More surprises than ever at the World Darts Championship: never before have so many seeds crashed out before Christmas

Skeptics thought that expanding the World Darts Championship to 128 players and the way the bracket was formed would reduce the chances of upsets, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Never before have there been so many shocks before the Christmas break at the World Darts Championship. Only fifteen of the 32 seeded players made it through to the last 32. That means seventeen seeds could already pack their bags in London before Christmas. There are even five players from outside the world’s top 64 in the third round, three of whom do not hold a Tour Card.

On Friday, 12/12 - the second day of the World Darts Championship - Ross Smith was the first seeded player to bow out in the opening round. Mike De Decker, Cameron Menzies, Dimitri Van den Bergh, and Ritchie Edhouse followed in round one. De Decker’s exit was particularly notable. The Belgian lost 3-2 in sets to David Munyua, the first Kenyan ever to compete at the World Darts Championship.

The seeds fell even faster in the second round. On Saturday, 12/20, the first day of round two, no fewer than four seeds were knocked out. Dirk van Duijvenbode lost to James Hurrell, and Dave Chisnall came up short against Ricardo Pietreczko. Michael Smith was beaten by Niels Zonneveld, while Chris Dobey slumped to Andrew Gilding.

A day later the trend continued. Ryan Joyce and Joe Cullen were eliminated by Krzysztof Ratajski and Mensur Suljovic respectively, and Wesley Plaisier delivered a huge shock by dumping Gerwyn Price out of the tournament. Wessel Nijman then lost to Gabriel Clemens, and James Wade had to concede after a nerve-racking clash against Ricky Evans.

Callan Rydz then ousted Daryl Gurney, and Peter Wright embarrassed himself against German qualifier Arno Merk. And the exit of the highest seed was still to come. Danny Noppert, number 6 on the seedings list, surprisingly lost a high-quality match 3-2 in sets to Justin Hood.

Looking more closely at the eliminated seeds, it’s clear that players at the lower end of the seedings were hit hardest. Of those seeded 21 through 32, Luke Woodhouse (25th) is the only one still in the tournament. That can partly be explained by the fact that most of the out-of-form players heading into the World Darts Championship — such as Dave Chisnall, Dimitri Van den Bergh, Ritchie Edhouse, Michael Smith, and Peter Wright — were in those positions.

With seventeen seeds eliminated, it is a significant improvement on the record set at the 2024 edition. Back then, fourteen seeds failed to reach the last 32. A striking similarity with two years ago: Danny Noppert was also the main casualty by ranking then. “The Freeze” was number seven on the seedings list at the time, one spot lower than now.