The festive season is almost upon us, and
with it comes the blue ribboned event of the darts calendar: the PDC World
Darts Championship. Starting on December 15th and running until January 3rd, the
moment we’ve all been waiting for is now just around the corner, promising the
three best weeks of the year for darts fans.
Some fans will already be making plans to
head to London’s iconic Alexandra Palace, which has been the championship’s
home since 2008. Last year, Luke Humphries secured his status as the world’s
best darts player by clinching his first World Championship title. "Cool
Hand" has since had a phenomenal year since, collecting several other
major titles along the way. However, the 2024 tournament is perhaps best
remembered for the remarkable debut of 16-year-old Luke Littler. Virtually
unknown before the competition, "The Nuke" became a cult hero over last
year’s festive period, and has since become one of Britain’s most recognisable
young athletes. At just 17, could he pick up his first world title already?
With the draw announced last week,
attention now turns to the second-round matchups. The tournament features 96
players in a knockout format, starting with a preliminary round where
qualifiers from regional tours and events compete, and the top 32 players from
the PDC Order of Merit are seeded directly into the second round. As the
tournament progresses, match lengths increase from best-of-5 sets in the
opening rounds to an epic best-of-13 sets in the final.
There’s a lot of money up for grabs too, with
a total prize pool of £2,500,000 on offer. The eventual champion will take home
a life-changing £500,000, while even second-round losers will walk away with
£15,000. With so much on the line, let’s dive into the third quarter of the
2025
PDC World Darts Championship and see who kicks off their campaign here.
Michael Smith v Kevin Doets or Noa-Lynn
van Leuven Michael Smith, the 2023 world champion and
current number 2 seed, will look to begin his campaign in commanding fashion.
Smith’s crowning moment came when he defeated Michael van Gerwen 7-4 in the
2023 final, avenging his world championship loss to MvG from 2019. However,
since that triumph, the 34-year-old has struggled to replicate his winning form
on the biggest stages, and he’ll need to show more than he has recently to make
a deep run.
Smith was runner-up at this year’s World
Series of Darts Finals, losing to Luke Littler, and reached the semi-finals of
the World Matchplay. Last year, he was eliminated in the fourth round by Chris Dobey, but his best game remains a threat to anyone in the field,
and Smith will be heavily favoured to advance from his second-round matchup.
Kevin Doets and Noa-Lynn van Leuven will
battle it out in the first round for the chance to face Smith. Doets, a solid
competitor, made it to the World Series Finals last 16 this year and was
eliminated by Smith in last year’s World Championship second round. Van Leuven,
meanwhile, made history last month as the first trans woman to compete at the
Grand Slam of Darts, in WolverhamptonAlthough she didn’t progress beyond the
group stage, her appearance marked a significant moment for darts. Making her
World Championship debut, van Leuven will look to make further history, though
she faces an uphill battle if she wishes to progress.
Gerwyn Price v Kim Huybrechts or Keane
Barry Gerwyn Price, the 2021 world champion and
three-time Grand Slam of Darts winner, enters the world championships as the
10th seed. While his achievements are undeniable, the Welshman has not been at
his best for some time, and has failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals at
the World Championship since his victory in 2021. Last year, Price was upset in
the third round by Brendan Dolan, and his recent performances have fallen short
of the standards he set just 3 or 4 years ago. His last major final appearance
was at the 2023 World Grand Prix, and he’s certainly going through a
challenging period in his career.
Price’s potential opponents, Kim Huybrechts
and Keane Barry, each bring their own ambitions to the table. Huybrechts, a
39-year-old from Antwerp, reached the World Championship quarter-finals all the
way back in 2012 but has been relatively quiet on the big stage in recent
years. Barry, on the other hand, is one of the younger players in the field,
even if he is still 5 years older than Littler! The 22-year-old from Duleek
famously defeated James Wade in the 2022 UK Open and has the potential to cause
an upset if he’s on his A game.
Gerwyn Price is one of the two former world champions in this part of the draw
Chris Dobey v Stephen Burton or
Alexander Merkx
Chris Dobey, the 15th seed, will hope to
regain his form as he heads into the World Championship. The 34-year-old has
been a consistent performer at Alexandra Palace, reaching the quarter-finals in
both 2023 and 2024, but Dobey’s recent performances have been below par, and
he’ll need to elevate his game if he hopes to make a strong run this year.
His potential opponents are Stephen Burton,
from Ipswich, and Alexander Merkx, who is making his World Championship debut.
Burton has not competed at the tournament since 2019, where he lost in the
first round to Ryan Searle. This year, he’s showed glimpses of form, reaching
the second round of the UK Open and Players Championship Finals, whilst Merkx
will be an unknown quantity for most viewers, but could he pull off an early
upset?
Jonny Clayton v Mickey Mansell or
Tomoya Goto Jonny Clayton, the seventh seed, will once
again go to Alexandra Palace looking to add to his title, which include the
World Grand Prix, Premier League, Masters, and World Series of Darts Finals, many
of which come from his incredible 2021 season. However, the Welshman’s record
at the World Championship has been less impressive, with Clayton yet to advance
past the quarter-finals. Last year, he was comprehensively beaten 4-0 by Rob
Cross in the fourth round, and he’ll be hoping this will finally be the year he
can show his best form in London.
Clayton’s second-round opponent will be
either Mickey Mansell or Tomoya Goto. Mansell enjoyed a career-best run to the
semi-finals of the Grand Slam of Darts last month, falling only to Martin
Lukeman in the semi-finals. The 50-year-old has never been past the second round at
the World Championship, but his recent form suggests he could provide a
challenge. Goto, a Japanese player returning to the tournament for the second
time, earned his spot through the PDC Asian Tour Order of Merit.
Daryl Gurney v Florian Hempel or
Jeffrey de Zwaan Daryl Gurney, the 26th seed, is a former
World Grand Prix winner and a two-time World Championship quarter-finalist. The
Northern Irishman, now 37, has struggled for consistency in recent seasons, but
his pedigree and experience make him a dangerous player on his day. Gurney’s
most recent deep run at Alexandra Palace came in 2021, where he narrowly lost a
dramatic quarter-final match to that year’s eventual winner, Gerwyn Price.
Florian Hempel is a former professional
handball player from Germany, and he will face Jeffrey de Zwaan in the opening
round. Hempel has competed in the World Championship three times before, while de
Zwaan returns to Alexandra Palace for the first time since 2021. Both players
are looking to re-establish themselves on the big stage, and their first round
match up could be one to watch.
Full draw for the third quarter of the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship
Michael Smith (2) v Kevin Doets or
Noa-Lynn van Leuven
Krzysztof Ratajski (31) v Richard Veenstra
or Alexis Toylo
Chris Dobey (15) v Stephen Burton or
Alexander Merkx
Josh Rock (18) v Karel Sedlacek or Rhys
Griffin
Jonny Clayton (7) v Mickey Mansell or
Tomoya Goto
Daryl Gurney (26) v Florian Hempel or
Jeffrey de Zwaan
Gerwyn Price (10) v Kim Huybrechts or
Keane Barry
Joe Cullen (23) v Wessel Nijman or Cameron
Carolissen