Preview Thursday afternoon PDC World Darts Championship: Anderson looks to avoid upset against Hood while Clayton and Searle battle out for semi-final spot
PDC
2025 is in the books, and we kick off the new year right away with a cracking afternoon session at the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship. Eight players remain in the hunt for the coveted world title, and four of them step up this afternoon. Among them are the world number 4, a two-time world champion, and the revelation of this tournament taking to the stage.
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The first match of the afternoon pits Englishman Ryan Searle against the current world number 4 Jonny Clayton. They will decide who becomes the first semi-finalist of this World Championship. After that, two-time world champion Gary Anderson takes on this year’s breakout star Justin Hood in his quarter-final.
Schedule PDC World Darts Championship 2026
Thursday, 01/01
Afternoon session (from 1:30 PM)
| 1:40 PM | Ryan Searle | v | Jonny Clayton | QF |
| 3:30 PM | Gary Anderson | v | Justin Hood | QF |
Ryan Searle v Jonny Clayton
An opener to savour if you ask us. Ryan Searle is one of the form men at this Worlds and hasn’t dropped a single set so far. Chris Landman (3-0), Brendan Dolan (3-0), Martin Schindler (4-0) and James Hurrell (4-0) were all swept aside in succession to secure his spot in the last 8. In his last two matches he even averaged over 100. Against Hurrell in the fourth round he faced resistance in the first set and needed a deciding leg to take it, but after that it was relatively comfortable. He won the second set 3-0, then took the next two sets 3-1 to ‘Heavy Metal’, reaching the World Championship quarter-finals for the first time in his career.
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There he meets Welshman Jonny Clayton. ‘The Ferret’ faced slightly more resistance in his previous matches than Searle, but still booked his place in the last 8 convincingly. In his first match he brushed aside Adam Lipscombe 3-1, then received a bye in the second round after opponent Dom Taylor was disqualified following a positive doping test. In the third round he did face a stern test and had to produce his best to beat Dutchman Niels Zonneveld 4-3. The fourth round wasn’t straightforward either. After four sets it was 2-2 against debutant Andreas Harrysson, and the Swede then missed four darts to win the fifth set. Clayton capitalised and closed it out in set 6 to win 4-2 and reach the quarter-finals.
Searle has not lost a set at the Worlds so far.
Searle and Clayton know each other well and have met eleven times in their careers. Five of those were on TV. Overall Clayton has the narrow edge, winning 6 of the 11 against ‘Heavy Metal’. On TV the pattern is similar. Of their five televised meetings, ‘The Ferret’ has won 3 while Searle has been strongest twice. Their most recent clash at the European Championship in October 2025 went Searle’s way, as he proved too strong for the Welshman with a 6-3 win. If we go by the numbers and head-to-head, we should be in for a tight first quarter-final between the two.
Gary Anderson v Justin Hood
This one’s a belter too. Two-time world champion Gary Anderson faces the man of the tournament: Justin Hood. Anderson hasn’t had anything handed to him in his previous matches. He opened against Adam Hunt, easy on paper, but not in reality. Hunt was superb and both men averaged around 95. Anderson eventually took it in a deciding set. In his second match he met Scutt, who also pushed the Scot hard and only just failed to force a deciding set, allowing Anderson to win 3-1. In the third round it looked comfortable against Wattimena, but ‘The Flying Scotsman’ missed multiple match darts, letting Wattimena come back from 3-1 to 3-3. A tiebreak was needed in the decider, where Anderson edged it 5-3. In his fourth match he met, on paper, his toughest opponent: Michael van Gerwen. In practice, it turned out to be perhaps the easiest hurdle. The Dutchman certainly wasn’t poor, but Anderson hurt him with finishes at the right moments and ran out a relatively comfortable 4-1 winner.
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And then there’s Hood. The man who has stunned everyone at this tournament. And now he faces two-time world champion Gary Anderson. But would it still be a shock if he beats him too? Hood’s opener was one-sided as he beat Nick Kenny 3-0, but the second round produced perhaps the match of the Worlds. He drew Danny Noppert, and it was a spectacle. Both averaged over 102 and at 2-2 it went to a deciding set. In that set Hood piled in 180s, but Noppert looked unbreakable with multiple 100+ checkouts. It took a sudden-death leg, where Hood finally edged this thriller. The third round was another cruise, 4-1 against Ryan Meikle. In the fourth round he faced Josh Rock, another tough one on paper. Hood delivered a finishing masterclass, taking everything in one dart and leaving Rock no way back. At 3-0 in sets and 2-0 in legs, ‘Happy Feet’ was 11 from 11 on the doubles, but missed his first match dart and lost the 100% mark. He still finished at 75% and won emphatically, 4-0.
Justin Hood has made a surprise run to the 2026 PDC World Darts Championship quarter-finals.
Given Justin Hood was relatively unknown before this Worlds, it’s no surprise he and Anderson have never met. Based on stature and their Order of Merit ranking, Anderson should be the favorite. But if Hood has shown anything at this World Championship, it’s that in this form he can beat anyone. So it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he also adds a two-time world champion to his scalps to give his Worlds fairytale another chapter.
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Lucas MichaelDarts Journalist
Lucas Michael is a darts journalist and reporter based in Cambridge, UK, and has been part of the DartsNews team since 2025. He covers professional darts through reports, analysis, round-ups, and live coverage, with a focus on clear context and accurate reporting across the PDC calendar.
A key part of his work is liveblogging major tournaments throughout the year, providing real-time updates, match coverage, and contextual reporting across the professional circuit. He also reports regularly from events on site and has covered the PDC World Darts Championship from the venue, delivering first-hand insight throughout the tournament.
Within the newsroom, Lucas works closely with the editorial team and supports coverage alongside Chief Content Officer Samuel Gill and reporter Kieran Wood.
Lucas holds a BA (Hons) in Sports Journalism. In his work, he places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating content promptly 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