Luke Littler will not be able to defend his Players Championship Finals title in November.

The two-time reigning world champion has missed much of this year's Players Championship series, prioritising exhibition events and time off.

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Why Littler won't play in Players Championship Finals

He currently ranks 128th on the 2026 Players Championship List, well below the qualification threshold for the Finals.

And he won't compete at the final two Players Championship events in Leicester next week.

As such, 'the Nuke' will not qualify for the Players Championship Finals at Butlins in Minehead, where £120,000 is on offer for the winner.

Littler claimed that title for the first time last year, beating Nathan Aspinall in the final.

And while he won't be able to repeat the feat in 2026, he has dominated the PDC circuit since retaining his World Championship crown in January.

The 19-year-old has won five majors this year, most recently defending his World Matchplay title in July.

A series of setbacks

However, he has suffered a number of surprise defeats recently.

Littler's hopes of a clean sweep of PDC majors in 2026 were ended by Jonny Clayton at last month's World Series of Darts Finals.

He then lost to Luca Woodhouse in the first round of the World Grand Prix before being knocked out of the European Championship at the quarter-final stage by Krzysztof Ratajski.

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Sherrock's victory earned her a prize of £501,000.

But despite his recent setbacks, Littler will be among the foremost favourites to win the 2027 World Championship at the Alexandra Palace.

The event, which gets underway shortly before Christmas, will be the biggest yet, taking place in a larger arena of the iconic north London venue.

Before all that, however, Littler will put another title on the line.

He'll be part of an expanded 48-player field at November's Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton.

Littler has won the tournament in each of the last two years.