Luke Woodhouse clinches maiden ProTour title at Players Championship 18
Luke Woodhouse claimed his first PDC ranking title at Players Championship 18 with an 8-4 victory over Andrew Gilding in the final in Leicester on Tuesday.
Coming into the event, Woodhouse was the highest-ranked player without a PDC title to his name, but he rectified that unwanted statistic with a series of magnificent performances at the Mattioli Arena.
Following early wins over Greg Ritchie and Jimmy van Schie, Woodhouse produced a ton-plus average in defeating William O’Connor, before surviving three match darts to overcome Charlie Manby in the Last 16.
The 37-year-old then swept aside Premier League star Jonny Clayton in the quarter-finals and averaged 99 to dispatch Harry Ward 7-3 in the semi-finals.
This set up a showdown with in-form Gilding – who secured his maiden Players Championship crown at the same venue last Wednesday.
The former UK Open champion looked poised to extend his title tally after racing into a 3-0 lead, only for Woodhouse to reply with a three-leg burst of 14, 13 and 11-darters to restore parity at three apiece.
Gilding regained the initiative with a 13-darter in leg seven, but Woodhouse produced another devastating burst in the closing stages, rattling off five legs straight to prevail with a 102 average.
“I think relief is the big word really,” reflected Woodhouse, who has established himself in the world’s top 20.
“Today I’ve played some good stuff. To get that tag of highest-ranked player not to have won a title off my back, it’s lovely.
“I thought, get out early, and then I was 3-0 down. I also didn’t want to just collapse, so I thought stick in there, and I’ve shown what I can do.
“I know I’m playing some really good stuff, so in my eyes it was a matter of when, not if.
“I’ve been playing some lovely stuff for maybe 18 months now. I want to go and do well in every tournament I play in… I want to do more.
“I think my game is in a great place, so who knows what can happen!”
Despite missing out on his second title in the space of a week, Gilding maintained his excellent form to claim the £10,000 runner-up prize, which catapults him up to fourth on the Players Championship rankings.
The Suffolk star kicked off his campaign with a trio of 6-4 victories against Leon Weber, Brendan Dolan and Jack Tweddell, which he backed up with a deciding-leg win over Darius Labanauskas.
Having survived five match darts against the Lithuanian, Gilding dispatched Germany’s Niko Springer in the last eight, before converting a clinical 106 checkout to deny James Wade in the semi-finals.
Wade eased past Scott Williams and Niels Zonneveld during his run to the semis, while also emerging through deciding-leg ties against Tommy Morris and Sebastian Bialecki.
The ten-time major winner was joined in the semi-finals by Challenge Tour star Ward – who replaced Raymond van Barneveld in today’s event.
The 28-year-old grasped his unexpected opportunity superbly, exactly seven years to the day since he celebrated his maiden Players Championship title.
Ward overcame Kevin Doets in advancing to the semi-finals, despite the Dutchman producing sensational 110.2 and 107.5 averages in earlier wins against Niall Culleton and Ryan Joyce respectively.
Clayton was another high-profile star to feature in the Last Eight, with Springer and Polish number two Bialecki completing the quarter-final line-up.
Meanwhile, top seed Wessel Nijman suffered his first opening round exit on the Players Championship circuit in 2026, succumbing to a superb display from Belgium’s Mario Vandenbogaerde.
Dutch number one Gian van Veen also crashed out at the same stage, alongside his Premier League rival Stephen Bunting, second seed Chris Dobey and Monday’s runner-up Jermaine Wattimena.
Players Championship 18 Results
Tuesday May 19
First Round
Andy Boulton 6-2 Richard Veenstra
Harry Ward 6-2 Stephen Burton
Mario Vandenbogaerde 6-2 Wessel Nijman
Tommy Lishman 6-1 Pascal Rupprecht
Tom Sykes 6-1 Krzysztof Ratajski
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-0 Pero Ljubic
Joe Hunt 6-1 Gian van Veen
Lukas Wenig 6-1 Maximilian Czerwinski
Ryan Joyce 6-5 Dominik Gruellich
Mervyn King 6-5 Max Hopp
Josh Rock 6-3 Ian White
Ritchie Edhouse 6-2 Adam Warner
Stefan Bellmont 6-3 Cameron Menzies
Darryl Pilgrim 6-4 Madars Razma
Kevin Doets 6-2 Niall Culleton
Nick Kenny 6-2 Thomas Lovely
Jurjen van der Velde 6-1 Dave Chisnall
Justin Hood 6-3 Tytus Kanik
Jonny Clayton 6-2 Cam Crabtree
Adam Paxton 6-2 Tyler Thorpe
Daryl Gurney 6-1 Arno Merk
Owen Bates 6-3 Jack Aldridge
Marvin Kraft 6-3 Damon Heta
Chris Landman 6-1 Rusty-Jake Rodriguez
Stephen Rosney 6-1 Rob Cross
Charlie Manby 6-5 Callan Rydz
Danny Noppert 6-1 Filip Bereza
Beau Greaves 6-3 Bradley Brooks
William O’Connor 6-5 Mickey Mansell
Maik Kuivenhoven 6-1 Stefaan Henderyck
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Greg Ritchie
Jimmy van Schie 6-5 Keane Barry
Alexander Merkx 6-5 Michael Smith
Christopher Wickenden 6-5 Rhys Griffin
Rob Owen 6-2 Chris Dobey
Darius Labanauskas 6-0 Alan Soutar
Martin Schindler 6-1 Cor Dekker
Jack Tweddell 6-1 Derek Coulson
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Leon Weber
Brendan Dolan 6-2 Christian Kist
Karel Sedlacek 6-2 Marvin van Velzen
Kai Gotthardt 6-1 Viktor Tingstrom
Ross Smith 6-3 Ricky Evans
David Sharp 6-2 Cristo Reyes
Joe Cullen 6-5 Mike De Decker
Peter Wright 6-1 Adam Gawlas
Niko Springer 6-0 Shane McGuirk
Jeffrey de Zwaan 6-1 Carl Sneyd
Sebastian Bialecki 6-3 Ryan Meikle
Tavis Dudeney 6-3 Sietse Lap
Tom Bissell 6-3 Stephen Bunting
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-1 Wesley Plaisier
Ryan Searle 6-2 Dennie Olde Kalter
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-1 Ricardo Pietreczko
Connor Scutt 6-3 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Yorick Hofkens 6-5 Nathan Potter
Kim Huybrechts 6-4 Samuel Price
Thibault Tricole 6-3 Jim Long
Gabriel Clemens 6-3 Jermaine Wattimena
Tommy Morris 6-1 Adam Leek
Niels Zonneveld 6-2 Oskar Lukasiak
Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Martin Lukeman
James Wade 6-1 Scott Williams
Benjamin Pratnemer 6-3 Adam Lipscombe
Second Round
Harry Ward 6-4 Andy Boulton
Tommy Lishman 6-5 Mario Vandenbogaerde
Jeffrey De Graaf 6-4 Tom Sykes
Joe Hunt 6-5 Lukas Wenig
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Mervyn King
Josh Rock 6-5 Ritchie Edhouse
Stefan Bellmont 6-2 Darryl Pilgrim
Kevin Doets 6-3 Nick Kenny
Jurjen van der Velde 6-5 Justin Hood
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Adam Paxton
Daryl Gurney 6-3 Owen Bates
Chris Landman 6-2 Marvin Kraft
Charlie Manby 6-5 Stephen Rosney
Danny Noppert 6-4 Beau Greaves
William O’Connor 6-2 Maik Kuivenhoven
Luke Woodhouse 6-4 Jimmy van Schie
Alexander Merkx 6-5 Christopher Wickenden
Darius Labanauskas 6-1 Rob Owen
Jack Tweddell 6-2 Martin Schindler
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Brendan Dolan
Kai Gotthardt 6-2 Karel Sedlacek
Ross Smith 6-1 David Sharp
Joe Cullen 6-0 Peter Wright
Niko Springer 6-5 Jeffrey de Zwaan
Sebastian Bialecki 6-1 Tavis Dudeney
Dimitri Van den Bergh 6-4 Tom Bissell
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-3 Ryan Searle
Yorick Hofkens 6-5 Connor Scutt
Kim Huybrechts 6-0 Thibault Tricole
Tommy Morris 6-4 Gabriel Clemens
Niels Zonneveld 6-4 Mensur Suljovic
James Wade 6-4 Benjamin Pratnemer
Last 32
Harry Ward 6-5 Tommy Lishman
Joe Hunt 6-2 Jeffrey De Graaf
Ryan Joyce 6-3 Josh Rock
Kevin Doets 6-1 Stefan Bellmont
Jonny Clayton 6-4 Jurjen van der Velde
Chris Landman 6-4 Daryl Gurney
Charlie Manby 6-4 Danny Noppert
Luke Woodhouse 6-3 William O’Connor
Darius Labanauskas 6-2 Alexander Merkx
Andrew Gilding 6-4 Jack Tweddell
Ross Smith 6-5 Kai Gotthardt
Niko Springer 6-3 Joe Cullen
Sebastian Bialecki 6-1 Dimitri Van den Bergh
Jeffrey Sparidaans 6-2 Yorick Hofkens
Tommy Morris 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
James Wade 6-2 Niels Zonneveld
Last 16
Harry Ward 6-5 Joe Hunt
Kevin Doets 6-2 Ryan Joyce
Jonny Clayton 6-0 Chris Landman
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Charlie Manby
Andrew Gilding 6-5 Darius Labanauskas
Niko Springer 6-3 Ross Smith
Sebastian Bialecki 6-4 Jeffrey Sparidaans
James Wade 6-5 Tommy Morris
Quarter-Finals
Harry Ward 6-5 Kevin Doets
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Jonny Clayton
Andrew Gilding 6-2 Niko Springer
James Wade 6-5 Sebastian Bialecki
Semi-Finals
Luke Woodhouse 7-3 Harry Ward
Andrew Gilding 7-6 James Wade
Final
Luke Woodhouse 8-4 Andrew Gilding
