The Sports Guru
Luke Littler is chasing something no darts player has ever managed, but that pursuit just hit a snag in Leicester. This article explains why Brendan Dolan's win over Littler matters more than a routine semi-final exit, and what it means for the world No 1's remaining schedule this year.
Luke Humphries lifted his seventh Players Championship title on Wednesday, beating Brendan Dolan 8-6 in the final in Leicester. It was a solid, well-earned win for the world No 2, though the day's real talking point came earlier when Dolan knocked out world No 1 Luke Littler in the semi-final.
The final everyone missed
Humphries and Littler have spent 2026 circling each other at the top of the game, and a Players Championship 28 final between them would have been the natural showpiece of a Wednesday in Leicester. Dolan made sure it never happened, beating Littler 7-4 in the semi-final before running Humphries close in the final itself, losing 8-6.
For Humphries, the title is his third Players Championship win of the season and his first in the series since PC17 in May - also held at the Mattioli Arena. He reclaimed the world No 2 ranking from Gian van Veen during the course of the day, a detail that mattered on its own before he had even reached the final.
How Humphries got there
The route to the final was not straightforward. Humphries survived six match darts against Danny Noppert, winning that match 6-5, two rounds before beating Mike De Decker 7-4 in the semi-final to set up the meeting with Dolan. Three tight matches in a row, each of them winnable by the opponent, is not the profile of a comfortable Wednesday - and it makes the eventual 8-6 final score look tighter than a straightforward coronation.
Why Dolan's win matters more than the scoreline suggests
Littler was playing just his second Players Championship event of the season. He had sat out the first 26 events entirely before a quarter-final defeat to eventual PC27 winner Jermaine Wattimena on Tuesday, and Wednesday's exit to Dolan means his brief return to the Players Championship series has produced two appearances and two losses before the final.
That matters because of the Order of Merit. Littler is reportedly aiming to reach the top 64 on the Order of Merit across the tournaments that remain, which would qualify him for the Players Championship Finals in Minehead in November. Two events, two exits before a final, is not the platform he would have wanted going into a run of majors that still need to be won this year.
The clean sweep, and the gap that remains
Littler has won every PDC major so far in 2026 - the World Championship, the Masters, the UK Open, the Premier League, the World Cup of Darts and the World Matchplay. That is six majors from six attempts, and the reason his Players Championship form is being scrutinised at all is that he is chasing something no player has ever completed: a full clean sweep of PDC major titles in a single season.
To finish the job, he still needs to win the World Series, the World Grand Prix, the European Championship, the Grand Slam of Darts and the Players Championship Finals itself.
None of that is diminished by a Players Championship semi-final defeat in Leicester. But it does mean the Order of Merit qualification for Minehead is no longer a formality attached to a season of near-total dominance - it is now a task Littler has to actually go and finish, in events he has mostly ignored until now.
What comes next
The PDC calendar does not slow down to let anyone catch their breath. The World Grand Prix runs from September 28 to October 4, the Grand Slam of Darts from November 14 to 22, and the World Darts Championship from December 10 through to January 3. Two of those - the World Grand Prix and the Grand Slam - are among the five majors Littler still needs for his clean sweep.
Humphries, meanwhile, takes a seventh Players Championship title and a reclaimed world No 2 ranking into that same run of events, having shown in Leicester that he can grind through three consecutive tight matches when the wins matter. Dolan's afternoon - beating the world No 1, then taking the eventual champion to 8-6 - was arguably the standout individual performance of the day, even without a trophy to show for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Humphries beat Brendan Dolan 8-6 in the final to win Players Championship 28, his third Players Championship title of the season and seventh of his career.
Dolan beat Littler 7-4 in their semi-final, denying the world No 1 a place in the final against Humphries.
Littler has won six majors so far this year: the World Championship, the Masters, the UK Open, the Premier League, the World Cup of Darts and the World Matchplay.
He still needs to win the World Series, the World Grand Prix, the European Championship, the Grand Slam of Darts and the Players Championship Finals.
Littler is reportedly aiming to finish in the top 64 on the Order of Merit across the remaining tournaments to qualify for the Players Championship Finals in Minehead in November.
Research: This article uses the archived evidence supplied for this story. Story inspiration: Sky Sports' original report.
