Luke Littler suffers Players Championship 27 quarter-final exit with loss to eventual winner Jermaine Wattimena

Luke Littler's bid to qualify for the Players Championship Finals, and keep alive his hopes of claiming a historic clean sweep of PDC major titles in 2026, suffered a blow with a quarter-final exit at PC27.

Littler was beaten 6-5 by Jermaine Wattimena in a final-leg decider, with the Dutchman going on to take the title in Leicester, overcoming countryman Kevin Doets 8-6 in the final.

Littler beat Archie Self 6-2, Arno Merk 6-3 and then William O'Connor 6-3 to set up a last-16 tie with Chris Dobey, who he thrashed 6-0, before losing out to eventual champion Wattimena.

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The world No 1 has won every major title on the PDC circuit so far in 2026 - the World Championship, Masters, UK Open, Premier League, World Cup of Darts and World Matchplay.

He still needs to win the World Series, World Grand Prix, European Championship, Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship Finals this season in order to achieve something no-one has ever managed in the sport.

Can Littler still qualify for Players Championship Finals?

The major obstacle standing in the way of a Littler clean sweep is that only the top 64 in the Players Championship Order of Merit make it through to the finals in Minehead in November, with the projected cut-off expected to be over £30,000 in earnings.

The winner of each Players Championship event scoops up £15,000 but Littler was able to secure only £4,000 by reaching the quarter-finals on his season-debut outing.

The 19-year-old opted out of the first 26 events before entering PC27 and 28 in Leicester, meaning he needs to have strong showings in the final seven scheduled floor events to stand a chance of qualifying.

PC28 on Wednesday, also being held at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester, gives him another opportunity to claim a tournament win and boost his finals hopes.

How Wattimena stormed to PC27 title

Wattimena fended off a late fightback Doets to clinch his third PDC ranking title with victory in the Players Championship 27 showpiece on Tuesday.

Following his dramatic, first career win against Littler, sealed with a clutch 115 checkout on tops in a last-leg decider, Wattimena produced further heroics in his semi-final against Luke Woodhouse, reeling off six straight legs from 4-1 down, aided by an astonishing flurry of five ton-plus finishes.

Wattimena converted 136, 135, 115, 127 and 128 outshots to complete the comeback, before winning six straight legs against Doets to power into a commanding 6-2 lead.

Doets responded by winning four of the next five to threaten an improbable turnaround, only for Wattimena to fire in a brilliant 11-darter en route to victory.

"I played really well today but some games I made difficult for myself," conceded Wattimena, who reclaims a place in the world's top 16 at the expense of Ross Smith.

"I always play really well against Luke to be honest. Even when I lose I play well, and that 115 finish against Luke gave me big confidence.

"I didn't realise I hit five ton-plus finishes in the semi-final because you're busy with the game, but I'm very happy with this win."

Nathan Aspinall was another high-profile name in action, and the Stockport star struck perfection during his opening round tie against Thibault Tricole, before succumbing to Mickey Mansell in round three.

2026 Players Championship 27 results

Tuesday, August 25 - Mattioli Arena, Leicester

Last 16
Wessel Nijman 6-1 Bradley Brooks
Kim Huybrechts 6-2 Martijn Dragt
Kevin Doets 6-3 Rob Cross
Cameron Menzies 6-1 Krzysztof Ratajski
Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Dirk van Duijvenbode
Mickey Mansell 6-5 Ryan Searle
Luke Littler 6-0 Chris Dobey
Jermaine Wattimena 6-4 Carl Sneyd

Quarter-finals
Wessel Nijman 6-3 Kim Huybrechts
Kevin Doets 6-2 Cameron Menzies
Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Mickey Mansell
Jermaine Wattimena 6-5 Luke Littler

Semi-finals
Kevin Doets 7-5 Wessel Nijman
Jermaine Wattimena 7-4 Luke Woodhouse

Final
Jermaine Wattimena 8-6 Kevin Doets

Nine-Darter!
Nathan Aspinall hit a nine-darter in his match against Thibault Tricole in the earlier rounds.

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