
Mervyn King took the title at the 11th tournament of the PDC Challenge Tour 2025 on Friday. For "The King," it was his first PDC title since 2018, although the Challenge Tour is the second tier at the PDC.
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After last season, King lost his Tour Card, leaving the Englishman without a regular appearance at the PDC's top level for the first time since 2007.
King won eight matches to win Challenge Tour 11. He successively defeated Danny Trueman (5-1), Tom Sykes (5-4), Mike Warburton (5-0), Charlie Martin (5-3), Arno Merk (5-4), Sam Spivey (5-2), Ted Evetts (5-4) and Henry Coates (5-0).
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With this title, King takes the top prize of 2,500 pounds, moving him up to fourth place on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit. The top two players will receive a two-year PDC Tour Card at the end of the season.
The Challenge Tour circuit is open to players who participated in the Q-School but did not win a Tour Card. Through the Challenge Tour, the highest ranked players can gain entry to the Players Championship tournaments as alternates. The top two players at the end of the season receive a PDC Tour Card and may compete in the World Darts Championship.
Results PDC Challenge Tour 11
Finale
Mervyn King (101.55) 5 | 0 (89.48) Henry Coates
Semi-final
Henry Coates (94.80) 5 | 2 (89.46) Patrick Quinn
Mervyn King (87.69) 5 | 4 (88.20) Ted Evetts
Quarterfinals
Henry Coates (90.25) 5 | 3 (88.29) Nathan Girvan
Patrick Quinn (84.83) 5 | 4 (83.52) Martin Thomas
Ted Evetts (99.50) 5 | 3 (95.23) Jenson Walker
Mervyn King (88.46) 5 | 2 (79.79) Sam Spivey
Last 16
Nathan Girvan (87.90) 5 | 1 (81.68) Deian Roberts
Henry Coates (98.70) 5 | 3 (82.61) Kevin Leadenham
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Patrick Quinn (87.23) 5 | 4 (89.58) Tommy Morris
Martin Thomas (78.72) 5 | 4 (75.48) Kevin Burness
Jenson Walker (96.56) 5 | 2 (90.03) Dean Finn Forde
Ted Evetts (87.18) 5 | 4 (84.91) Martin Grearson
Sam Spivey (87.83) 5 | 4 (91.34) Danny Goddard
Mervyn King (99.46) 5 | 4 (90.19) Arno Merk
Last 32
Deian Roberts (93.22) 5 | 3 (85.11) Scott Taylor
Nathan Girvan (92.55) 5 | 1 (89.55) Carl Sneyd
Henry Coates (83.75) 5 | 4 (82.43) Scott Baker
Kevin Leadenham (93.16) 5 | 1 (86.15) James Waite
Patrick Quinn (95.28) 5 | 4 (90.93) Graham Usher
Tommy Morris (79.62) 5 | 1 (73.89) Peter Burgoyne
Kevin Burness (100.21) 5 | 4 (93.81) Alexander Merkx
Martin Thomas (85.30) 5 | 4 (80.78) Rowby-John Rodriguez
Jenson Walker (90.95) 5 | 1 (82.12) Niels Aagaard Nielsen
Dean Finn Forde (82.88) 5 | 2 (87.42) Ash Ling
Martin Grearson (87.96) 5 | 4 (87.02) Joe Croft
Ted Evetts (85.40) 5 | 0 (85.19) Jamie Atkins
Danny Goddard (88.06) 5 | 3 (81.35) Jurjen van der Velde
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Sam Spivey (89.93) 5 | 4 (92.40) Conor Heneghan
Arno Merk (98.33) 5 | 4 (97.92) Jamai van den Herik
Mervyn King (100.76) 5 | 3 (88.05) Charlie Martin
Last 64
Scott Taylor (86.65) 5 | 1 (77.39) David Sumner
Deian Roberts (84.64) 5 | 4 (80.08) Danny Jansen
Nathan Girvan (91.36) 5 | 3 (73.85) Jaikob Selby-Rivas
Carl Sneyd (93.94) 5 | 0 (71.60) Tommie Coleman
Henry Coates (89.23) 5 | 1 (82.05) Graham Hall
Scott Baker (86.24) 5 | 3 (90.05) Bailey White
James Waite (81.22) 5 | 4 (89.78) Adam Smith-neale
Kevin Leadenham (82.15) 5 | 4 (77.06) Ellis Radford
Graham Usher (87.82) 5 | 1 (79.81) Conor Roberts
Patrick Quinn (88.64) 5 | 2 (94.83) Jarred Cole
Tommy Morris (93.41) 5 | 3 (99.29) David Sharp
Peter Burgoyne (90.43) 5 | 4 (85.23) Keenan Thomas
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Alexander Merkx (82.58) 5 | 0 (79.17) Samuel Price
Kevin Burness (102.28) 5 | 1 (93.72) Shaun Carroll
Martin Thomas (91.05) 5 | 3 (90.43) Owen Maiden
Rowby-John Rodriguez (80.00) 5 | 3 (75.45) Ian Lever
Jenson Walker (88.81) 5 | 1 (78.51) John Part
Niels Aagaard Nielsen (85.56) 5 | 1 (73.50) Ciaran Teehan
Dean Finn Forde (83.33) 5 | 4 (79.03) Dan Hands
Ash Ling (85.66) 5 | 3 (79.10) Jonny Barnes
Martin Grearson (83.62) 5 | 3 (77.71) Kyle Manton
Joe Croft (83.87) 5 | 2 (79.86) Shane Turner
Ted Evetts (100.49) 5 | 4 (88.61) Scott Waites
Jamie Atkins (86.06) 5 | 1 (75.74) Aleksander Zalewski
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Danny Goddard (82.15) 5 | 2 (77.19) Colin Osborne
Jurjen van der Velde (91.54) 5 | 4 (82.44) Andy Hamilton
Conor Heneghan (93.25) 5 | 4 (94.74) Andreas Harrysson
Sam Spivey (87.83) 5 | 2 (82.28) Davy Robijns
Arno Brand (89.87) 5 | 4 (91.36) Beau Greaves
Jamai van den Herik (87.55) 5 | 2 (89.65) Marcel Walpen
Mervyn King (96.35) 5 | 0 (86.74) Mike Warburton
Charlie Martin (79.90) 5 | 4 (82.42) Callum Goffin
Last 128
David Sumner (88.15) 5 | 1 (87.78) Tom Lonsdale
Scott Taylor (85.49) 5 | 3 (90.60) Phil Coward
Deian Roberts (81.53) 5 | 3 (74.64) Paul Higgins
Danny Jansen (90.87) 5 | 4 (90.02) Christian Perez
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Jaikob Selby-Rivas (80.91) 5 | 4 (79.72) Carl Wilson
Nathan Girvan (97.54) 5 | 2 (77.46) Jonas Graversen
Tommie Coleman (75.32) 5 | 3 (71.88) Kirk De Ruyter
Carl Sneyd (93.09) 5 | 4 (85.97) Joe Hunt
Graham Hall (86.21) 5 | 2 (73.11) Myles Avory
Henry Coates (102.41) 5 | 1 (90.24) Oliver Mitchell
Bailey White (73.01) 5 | 4 (71.58) Sam Booth
Scott Baker (92.54) 5 | 4 (87.06) Jimmy van Schie
Adam Smith-neale (93.31) 5 | 1 (83.81) James Howard Hughes
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James Waite (89.71) 5 | 2 (82.21) Neil Parry
Ellis Radford (84.94) 5 | 3 (79.22) Steve West
Kevin Leadenham (84.49) 5 | 2 (90.98) Sietse Lap
Graham Usher (91.23) 5 | 3 (85.39) Nicolas Thuillier
Conor Roberts (80.28) 5 | 4 (86.54) Nathan Care
Patrick Quinn (85.73) 5 | 4 (79.30) John Henderson
Jarred Cole (83.03) 5 | 4 (85.32) Jack Tweddell
Tommy Morris (90.02) 5 | 4 (88.35) Bruno Stoeckli
David Sharp (92.53) 5 | 3 (89.70) Lee Williams
Peter Burgoyne (81.87) 5 | 4 (80.52) Geert Nentjes
Keenan Thomas (81.96) 5 | 1 (79.51) Nathan Potter
Samuel Price (89.57) 5 | 4 (99.09) Darius Labanauskas
Alexander Merkx (93.19) 5 | 2 (83.26) John Davey
Kevin Burness (82.14) 5 | 2 (77.53) Vinay Ramnath
Shaun Carroll (92.63) 5 | 3 (91.09) Callum Francis
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Martin Thomas (93.22) 5 | 4 (86.44) David Evans
Owen Maiden (82.39) 5 | 2 (76.31) Liam Kitchen
Ian Lever (80.34) 5 | 3 (79.26) Jeffrey Sparidaans
Rowby-John Rodriguez (92.00) 5 | 4 (86.65) Marc Vleghert
John Part (85.35) 5 | 2 (88.43) Michael Flynn
Jenson Walker (92.81) 5 | 3 (86.35) Tom Baughan
Niels Aagaard Nielsen (74.41) 5 | 0 (61.03) Mark Boardman
Ciaran Teehan (85.79) 5 | 1 (62.97) Steven Taylor
Dean Finn Forde (94.10) 5 | 2 (90.47) Charlie Manby
Dan Hands (84.76) 5 | 2 (77.63) Daniel Humphries
Jonny Barnes (84.33) 5 | 3 (72.02) Remo Mandiau
Ash Ling (83.61) 5 | 3 (79.51) Kevin McDine
Kyle Manton (82.45) 5 | 2 (87.58) Brian Raman
Martin Grearson (88.14) 5 | 2 (86.42) Ron Meulenkamp
Shane Turner (84.85) 5 | 4 (92.59) Tim Scholz
Joe Croft (78.34) 5 | 3 (80.29) Tom Riding
Ted Evetts (85.15) 5 | 2 (80.71) Luke Smith
Scott Waites (94.24) 5 | 4 (88.66) Jason Heaver
Jamie Atkins (87.73) 5 | 3 (83.71) David Davies
Aleksander Zalewski (90.19) 5 | 1 (81.54) Lewis Pride
Danny Goddard (88.23) 5 | 3 (88.44) Damian Mol
Colin Osborne (81.53) 5 | 3 (74.31) Mat Caste
Jurjen van der Velde (86.37) 5 | 1 (81.73) Kelvin O'Keefe
Andy Hamilton (88.89) 5 | 3 (82.17) Richie Burnett
Andreas Harrysson (97.60) 5 | 0 (78.96) Coni Singh Nagi
Conor Heneghan (99.83) 5 | 2 (89.66) John O'Shea
Davy Robijns (72.00) 5 | 3 (74.32) Kristian Barker
Sam Spivey (91.20) 5 | 3 (92.45) Keegan Brown
Beau Greaves (83.88) 5 | 2 (67.73) Marco Reichenpfader
Arno Brand (100.65) 5 | 2 (82.22) Jamie Hughes
Jamai van den Herik (88.91) 5 | 1 (76.75) Reece Colley
Marcel Walpen (92.94) 5 | 1 (87.10) Derek Maclean
Mike Warburton (93.14) 5 | 2 (80.47) Matthew Hall
Mervyn King (86.78) 5 | 4 (92.83) Tom Sykes
Charlie Martin (90.03) 5 | 2 (76.65) Luis Camacho
Callum Goffin (76.60) 5 | 2 (69.51) Ryan Newton
Last 256
David Sumner (84.53) 5 | 3 (77.84) James Parkin
Scott Taylor (85.40) 5 | 0 (66.25) Andrew Hoare
Phil Coward (79.83) 5 | 3 (75.86) Calvin Nicolai
Paul Higgins (74.03) 5 | 2 (67.64) Marco Jungwirth
Danny Jansen (78.70) 5 | 2 (69.27) Andrew Callary
Christian Perez (86.28) 5 | 3 (75.40) Rob Holroyd
Carl Wilson (84.69) 5 | 2 (79.98) Lee Budgen
Nathan Girvan (85.55) 5 | 2 (79.79) Lee Cocks
Jonas Graversen (76.95) 5 | 4 (78.61) Lionel Maranhao
Kirk De Ruyter (76.65) 5 | 4 (71.75) Taylor Greaves
Joe Hunt (92.78) 5 | 0 (77.81) Ryan Palmer
Carl Sneyd (86.71) 5 | 2 (89.53) Paul Rowley
Graham Hall (95.80) 5 | 1 (75.39) Stu Wilson
Henry Coates (89.49) 5 | 2 (80.30) Matthias Ehlers
Oliver Mitchell (98.88) 5 | 0 (78.43) Sean Taylor
Sam Booth (82.04) 5 | 3 (75.74) Ricky Palmer
Scott Baker (80.13) 5 | 3 (83.48) Stefan Bellmont
Jimmy van Schie (96.50) 5 | 3 (100.50) David Pallett
Adam Smith-neale (90.70) 5 | 2 (87.16) Ben Robb
Neil Parry (75.45) 5 | 4 (73.26) Steve Hine
James Waite (76.72) 5 | 3 (78.17) David Hill
Ellis Radford (85.53) 5 | 2 (78.00) Oliver Mueller (FfO)
Sietse Lap (84.73) 5 | 3 (77.78) Matt Gallett
Kevin Leadenham (88.41) 5 | 3 (82.44) Jim Moston
Graham Usher (94.43) 5 | 1 (92.57) Adam Beck
Nathan Care (84.48) 5 | 4 (82.97) Jacques Labre
Conor Roberts (81.68) 5 | 0 (67.28) Danny Moore
John Henderson (75.26) 5 | 2 (70.07) Tom Parradine
Jack Tweddell (98.88) 5 | 0 (83.20) Daniel Nicholls
Jarred Cole (86.40) 5 | 4 (80.79) Dylan Dowling
Bruno Stoeckli (85.30) 5 | 3 (70.56) Max Baulcomb
David Sharp (79.68) 5 | 4 (82.52) Ryan Branley
Lee Williams (83.50) 5 | 0 (56.38) Ross Baines
Geert Nentjes (94.08) 5 | 3 (85.30) Stuart Wares
Nathan Potter (96.70) 5 | 4 (89.66) Dmitriy Zhukov
Keenan Thomas (83.50) 5 | 0 (61.48) Serge Brisset
Samuel Price (96.98) 5 | 1 (67.58) Louis Lucas-Carter
Alexander Merkx (100.20) 5 | 0 (79.57) Robert Nelson
John Davey (91.60) 5 | 1 (82.07) Keelan Kay
Kevin Burness (84.95) 5 | 1 (72.17) Steve Sewell
Shaun Carroll (87.89) 5 | 4 (86.49) Adam Mould
Callum Francis (89.65) 5 | 4 (87.96) Daniel Ayres
David Evans (83.44) 5 | 3 (81.25) Jimmy Bristow
Owen Maiden (86.65) 5 | 3 (91.03) James Evans-Bradford
Liam Kitchen (75.08) 5 | 3 (64.11) Robin Bos
Jeffrey Sparidaans (85.39) 5 | 2 (84.86) Michael Huntley
Marc Vleghert (74.78) 5 | 1 (73.93) Ryan O'Connor
Rowby-John Rodriguez (94.34) 5 | 1 (80.18) Colin Gibson
Michael Flynn (102.83) 5 | 2 (91.33) Scott Campbell
Jenson Walker (81.68) 5 | 0 (63.00) Bruno Rangel
Tom Baughan (75.15) 5 | 0 (71.91) Patrick Dekker
Niels Aagaard Nielsen (92.90) 5 | 1 (88.29) Adrian Gray
Steven Taylor (59.72) 5 | 1 (47.29) Jamie Foster
Ciaran Teehan (97.60) 5 | 0 (86.17) Thomas Banks
Charlie Manby (86.63) 5 | 2 (76.78) Lee Grace
Dan Hands (70.96) 5 | 2 (68.49) Gino Vermeersch
Daniel Humphries (77.51) 5 | 3 (77.88) Simon Stothart
Jonny Barnes (82.68) 5 | 3 (75.11) Sean Fisher
Kevin McDine (78.04) 5 | 4 (80.76) James Vanbesien
Ash Ling (82.58) 5 | 0 (43.13) Bradley Whitehead
Kyle Manton (74.47) 5 | 3 (77.31) Jimmy McKirdy
Ron Meulenkamp (90.34) 5 | 1 (70.69) Przemyslaw Wilanowski
Martin Grearson (88.52) 5 | 3 (87.62) Trevor Burkhill
Tim Scholz (74.41) 5 | 0 (58.97) Dimitri Nees
Joe Croft (81.26) 5 | 2 (70.16) Stephen Castle
Tom Riding (74.41) 5 | 0 (70.00) Lee Barrow
Ted Evetts (87.73) 5 | 2 (82.82) Aaron Beeney
Scott Waites (87.78) 5 | 4 (79.05) Kevin Troppmann
Jason Heaver (77.94) 5 | 4 (81.79) Aden Kirk
David Davies (96.35) 5 | 0 (70.60) Charlie Kemp
Aleksander Zalewski () W | D () Neilie Brouder
Lewis Pride (92.57) 5 | 4 (92.31) Jarno Bottenberg
Damian Mol (87.38) 5 | 0 (68.67) Karl Williams
Colin Osborne (73.53) 5 | 4 (75.10) Chris Hurds
Matt Caste (76.24) 5 | 4 (74.25) Janek Hill
Jurjen van der Velde (85.11) 5 | 3 (82.91) Steven Watts
Andy Hamilton (79.86) 5 | 3 (77.73) Ben Adams
Richie Burnett (86.38) 5 | 0 (74.68) Bhav Patel
Andreas Harrysson (83.27) 5 | 2 (79.71) David Williams
Conor Heneghan (109.40) 5 | 1 (90.62) Kevin Lane
John O'Shea (85.43) 5 | 2 (77.97) Paul Mitchell
Davy Robijns (74.41) 5 | 0 (54.27) Chi-Minh Tran
Sam Spivey (87.33) 5 | 3 (81.29) Charlie Symons
Keegan Brown (82.58) 5 | 0 (64.14) Frankie Ansell
Beau Greaves (84.17) 5 | 1 (71.17) Steven Inkpen
Jamie Hughes (83.09) 5 | 2 (71.20) Danny van Trijp
Arno Brand (84.60) 5 | 3 (82.78) Andrew Cass
Jamai van den Herik (97.60) 5 | 0 (88.33) Jeffrey De Zwaan
Marcel Walpen (89.34) 5 | 2 (83.02) Daniel Perry
Derek Maclean (75.76) 5 | 2 (78.12) Martin Tonks
Mike Warburton (96.92) 5 | 3 (93.00) Ultan McDyer
Tom Sykes (80.26) 5 | 2 (77.60) Kai Fan Leung
Mervyn King (93.83) 5 | 1 (81.96) Danny Trueman
Luis Camacho (62.98) 5 | 1 (48.57) Steven Harbert
Ryan Newton (74.75) 5 | 3 (72.39) Patrick Schwab
Callum Goffin (79.82) 5 | 4 (82.43) Gary Blades

Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.
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- And why should he listen to you?Deduce635807-11-2026
- 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







