Preview 2026 PDC World Darts Championship Sunday Night: Stephen Bunting begins world title quest with Dimitri van den Bergh & Stowe Buntz also in action

After the afternoon session earlier today, the PDC World Darts Championship resumes this evening. One of the biggest crowd favorites takes to the stage tonight.

The evening opens with the seventh Dutchman of this Worlds. Wesley Plaisier faces Germany’s Lukas Wenig. Then it is the turn of Dimitri Van den Bergh, who meets Darren Beveridge in his first round. After that, one of the crowd pleasers, Stephen Bunting, walks on stage. He plays Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki, before James Hurrell and the colorful Stowe Buntz close out the night.

Wesley Plaisier begins his second Worlds appearance against Germany’s Lukas Wenig. Last year the Dutchman won his opener against Japan’s Ryusei Azemote, before losing in the second round to Peter Wright. This year he meets the 31-year-old German, and that is not the easiest draw. Wenig reached a final on a Players Championship event this year and recently made the quarterfinals at the Grand Slam of Darts.

Plaisier was also mainly active on the floor events this year, but often failed to go beyond the last 32. He also qualified via the European Tour Card Holder Qualifiers for two Euro Tour events, but he could not find success there either and went out in his first match on both occasions. Although this will be Wenig’s debut at the Worlds in Alexandra Palace, he currently seems to have a slight edge over the Dutchman. But Plaisier certainly has chances to reach the second round for the second year running. Looking at their head-to-head, it is even. The pair have met 4 times, with two wins apiece. However, their last meeting was back in 2022.

Then it is the turn of Dimitri Van den Bergh. The Belgian is not in the best phase of his career and has slipped to 23rd on the Order of Merit. He began the year well with a semifinal at the Masters, but beyond that we have seen little from “The Dreammaker.” He also played the UK Open, where he reached the last 16. The Belgian hit a serious slump and decided in October to put his darts down for two months and skip tournaments. Now he looks ahead to the Worlds with fresh optimism, but the question is which “Dimi” we will see on stage later this month.

His opponent Darren Beveridge was mainly active on the floor events this year and qualified for the Worlds as a ProTour Qualifier. The Scot’s highlight on the Players Championship circuit was a quarterfinal at event 28. Apart from that, we heard little from “Ice Cold” this year. Still, it is hard to predict who will win this match. It will be Beveridge’s debut on the big stage, but Van den Bergh has been out for a while, so we have to wait and see how he presents himself.

And time for one of the biggest crowd favorites within the PDC: Stephen Bunting. “The Bullet” is not only a fan favorite but also one of the outsiders for the world title, despite being slightly off the boil compared to the start of the year. Bunting has now climbed to world number 4 and has captured multiple titles this year. On the World Series he won the Bahrain Darts Masters early in the year, and later the Nordic Darts Masters. He also won two European Tour events, and the same on the floor, where he claimed two titles. He performed creditably at the majors as well. At the Masters he reached the quarterfinals, and he also fell in the last 8 at the World Matchplay. The last few weeks, however, were less impressive. At the World Grand Prix he exited after his second match, he did not get out of his group at the Grand Slam, and he also lost in the last 32 at the Players Championship Finals.

His opponent Bialecki won his first major title within the PDC this year. The Pole sprung a surprise on the floor by winning a Players Championship event, beating Dutchman Niels Zonneveld in the final. He was also very active on the Development Tour, where he ultimately finished seventh in the rankings. Beyond that, we heard or saw little of the Pole this past year. With last year’s Worlds in mind, where Bunting reached the semifinals, we can only assume that “The Bullet” is currently a size too big for Bialecki. That said, it is still the Worlds and an upset can never be ruled out.

The evening concludes with James Hurrell against Stowe Buntz. Hurrell faced Michael van Gerwen in the last 64 at last year’s Worlds, but despite decent play he went down 3-0 without a chance. The 41-year-old Englishman, however, reached a quarterfinal and a semifinal on the floor this year, and recently at the Players Championship Finals he beat both Jonny Clayton and Luke Woodhouse, which shows what he can do.

The colorful Stowe Buntz was mainly active on the DCD Pro Tour this past year. He won three events there and thus qualified for the PDC Worlds. He also played there the past two years, but has never won a match, or even a set. This draw therefore offers perspective for both men. Buntz will hope to win a set for the first time, and hopefully the match as well. And Hurrell will fancy his chances to reach the second round for the second year in a row.