The seventeenth event of the PDC Challenge Tour 2025 season was claimed on Friday evening by Lee Cocks. It marked the Englishman’s second career title on the PDC’s second-tier circuit, after he defeated compatriot Jack Tweddell in the final.
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Cocks opened his campaign with a 5–0 win over former Tour Card holder Aaron Beeney. He then saw off Bruno Stoeckli (5–3), Samuel Price (5–2) and Jarred Cole (5–3) to reach the quarter-finals. There he produced another emphatic 5–0 victory, this time against Reece Colley. In the semi-finals, former Tour Card holder David Pallett pushed him all the way, but Cocks edged through 5–4 to book his place in the final.
On the other side of the draw, Tweddell battled his way into the final. He began with a 5–0 win over Kirk de Ruyter, before overcoming Kevin Leadenham (5–3), Kevin Burness (5–3), James Waite (5–2), Tommy Lishman (5–2), Aden Kirk (5–2) and two-time Lakeside champion Scott Waites (5–3).
In the final, Cocks immediately established a 2–0 lead with legs of 15 and 16 darts. That early break proved decisive, as the match went with throw from that point on. Cocks wrapped up a 5–3 victory to secure the title – adding to the Challenge Tour crown he collected last year in Germany.
The action continues in Leicester on Saturday with two further Challenge Tour events, before the weekend concludes on Sunday with the twentieth tournament of the season.
The Challenge Tour is open to players who took part in Q-School but failed to win a Tour Card. The circuit offers top-ranked players the chance to step in as reserves for Players Championship events, while the two highest finishers across the season will be awarded PDC Tour Cards and a place at the World Darts Championship.
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Results PDC Challenge Tour 17
| Player 1 | Average | Score | VS | Score | Average | Player 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finals | ||||||
| Lee Cocks | (82.65) | 5 | VS | 3 | (87.00) | Jack Tweddell |
| Semi-Finals | ||||||
| Jack Tweddell | (93.15) | 5 | VS | 3 | (89.92) | Scott Waites |
| Lee Cocks | (89.31) | 5 | VS | 4 | (80.36) | David Pallett |
| Quarter-Finals | ||||||
| Jack Tweddell | (87.99) | 5 | VS | 2 | (81.76) | Aden Kirk |
| Scott Waites | (95.22) | 5 | VS | 3 | (83.62) | Andreas Harrysson |
| David Pallett | (87.68) | 5 | VS | 1 | (78.33) | Michael Unterbuchner |
| Lee Cocks | (87.38) | 5 | VS | 0 | (82.96) | Reece Colley |
| Top 16 | ||||||
| Jack Tweddell | (87.64) | 5 | VS | 2 | (90.95) | Tommy Lishman |
| Aden Kirk | (76.32) | 5 | VS | 3 | (67.05) | Lee Evans |
| Andreas Harrysson | (88.63) | 5 | VS | 2 | (82.82) | Pal Szekely |
| Scott Waites | (90.29) | 5 | VS | 2 | (86.50) | Jimmy Bristow |
| David Pallett | (100.20) | 5 | VS | 0 | (87.87) | Darius Labanauskas |
| Michael Unterbuchner | (92.01) | 5 | VS | 2 | (88.92) | Martin Thomas |
| Reece Colley | (84.86) | 5 | VS | 2 | (80.95) | Jeffrey De Zwaan |
| Lee Cocks | (97.62) | 5 | VS | 3 | (95.32) | Jarred Cole |
| Top 32 | ||||||
| Tommy Lishman | (84.73) | 5 | VS | 3 | (86.26) | David Evans |
| Jack Tweddell | (87.62) | 5 | VS | 2 | (84.97) | James Waite |
| Lee Evans | (88.67) | 5 | VS | 4 | (85.43) | Joe Croft |
| Aden Kirk | (91.16) | 5 | VS | 3 | (92.68) | Alexander Merkx |
| Andreas Harrysson | (93.64) | 5 | VS | 1 | (85.58) | Adrian Gray |
| Pal Szekely | (81.12) | 5 | VS | 4 | (79.37) | Jacques Labre |
| Jimmy Bristow | (86.97) | 5 | VS | 1 | (64.50) | Kieran Evans |
| Scott Waites | (82.79) | 5 | VS | 1 | (85.21) | Scott Campbell |
| David Pallett | (95.14) | 5 | VS | 1 | (91.15) | Carl Sneyd |
| Darius Labanauskas | (86.90) | 5 | VS | 2 | (81.03) | Christopher Wickenden |
| Michael Unterbuchner | (91.54) | 5 | VS | 4 | (85.00) | Henry Coates |
| Martin Thomas | (82.34) | 5 | VS | 2 | (75.76) | Trevor Burkhill |
| Jeffrey De Zwaan | (85.60) | 5 | VS | 4 | (84.47) | Pat Scurfield |
| Reece Colley | (97.60) | 5 | VS | 1 | (79.86) | Luke Smith |
| Lee Cocks | (98.26) | 5 | VS | 2 | (84.59) | Samuel Price |
| Jarred Cole | (79.55) | 5 | VS | 2 | (74.73) | Eddie Lovely |
| Top 64 | ||||||
| Tommy Lishman | (92.56) | 5 | VS | 4 | (92.19) | Lewis Pride |
| David Evans | (85.87) | 5 | VS | 2 | (78.39) | Robert Nelson |
| Jack Tweddell | (84.78) | 5 | VS | 3 | (80.06) | Kevin Burness |
| James Waite | (82.60) | 5 | VS | 1 | (78.82) | Scott Baker |
| Lee Evans | (92.78) | 5 | VS | 2 | (82.54) | Sean Taylor |
| Joe Croft | (97.60) | 5 | VS | 0 | (70.04) | Petros Christodoulou |
| Aden Kirk | (81.68) | 5 | VS | 0 | (75.93) | Daniel Humphries |
| Alexander Merkx | (86.37) | 5 | VS | 1 | (84.12) | Steve Sewell |
| Adrian Gray | (73.97) | 5 | VS | 3 | (75.49) | Jimmy McKirdy |
| Andreas Harrysson | (96.72) | 5 | VS | 1 | (83.69) | Darren Armstrong |
| Jacques Labre | (70.94) | 5 | VS | 2 | (68.45) | Myles Avory |
| Pal Szekely | (83.09) | 5 | VS | 4 | (81.34) | Kelvin O'Keefe |
| Kieran Evans | (79.17) | 5 | VS | 3 | (83.12) | Nicholas Ellis |
| Jimmy Bristow | (92.81) | 5 | VS | 1 | (78.95) | Charlie Martin |
| Scott Waites | (97.36) | 5 | VS | 3 | (93.16) | Keegan Brown |
| Scott Campbell | (92.24) | 5 | VS | 2 | (74.83) | Callum Francis |
| Carl Sneyd | (89.22) | 5 | VS | 2 | (74.61) | Jamie Durrant |
| David Pallett | (91.11) | 5 | VS | 4 | (92.95) | Carl Wilson |
| Christopher Wickenden | (91.10) | 5 | VS | 3 | (89.24) | Andrew Callary |
| Darius Labanauskas | (87.60) | 5 | VS | 4 | (93.65) | Graham Hall |
| Michael Unterbuchner | (91.42) | 5 | VS | 3 | (82.68) | Sam Booth |
| Henry Coates | (86.95) | 5 | VS | 3 | (74.61) | Sion Thomas |
| Martin Thomas | (85.94) | 5 | VS | 4 | (86.26) | David Sumner |
| Trevor Burkhill | (82.87) | 5 | VS | 4 | (85.27) | Steve Haggerty |
| Jeffrey De Zwaan | (96.18) | 5 | VS | 4 | (98.50) | Charlie Manby |
| Pat Scurfield | (78.93) | 5 | VS | 4 | (78.98) | Patrick Dekker |
| Luke Smith | (85.82) | 5 | VS | 3 | (86.05) | Joe Hunt |
| Reece Colley | (80.47) | 5 | VS | 2 | (80.74) | Matt Gallett |
| Lee Cocks | (86.60) | 5 | VS | 3 | (79.22) | Bruno Stoeckli |
| Samuel Price | (95.35) | 5 | VS | 2 | (85.65) | Conor Heneghan |
| Jarred Cole | (95.26) | 5 | VS | 3 | (92.28) | Jamie Atkins |
| Eddie Lovely | (68.53) | 5 | VS | 4 | (72.77) | Remo Mandiau |
| Top 128 | ||||||
| Tommy Lishman | (86.20) | 5 | VS | 4 | (82.02) | Kevin Lane |
| Lewis Pride | (92.78) | 5 | VS | 0 | (69.73) | Daniel Labbozzetta |
| David Evans | (83.10) | 5 | VS | 2 | (82.02) | Mike Warburton |
| Robert Nelson | (71.49) | 5 | VS | 3 | (68.07) | Conor Roberts |
| Kevin Burness | (74.41) | 5 | VS | 0 | (46.48) | Helena Rubes |
| Jack Tweddell | (97.29) | 5 | VS | 3 | (95.08) | Kevin Leadenham |
| Scott Baker | (82.65) | 5 | VS | 1 | (84.52) | Vinay Ramnath |
| James Waite | (83.50) | 5 | VS | 0 | (66.32) | Tommie Coleman |
| Sean Taylor | (78.12) | 5 | VS | 2 | (75.24) | Patrick Bulen |
| Lee Evans | (82.45) | 5 | VS | 4 | (85.70) | Deian Roberts |
| Petros Christodoulou | (73.21) | 5 | VS | 2 | (71.06) | Kai Fan Leung |
| Joe Croft | (80.97) | 5 | VS | 1 | (66.11) | Lee Williams |
| Aden Kirk | (89.31) | 5 | VS | 3 | (83.95) | Kurt Parry |
| Daniel Humphries | (87.43) | 5 | VS | 2 | (78.18) | Mervyn King |
| Steve Sewell | (78.28) | 5 | VS | 0 | (70.75) | Scott Mitchell |
| Alexander Merkx | (92.23) | 5 | VS | 4 | (90.06) | Tim Scholz |
| Adrian Gray | (89.73) | 5 | VS | 1 | (62.61) | Jack Secular |
| Jimmy McKirdy | (68.32) | 5 | VS | 0 | (47.36) | Laszlo B Csato |
| Darren Armstrong | (83.16) | 5 | VS | 2 | (74.43) | Max Baulcomb |
| Andreas Harrysson | (80.46) | 5 | VS | 1 | (78.31) | Bailey White |
| Jacques Labre | (63.88) | 5 | VS | 1 | (55.34) | Steven Harbert |
| Myles Avory | (75.18) | 5 | VS | 3 | (74.21) | Daniel Nicholls |
| Pal Szekely | (84.29) | 5 | VS | 4 | (79.41) | Owen Maiden |
| Kelvin O'Keefe | (75.03) | 5 | VS | 1 | (70.26) | Tom Baughan |
| Nicholas Ellis | (86.76) | 5 | VS | 1 | (74.30) | Ash Ling |
| Kieran Evans | (82.81) | 5 | VS | 1 | (72.88) | Michael Huntley |
| Charlie Martin | (83.37) | 5 | VS | 3 | (82.95) | Sean McKeon |
| Jimmy Bristow | (79.68) | 5 | VS | 4 | (79.05) | Levy Frauenfelder |
| Scott Waites | (88.85) | 5 | VS | 3 | (92.15) | David Davies |
| Keegan Brown | (81.75) | 5 | VS | 4 | (79.13) | Mat Caste |
| Callum Francis | (89.47) | 5 | VS | 3 | (82.55) | Ashley Coleman |
| Scott Campbell | (95.06) | 5 | VS | 2 | (89.66) | Danny Trueman |
| Carl Sneyd | (90.59) | 5 | VS | 1 | (79.34) | Gabriel Rollo |
| Jamie Durrant | (80.44) | 5 | VS | 2 | (76.79) | Jack Male |
| David Pallett | (90.87) | 5 | VS | 1 | (68.02) | Shane Turner |
| Carl Wilson | (99.07) | 5 | VS | 1 | (86.12) | Ted Evetts |
| Andrew Callary | (81.53) | 5 | VS | 2 | (77.62) | Ultan McDyer |
| Christopher Wickenden | (92.59) | 5 | VS | 1 | (84.76) | Steve West |
| Graham Hall | (100.27) | 5 | VS | 2 | (91.26) | Sam Spivey |
| Darius Labanauskas | (97.69) | 5 | VS | 3 | (87.53) | Danny Goddard |
| Sam Booth | (68.84) | 5 | VS | 4 | (66.91) | Danny Moore |
| Michael Unterbuchner | (100.38) | 5 | VS | 1 | (86.72) | Daniel Astbury |
| Henry Coates | (86.22) | 5 | VS | 2 | (89.77) | Jenson Walker |
| Sion Thomas | (77.81) | 5 | VS | 3 | (81.28) | Ciaran Teehan |
| Martin Thomas | (87.66) | 5 | VS | 1 | (80.94) | Andy Cass |
| David Sumner | (91.89) | 5 | VS | 1 | (86.97) | Daniel Klose |
| Trevor Burkhill | (81.63) | 5 | VS | 1 | (70.53) | Paul Mitchell |
| Steve Haggerty | (86.88) | 5 | VS | 4 | (73.22) | Martin Tonks |
| Jeffrey De Zwaan | (90.06) | 5 | VS | 1 | (77.47) | Ryan O'Connor |
| Charlie Manby | (99.20) | 5 | VS | 1 | (93.28) | Nicolas Thuillier |
| Patrick Dekker | (71.73) | 5 | VS | 2 | (69.09) | Charlie Symons |
| Pat Scurfield | (84.46) | 5 | VS | 4 | (85.48) | Jeffrey Sparidaans |
| Joe Hunt | (89.58) | 5 | VS | 2 | (81.71) | Derek Maclean |
| Luke Smith | (81.68) | 5 | VS | 0 | (77.17) | Rowby-John Rodriguez |
| Reece Colley | (86.91) | 5 | VS | 1 | (75.76) | Graham Usher |
| Matt Gallett | (90.57) | 5 | VS | 2 | (89.28) | Sietse Lap |
| Lee Cocks | (86.38) | 5 | VS | 0 | (68.11) | Aaron Beeney |
| Bruno Stoeckli | (88.80) | 5 | VS | 4 | (87.80) | Ben Goodger |
| Conor Heneghan | (85.18) | 5 | VS | 1 | (74.24) | Simon Stothart |
| Samuel Price | (85.42) | 5 | VS | 4 | (85.31) | James Vanbesien |
| Jamie Atkins | (87.30) | 5 | VS | 1 | (81.47) | Colin Osborne |
| Jarred Cole | (77.15) | 5 | VS | 3 | (81.72) | Dylan Dowling |
| Remo Mandiau | (77.70) | 5 | VS | 3 | (69.08) | Jim Moston |
| Eddie Lovely | (84.53) | 5 | VS | 4 | (80.14) | Stu Wilson |
| Top 256 | ||||||
| Daniel Labbozzetta | (67.16) | 5 | VS | 1 | (68.66) | Rob Holroyd |
| Robert Nelson | (71.82) | 5 | VS | 4 | (68.92) | Bruno Rangel |
| Conor Roberts | (68.39) | 5 | VS | 3 | (72.72) | Janek Hill |
| Kevin Leadenham | (92.78) | 5 | VS | 0 | (79.28) | Neilie Brouder |
| Jack Tweddell | (78.28) | 5 | VS | 0 | (68.53) | Kirk De Ruyter |
| James Waite | (82.22) | 5 | VS | 4 | (76.42) | Daniel Perry |
| Tommie Coleman | (64.78) | 5 | VS | 0 | (41.16) | Jamie Foster |
| Deian Roberts | (82.88) | 5 | VS | 4 | (81.17) | Keenan Thomas |
| Joe Croft | (87.86) | 5 | VS | 3 | (88.08) | Jamie Hughes |
| Lee Williams | (76.16) | 5 | VS | 2 | (73.74) | David Hill |
| Mervyn King | (89.68) | 5 | VS | 3 | (83.78) | Stefan Bellmont |
| Daniel Humphries | (80.43) | 5 | VS | 4 | (84.23) | Nigel Prior |
| Tim Scholz | (79.88) | 5 | VS | 3 | (76.34) | Stuart Wares |
| Alexander Merkx | (90.65) | 5 | VS | 2 | (84.68) | Dmitriy Zhukov |
| Jimmy McKirdy | (70.87) | 5 | VS | 2 | (69.21) | Jaikob Selby-Rivas |
| Bailey White | (80.81) | 5 | VS | 0 | (61.48) | Dimitri Nees |
| Andreas Harrysson | (87.98) | 5 | VS | 2 | (74.79) | Jason Wilson |
| Myles Avory | (80.05) | 5 | VS | 4 | (81.27) | David Sharp |
| Daniel Nicholls | (94.25) | 5 | VS | 3 | (81.65) | Riccardo Castelli |
| Tom Baughan | (84.44) | 5 | VS | 0 | (72.32) | Jack Vincent |
| Kelvin O'Keefe | (84.68) | 5 | VS | 4 | (89.87) | Tom Lonsdale |
| Kieran Evans | (95.13) | 5 | VS | 0 | (70.56) | Ross Baines |
| Jimmy Bristow | (77.43) | 5 | VS | 2 | (84.38) | Chris Hurds |
| Levy Frauenfelder | (90.48) | 5 | VS | 3 | (84.91) | Michael Flynn |
| Mat Caste | (76.88) | 5 | VS | 3 | (77.09) | Craig Watkins |
| Keegan Brown | (89.94) | 5 | VS | 1 | (75.34) | Louis Lucas-Carter |
| Danny Trueman | (93.94) | 5 | VS | 0 | (81.80) | Phil Coward |
| Scott Campbell | (86.39) | 5 | VS | 1 | (75.38) | Paul Higgins |
| Jamie Durrant | (86.38) | 5 | VS | 0 | (82.46) | Nathan Girvan |
| Carl Wilson | (94.59) | 5 | VS | 4 | (88.67) | Jamai van den Herik |
| Ted Evetts | (87.93) | 5 | VS | 1 | (77.43) | Richie Burnett |
| Steve West | (92.78) | 5 | VS | 0 | (75.00) | Gino Vermeersch |
| Christopher Wickenden | (85.96) | 5 | VS | 1 | (84.62) | Lee Barrow |
| Darius Labanauskas | (88.41) | 5 | VS | 0 | (78.36) | Steven Watts |
| Danny Goddard | (73.68) | 5 | VS | 0 | (56.45) | Serge Brisset |
| Michael Unterbuchner | (96.08) | 5 | VS | 2 | (80.23) | Kyle Manton |
| Ciaran Teehan | (86.57) | 5 | VS | 4 | (77.84) | Nathan Potter |
| Sion Thomas | (61.10) | 5 | VS | 0 | (40.78) | Bradley Whitehead |
| Daniel Klose | (95.08) | 5 | VS | 4 | (95.41) | Patrick Quinn |
| David Sumner | (74.95) | 5 | VS | 1 | (67.51) | Karl Coleman |
| Steve Haggerty | (80.26) | 5 | VS | 1 | (79.31) | Stevie Moreira |
| Martin Tonks | (73.23) | 5 | VS | 2 | (76.36) | Bhav Patel |
| Charlie Manby | (95.08) | 5 | VS | 2 | (84.14) | Kevin Troppmann |
| Jeffrey Sparidaans | (98.11) | 5 | VS | 3 | (92.09) | Lee Budgen |
| Pat Scurfield | (76.68) | 5 | VS | 0 | (69.16) | Michael Barnard |
| Rowby-John Rodriguez | (79.35) | 5 | VS | 1 | (77.01) | Damian Mol |
| Luke Smith | (88.02) | 5 | VS | 4 | (88.19) | Tom Sykes |
| Sietse Lap | (84.44) | 5 | VS | 0 | (64.00) | Gary Blades |
| Matt Gallett | (82.34) | 5 | VS | 2 | (64.13) | Lee Andrews |
| Bruno Stoeckli | (77.78) | 5 | VS | 4 | (77.36) | Colin Gibson |
| James Vanbesien | (96.53) | 5 | VS | 1 | (96.10) | Adam Smith-neale |
| Samuel Price | (90.07) | 5 | VS | 3 | (86.11) | Tommy Morris |
| Dylan Dowling | (85.35) | 5 | VS | 4 | (83.73) | Kyle Richardson |
| Jarred Cole | (87.52) | 5 | VS | 4 | (85.58) | Peter Burgoyne |
| Eddie Lovely | (90.56) | 5 | VS | 1 | (86.18) | Ruben Mesters |
| Stu Wilson | (80.04) | 5 | VS | 2 | (66.92) | James Evans-Bradford |
Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Ultimately it is a bye for whoever draws Barney. It will be another stroppy and sulky performance once he goes behind. Barney was excellent but really must completely call it a day now.richieburnettrocks07-11-2026
- I'm disappointed he was not able to secure a spot at the Grand Slam. With Carl Sneyd taking care of Daryl Gurney, he would have had to beat Andy Boulton before facing the winner of Sneyd vs Mensur Suljović for a Grand Slam spot. Unfortunately, after beating Filip Bereza comfortably, he succumbed to Boulton, and the board would ultimately be won by the highly inconsistent Carl Sneyd. Since he could instead have been drawn against the likes of Cristo Reyes, Dirk van Duijvenbode and Stephen Bunting, I think once Gurney was out of the picture he would have been favourite to win his board, and it seems like a massive missed opportunity to put 5 grand on his ranking and seal another major TV appearance ahead of the Worlds. The highs and lows of following Raymond van Barneveld!Deduce635806-11-2026
- Probably i will receive a lot of backlash and hate for this reaction, but well, so be it. I am more than sick and tired of those lies of you Barry Hearn. How dare you defend yourself over the back of Fallon’s son! He has a disability and not an illness, so let me correct that for you! I know because I have the exact same disability. I have tried to reach out to Fallon in the past, and offered her to help her and her son, because I was struggling with the same problems, and I understood the boy. I wanted him to have finally someone who understood him. However she told me that she did not want my help, and I have respected Fallon’s choice. I have never asked Fallon for money. They don’t need money in that case. I only ever wanted the best for Fallon and Rory, but I have to be honest about the situation. Fallon should tell the true story and not be forced to tell lies. I don’t hate Fallon, and I don’t begrudge or envy a single penny that she gets, but this situation/case is just not fair. I hate the lies and the dishonesty and injustice. I don’t want Fallon to be hated because there is an unfair disadvantage created. Don’t proclaim your false lies over the back of Rory! I only stand for integrity and justice. I am precisely the one who always sticks up for Fallon. And you don't, you don't give a damn about them. You were never there for them, and now you only want to save your own position! You are just trying to talk your way out of your own bad behavior at the expense of someone with a disability. And to Fallon, I don’t know if this may ever reach you, and you read it, but I want you to know I love you and I love your son Rory very much, I am sorry how things developed and went. I hope you and Harriet are still friends. I am sorry if I were too persistent to you, or you experienced it that way, but it was never my intention. Please understand I have autism as well. As Barry Hearn would say, I am only just a human being too, and I also make mistakes and misjudge things sometimes. I promise you I did everything out of the deepest love and care for you and Rory. If I were you, I should just keep all the money, only please never be dishonest or tell lies anymore for Barry Hearn, or anyone else. I hope you have the best life, and I wish nothing more than the best for you. I have always loved the two of you. Farewell.Hiddo05-11-2026
- She is a professional. If darts is her income, she is a professional. Same as Adrian Lewis, Martin Adams. A tour card just means someone can play on the PDC tour. You could even make a case that Clayton wasn't a professional (until recently I believe) because he had employment elsewhere.BandB04-11-2026
- She's technically not a professional though as she doesn't hold a pro tour card.mr-pablo04-11-2026
- Such a shame that lakeside has been reduced to this. Fantastic venue,and previously a great tournament. Not any morerick6703-11-2026
- Seems to me that the top 16 players pick and choose whatever they want to play. Good,all the money will get spread out more. They get more money from exhibitions than tournaments so let them all withdrawrick6703-11-2026
- Play all legs and the winners split the pot. Luke gets the lot of he wins them all. If your occupation is darts player you can't enter, regardless of ability.BandB01-11-2026
- I'm quite a jaded person all things considered, but to be honest I found Beat Luke Littler to be pretty entertaining. It certainly wasn't seamless, which is to be expected given the lack of precedence, but I actually think the pacing was pretty good, the production was impressive, and there was a good sense of humour and levity to it. I think it was a very ambitious undertaking but one that, for the most part, paid off. I liked the system with the four pots and I think it added to the drama and intrigue. I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of entrants and learning about their backstories. I think the interactivity was pretty clever and well-integrated. The panel was a little incoherent at times; Lee Mack shone however, and his improvisational skills were appreciated during some more awkward interstitial moments. As far as the darts is concerned, it was a shame that the format didn't allow Littler to get into full flow. You obviously don't want him to steamroll everyone but you want to feel like you're getting the full Littler package rather than seeing him struggling to get out of first gear. I will say that his leg against Jayden Walker was very impressive, but it was mostly downhill from there. The attraction revolves around Littler being this untouchable, indomitable force, yet the format doesn't really allow him to fulfil that characterisation. As for Fallon Sherrock, she was mightily impressive and deserved the victory. It is a testament to her unshakeable character that she was able to bang in a 14-darter under such mind-bending pressure. Everything that has been said about the misleading marketing is valid, though they were clear about their eligibility criteria and were able to offload the responsibility somewhat by bringing the viewers into the decision-making process in real time. What is clear though, is that Fallon played the game according to the rules, and she should not be criticised for that, much less abused. I will admit though that it is a kick in the teeth for those true amateurs who committed time and money to the course, and I would also question those who think pub players would have no chance, given that some of Littler's winning legs were dispatched in 7 visits to the board! The great thing about darts is that it isn't so much that amateurs cannot replicate the feats of brilliance pulled off by professionals of the sport, than it is that they simply cannot replicate the consistency of their output, something that this format almost entirely removes from the equation. It should also be noted that, financially, Fallon certainly stands to benefit much less in relative terms from the paycheque than would your average pub thrower, as I'm sure she nets a fair income from the lucrative exhibition circuit alone. What I do hope is that she might use this as an opportunity to really build up a head of steam heading into the new season, as it seems long overdue that she come through Q-School and really take it to the pros on a week-in week-out basis, but whatever she chooses to do, she has certainly achieved enough already for one if not several lifetimes, so who am I to dictate terms? To conclude though, I will state once again that I found Beat Luke Littler to be a pretty enjoyable evening of entertainment. I do feel for the contestants who never actually had the chance to try their luck against the world #1, although I suppose it comes with the format, but all which inevitably raises the question: will Netflix be tempted to do it all again next year? It's hard to say. Whether it would be financially viable, I can't weigh in there. One point I have been making though, and which I touched on earlier, is that the entire concept relies on a public perception that Littler is more or less unbeatable, and that certainly hasn't been the case of late. If the execs had been trying to pitch the show in recent months while Littler has seemed vulnerable, rather than when he was mopping up almost every major title on the calendar, it would certainly be a tougher sell. We will have to see in about 6 months' time whether Littler can still reliably command perception as a near-unstoppable force in darts, and then we'll have a clearer idea about whether we should expect a second helping. Even as a one-off experiment though, and with all the controversy taken into account, I still don't think they disgraced themselves by any means, and that will probably be my lingering assessment of the event when all is said and done.Deduce635801-11-2026
- Fair play to Fallon. But...shows the mockery when a professional players wins what was meant to be an amateur v Pro event, Littlers performance was poor, and what about the players who didn't get a game? Would have been better if the pot was split amoungst all the winners and they all got a leg.BandB31-10-2026