Luke Woodhouse ends the wait for maiden PDC title at Players Championship 18 “I know I’m playing some really good stuff, so in my eyes it was a matter of when, not if”
Luke Woodhouse ends the wait for maiden PDC title at Players Championship 18 “I know I’m playing some really good stuff, so in my eyes it was a matter of when, not if”
Luke Woodhouse finally captured the first PDC ranking title of his career on Tuesday, producing a superb display to defeat Andrew Gilding 8-4 and claim Players Championship 18 in Leicester.
Heading into the event at the Mattioli Arena, Woodhouse held the unwanted distinction of being the highest-ranked player on the PDC circuit without a ranking title to his name.
That statistic is no more.
The 37-year-old delivered a string of impressive performances throughout the day to secure the £15,000 top prize and continue the finest spell of form of his professional career.
Woodhouse began his campaign with comfortable victories over Greg Ritchie and Jimmy van Schie before raising his level significantly in round three, averaging over a ton in a commanding win against Ireland’s William O’Connor.
One of the defining moments of his tournament followed in the last 16, where Woodhouse showed remarkable resilience to survive three match darts against Charlie Manby before edging through a dramatic deciding-leg encounter.
That escape appeared to spark the Englishman into life for the remainder of the tournament.
Woodhouse swept aside Welsh number one Jonny Clayton in the quarter-finals before producing another accomplished display against Harry Ward in the semi-finals, averaging over 99 in a convincing 7-3 success.
His reward was a meeting with newly-crowned Players Championship 16 winner Andrew Gilding, who was aiming to secure a second ProTour title in the space of a week.
The final initially looked set to belong to Gilding.
The former UK Open champion raced into a dominant 3-0 lead and appeared firmly in control of proceedings, but Woodhouse responded in emphatic fashion.
A blistering burst of 14, 13 and 11-dart legs saw the Kent thrower level the match at 3-3 and completely shift the momentum of the contest.
Gilding briefly halted the comeback with a classy 13-darter in leg seven to regain the lead, but from that point onward Woodhouse was unstoppable.
The world number 19 reeled off five consecutive legs in devastating style to seal an 8-4 victory, averaging 102.04 in a sensational title-winning performance.
“I think relief is the big word really,” reflected Woodhouse after lifting the trophy.
“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 back-to-back Players Championship titles, Gilding continued his excellent recent form with another impressive run to the final in Leicester.
The Suffolk veteran collected the £10,000 runner-up prize and climbed to fourth in the Players Championship Order of Merit after another consistent showing on the ProTour.
Gilding opened the day with three consecutive 6-4 victories against Leon Weber, Brendan Dolan and Jack Tweddell before surviving a deciding-leg thriller against Darius Labanauskas.
The 55-year-old showed tremendous fighting spirit in that contest, battling back after the Lithuanian missed five match darts to close out the match.
Gilding then defeated German youngster Niko Springer in the quarter-finals before edging out James Wade in a high-quality semi-final clash, pinning a clinical 106 checkout to secure victory.
Wade himself enjoyed a strong day in Leicester, defeating Scott Williams and Niels Zonneveld comfortably while also coming through deciding-leg encounters against Tommy Morris and Sebastian Bialecki.
The ten-time televised title winner was joined in the semi-finals by Challenge Tour representative Harry Ward, who made the most of a late opportunity after replacing Raymond van Barneveld in the field.
Remarkably, Ward’s run came exactly seven years after he won his maiden Players Championship title, and the 28-year-old produced several impressive displays to reach the last four.
Among his standout victories was a success over Kevin Doets, who continued his own strong form despite exiting in the quarter-finals.
The Dutchman had earlier produced sensational averages of 110.21 and 107.5 in victories over Niall Culleton and Ryan Joyce respectively.
Premier League star Jonny Clayton also reached the quarter-finals before suffering defeat to eventual champion Woodhouse.
Springer and Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki completed the quarter-final line-up after both players continued their encouraging campaigns on the ProTour circuit.
Elsewhere, there were a number of surprise early exits during Tuesday’s action.
Top seed Wessel Nijman suffered his first opening-round defeat on the Players Championship circuit in 2026 after losing to Belgium’s Mario Vandenbogaerde, who produced an excellent display to topple the Dutchman.
Dutch number one Gian van Veen also exited in round one, alongside Premier League contender Stephen Bunting, second seed Chris Dobey and Monday’s finalist Jermaine Wattimena.
Attention now turns back to the European Tour, with the International Darts Open taking place in Riesa this weekend from May 22-24.
The next Players Championship double-header will then be staged at Arena MK in Milton Keynes on June 2-3, as the 2026 ProTour season continues.
Luke Woodhouse ends the wait for maiden PDC title at Players Championship 18
2026 Players Championship Eighteen
Tuesday May 19
Mattioli Arena, Leicester
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
