madars Razma 6-5 Joe Cullen
Justin Hood 6-2 Tytus Kanik
Jonny Clayton 6-1 Adam Gawlas
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-3 Maximilian Czerwinski
Kim Huybrechts 6-3 Greg Ritchie
Marvin Kraft 6-5 Raymond van Barneveld
Gabriel Clemens 6-3 Luke Woodhouse
Rob Owen 6-2 Joe Hunt
Lukas Wenig 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
Ryan Meikle 6-5 Adam Lipscombe
Danny Noppert 6-3 Stefaan Henderyck
Charlie Manby 6-4 Darius Labanauskas
Connor Scutt 6-5 Rob Cross
Callan Rydz 6-3 Stefan Bellmont
Niko Springer 6-5 Owen Bates
Derek Coulson 6-1 Tom Sykes
Ryan Searle 6-0 Pero Ljubic
Pascal Rupprecht 6-3 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Chris Dobey 6-1 Carl Sneyd
Sebastian Bialecki 6-4 Wesley Plaisier
Stephen Rosney 6-1 Michael Smith
Keane Barry 6-4 Mervyn King
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-3 Ricardo Pietreczko
Viktor Tingstrom 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse
Krzysztof Ratajski 6-1 Nick Kenny
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-1 Jurjen van der Velde
Ross Smith 6-1 Tyler Thorpe
Jim Long 6-4 Adam Warner
Thomas Lovely 6-2 Ryan Joyce
Tavis Dudeney 6-2 Oskar Lukasiak
Kevin Doets 6-3 Andy Boulton
Leon Weber 6-5 Kai Gotthardt
William O’Connor 6-4 Dennie Olde Kalter
Adam Leek 6-4 Christopher Wickenden
Stephen Bunting 6-0 Ricky Evans
Cristo Reyes 6-3 Bradley Brooks
Mensur Suljovic 6-1 Dave Chisnall
Shane McGuirk 6-5 Brendan Dolan
Damon Heta 6-4 Adam Paxton
Beau Greaves 6-4 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Tom Bissell 6-3 Martin Schindler
Tommy Morris 6-4 Alan Soutar
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Alexander Merkx
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-5 Cor Dekker
Stephen Burton 6-5 Karel Sedlacek
Chris Landman 6-2 Arno Merk
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 James Wade
Tommy Lishman 6-1 Benjamin Pratnemer
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Niall Culleton
Cam Crabtree 6-5 David Sharp
Second Round
Wessel Nijman 6-4 Darryl Pilgrim
Mickey Mansell 6-2 Nathan Potter
Gian van Veen 6-2 Max Hopp
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Sietse Lap
Christian Kist 6-3 Samuel Price
Jimmy van Schie 6-3 Cameron Menzies
Luke Humphries 6-1 Yorick Hofkens
Justin Hood 6-5 Madars Razma
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-4 Jonny Clayton
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Marvin Kraft
Rob Owen 6-2 Gabriel Clemens
Ryan Meikle 6-1 Lukas Wenig
Danny Noppert 6-3 Charlie Manby
Callan Rydz 6-3 Connor Scutt
Derek Coulson 6-1 Niko Springer
Ryan Searle 6-4 Pascal Rupprecht
Sebastian Bialecki 6-3 Chris Dobey
Keane Barry 6-3 Stephen Rosney
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-1 Viktor Tingstrom
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-5 Krzysztof Ratajski
Ross Smith 6-1 Jim Long
Tavis Dudeney 6-4 Thomas Lovely
Kevin Doets 6-5 Leon Weber
Adam Leek 6-5 William O’Connor
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Cristo Reyes
Mensur Suljovic 6-4 Shane McGuirk
Damon Heta 6-2 Beau Greaves
Tommy Morris 6-5 Tom Bissell
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Jeffrey Sparidaans
Stephen Burton 6-3 Chris Landman
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Tommy Lishman
Daryl Gurney 6-5 Cam Crabtree
Last 32
Wessel Nijman 6-2 Mickey Mansell
Andrew Gilding 6-0 Gian van Veen
Christian Kist 6-4 Jimmy van Schie
Luke Humphries 6-2 Justin Hood
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-5 Kim Huybrechts
Rob Owen 6-4 Ryan Meikle
Danny Noppert 6-3 Callan Rydz
Ryan Searle 6-1 Derek Coulson
Keane Barry 6-4 Sebastian Bialecki
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Jeffrey De Graaf
Ross Smith 6-3 Tavis Dudeney
Kevin Doets 6-1 Adam Leek
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Mensur Suljovic
Damon Heta 6-1 Tommy Morris
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Stephen Burton
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-5 Daryl Gurney
Last 16
Wessel Nijman 6-5 Andrew Gilding
Luke Humphries 6-2 Christian Kist
Rob Owen 6-2 Maik Kuivenhoven
Danny Noppert 6-3 Ryan Searle
Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-4 Keane Barry
Kevin Doets 6-2 Ross Smith
Stephen Bunting 6-5 Damon Heta
Jermaine Wattimena 6-2 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Quarter-Finals
Luke Humphries 6-3 Wessel Nijman
Danny Noppert 6-5 Rob Owen
Kevin Doets 6-4 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Jermaine Wattimena 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Semi-Finals
Luke Humphries 7-3 Danny Noppert
Jermaine Wattimena 7-2 Kevin Doets
Final
Luke Humphries 8-4 Jermaine Wattimena
