Luke Littler risks missing Minehead as world champ withdraws from Players Championship 28

The world champion Luke Littler could be set to miss the 2025 Players Championship Finals in Minehead after withdrawing from another Players Championship event this Tuesday afternoon. Leaving himself very much at risk of slipping outside the top 64.

Although the world champion currently sits inside the top 64 of the Players Championship Order of Merit, he does so only by £1,000 in 58th place. In other words, Littler is playing a very dangerous game by skipping Players Championship 28 this afternoon as the cut off for Minehead approaches.

Notably, Littler isn't the only player to withdraw from the original field of participants for Players Championship 28. Alongside The Nuke, the man he beat in the final of the UK Open and the World Matchplay in 2025, James Wade, has also stepped back from the competition, as has Joshua Richardson. In their place, the trio of Jack Tweddell, Graham Hall and former Lakeside champion Scott Waites have been drafted in from the Challenge Tour.

With world number one Luke Humphries among those chasing down Littler’s place inside the top 64 of the Players Championship Order of Merit, a big day on the Pro Tour might have just been made even bigger by Littler’s surprise absence.