The next four rounds of the PDC Tour's Players Championship take place in Hildesheim, Germany, with events nine and 10 taking place on Monday, May 6 and Tuesday, May 7.
Eight tournaments have taken place so far in 2024 with eight different winners – Luke Littler, Gary Anderson, Ryan Searle, Damon Heta, Raymond van Barneveld, Dave Chisnall, Chris Dobey and Danny Noppert the victors so far.
Searle, who took Players Championship 3 victory, appeared in the final of the first three tournaments, with Dobey and Anderson also appearing in two finals apiece – the trio are the leaders in the Order of Merit.
World champion Luke Humphries, Premier League leader Littler, Nathan Aspinall, and Rob Cross are all missing the tournaments, with question marks over Gerwyn Price who withdrew from last week's Premier League night with a back injury.
An immediate name to highlight is the form of Ross Smith – who is currently eighth in the order of merit. 'Smudger' has won 29 of his last 40 matches and reached the semi-final of last week's Austrian Darts Open, the final of the European Darts Grand Prix in April and the semi's of Players Championship Five, Six and Seven.
He averages 96.14 per three darts in April (15th in the world), hit 77 180s (3rd), boasts a 38.38% checkout percentage (15th) and has won an impressive 54.81% of his legs (10th).
Another in-form player is Germany's Martin Schindler who claimed the International Darts Open in early-April. He has won 19 of his last 25 matches with quarter-final appearances at the Austrian Darts Open and Players Championship 6. He also lost to Michael van Gerwen in the final of the German Darts Grand Prix.
In that run he defeated top talents such as Jonny Clatyon, Gerwyn Price, Dobey, Noppert, Aspinall and Joe Cullen. 'The Wall' is second in the world in average (99.03) this month, has 6 of 19 games with a 105+ dart average in April and has an impressive 42.04% checkout percentage.
Gary Anderson has also looked in excellent form in recent weeks, winning the European Darts Open in April, and ranks ninth in the world in average (97.12). Anderson won the Players Championship finals back in 2014.
