Luke Humphries will open his defence of the Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals against Gian van Veen, with the field and draw for next month’s showpiece now confirmed.
The £600,000 tournament - featuring the top 64 players on the Players Championship rankings following the conclusion of the 34-event 2025 Players Championship season - will take place at Butlin’s Minehead Resort from November 21-23.
Humphries retained the title with victory over Luke Littler 12 months ago, and the reigning champion will begin his bid for a third consecutive crown against Van Veen, in a repeat of last weekend’s European Championship final.
World number one Humphries finished the season in 58th position on the Players Championship rankings, and his reward is a showdown with seventh seed Van Veen, who has won each of the pair's three meetings in 2025.
Littler, meanwhile, will return to Minehead as the number 36 seed, and he will take on Sweden’s number one Jeffrey de Graaf, with Ross Smith or Niko Springer awaiting the winner in Round Two.
Gerwyn Price will be the top seed following his quartet of Players Championship wins across the year, and he will play Germany’s Max Hopp, who snatched the final qualification place in the 64-player field.
Wessel Nijman ended the year in second spot courtesy of his Players Championship 34 success on Thursday, and the emerging Dutchman will play his compatriot Richard Veenstra in Round One.
Third seed Damon Heta has been pitted against debutant Justin Hood, while former European Champion Smith takes on rising star Springer in another eye-catching tussle.
Chris Dobey – a winner of three Players Championship titles throughout the season – opens his title challenge against Keane Barry, while sixth seed Jermaine Wattimena and Wesley Plaisier lock horns in another all-Dutch encounter.
Stephen Bunting and Ritchie Edhouse go head-to-head in a battle of the televised title winners, with Cameron Menzies and Josh Rock also amongst the top ten seeds.
Menzies will face newcomer Adam Lipscombe for a place in Round Two, while Northern Ireland’s World Cup champion Rock meets former World Championship semi-finalist Gabriel Clemens.
Following a brace of Players Championship successes across the season, Joe Cullen will begin his campaign against two-time World Champion Peter Wright, who lifted this title back in 2021.
Germany’s number one Martin Schindler goes up against 2022/23 World Champion Michael Smith, as 2014 Players Championship Finals winner Gary Anderson tackles Belgium’s Mario Vandenbogaerde.
Elsewhere, Poland’s number one Krzysztof Ratajski will play Dutch icon Raymond van Barneveld, while 2017 champion Daryl Gurney takes on his former World Cup partner Brendan Dolan.
Grand Slam semi-finalist Mickey Mansell awaits world number five James Wade, with Czech trailblazer Karel Sedlacek and former World Matchplay winner Nathan Aspinall also poised to do battle.
Former finalists Jonny Clayton and Dave Chisnall face James Hurrell and Ryan Joyce respectively, while 2022 runner-up Rob Cross will meet Sebastian Bialecki, who celebrated his maiden ProTour title back in July.
Round One will take place across a bumper opening day on Friday November 21, with Saturday’s double session featuring Round Two in the afternoon, followed by Round Three in the evening.
The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will then be held on Sunday November 23, with the Winmau World Youth Championship final between Van Veen and Beau Greaves taking place during a blockbuster evening session.
The tournament will be broadcast live on ITV4 in the UK, and through the PDC's worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay.
Coverage will also be broadcast on PDCTV (excluding subscribers in the UK, Germany, Austria and Switzerland), while action from Stage Two will be broadcast worldwide on PDCTV on Friday and Saturday.
The schedule of play for the 2025 Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals will be announced in due course.
2025 Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals
Draw Bracket
(1) Gerwyn Price v (64) Max Hopp
(32) Rob Cross v (33) Sebastian Bialecki
(16) Martin Schindler v (49) Michael Smith
(17) Niels Zonneveld v (48) Nick Kenny
(8) Stephen Bunting v (57) Ritchie Edhouse
(25) Brendan Dolan v (40) Daryl Gurney
(9) Cameron Menzies v (56) Adam Lipscombe
(24) Bradley Brooks v (41) Martin Lukeman
(4) Ross Smith v (61) Niko Springer
(29) Jeffrey de Graaf v (36) Luke Littler
(13) William O'Connor v (52) Ricardo Pietreczko
(20) Gary Anderson v (45) Mario Vandenbogaerde
(5) Chris Dobey v (60) Keane Barry
(28) Mike De Decker v (37) Cam Crabtree
(12) Jonny Clayton v (53) James Hurrell
(21) Luke Woodhouse v (44) Alan Soutar
(2) Wessel Nijman v (63) Richard Veenstra
(31) Karel Sedlacek v (34) Nathan Aspinall
(15) Danny Noppert v (50) Ricky Evans
(18) Dirk van Duijvenbode v (47) Madars Razma
(7) Gian van Veen v (58) Luke Humphries
(26) Krzysztof Ratajski v (39) Raymond van Barneveld
(10) Josh Rock v (55) Gabriel Clemens
(23) Scott Williams v (42) Ian White
(3) Damon Heta v (62) Justin Hood
(30) Andrew Gilding v (35) Dom Taylor
(14) Joe Cullen v (51) Peter Wright
(19) James Wade v (46) Mickey Mansell
(6) Jermaine Wattimena v (59) Wesley Plaisier
(27) Dave Chisnall v (38) Ryan Joyce
(11) Ryan Searle v (54) Darren Beveridge
(22) Kevin Doets v (43) Callan Rydz