Schedule Friday night at the 2025 World Darts Championship: Michael van Gerwen begins hunt for fourth world title, as the Irish descend on the Ally Pally

A great program awaits us Friday night at the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship. For Michael van Gerwen, the big work will finally begin at the Ally Pally, while a number of the Irish competitors will also make their respective appearances.

The first three matches of the evening involve duels from the first round. The evening session will conclude with a match from the second round. The winner of that match may return for the third round of the World Darts Championship after the Christmas break.

In terms of names probably not the biggest draw, but those who follow darts a bit may remember Tomoya Goto from last year. The Japanese then impressed by sweeping aside Ian White 3-1 in sets. That year Goto qualified for the World Darts Championship via the Asian Tour Order of Merit, but this year Goto has qualified for this tournament as Japan's number one. If Goto is able to approach his level of last year, he could make things very difficult for Mickey Mansell.

Mansell's confidence is high, however, as a month ago the Northern Irish darter was in the semifinals at a major for the first time in his career. He surprisingly left Luke Humphries behind in the group stage of the Grand Slam of Darts and thus eventually made it to the last four, while Mansell had never previously made it past the last sixteen at a ranking major. It is Mansell's ninth time competing at Alexandra Palace. His series began dramatically, with five consecutive defeats. At the 2021, 2023, and 2024 editions, however, Mansell managed to reach the second round each time.

Jeffrey de Zwaan managed to qualify for the World Darts Championship at the last minute. He did not succeed on the Pro Tour, giving 'The Black Cobra' one last chance to qualify for the Tour Card holders. It has been over six years since De Zwaan impressed with a semi-final place at the World Matchplay. In recent years the Dutchman had been struggling with injuries to his shoulder, but De Zwaan kept making small steps forward. It is also the first time in four years that he will be back at the World Darts Championship. To save his Tour Card, however, De Zwaan will have to make it to the third round.

De Zwaan will no doubt not have been saddened by the draw, as a duel with Florian Hempel offers good prospects for the Dutchman to at least advance to the second round. The German is competing at Alexandra Palace for the fourth consecutive year. The former handball player did not have a special year, with one semifinal on the floor as the highlight. What does speak for him is that he is actually always good at the World Darts Championship. There, Hempel already made it to the third round twice in his career.

An all-Irish clash in the first round of the World Darts Championship. For O'Connor, it is his eighth Worlds entry in a row. A positive point for 'The Magpie' is that in his seven previous participations, he lost only once in the first round. On the other hand, O'Connor also managed to survive Christmas only twice, and then the last 32 was also immediately the finish line.

Like De Zwaan, Dylan Slevin also took his last chance at the qualifying tournament for Tour Card holders. It immediately ensured that Slevin is almost certain to keep his Tour Card. The 22-year-old Irishman did perform considerably better last year than this season. In 2024, Slevin made it to the last 32 only three times and once to the last sixteen on the Pro Tour. Last year, Slevin also competed in London. Then he was eliminated in the first round by Hempel.

Dutch darts fans are eagerly awaiting Michael van Gerwen's start at this tournament. Has the 35-year-old managed to regain his form level in the preparation? The three-time world champion had a very lean year for his efforts, with only finals at the Masters and the World Matchplay. Moreover, these finals were both lost. This ensures that Van Gerwen is not among the biggest favourites for the world title for the first time since the 2012 World Darts Championship, i.e. 13 years ago. Perhaps this will actually help Van Gerwen become world champion again for the first time since 2019.

His first hurdle toward the world title is James Hurrell, who earned the right to take on the Dutchman in the opening round by defeating Jim Long 3-0. In his debut at Alexandra Palace, Hurrell certainly did not do badly. The Englishman reached an average of 89 and a finishing percentage of 43 percent.

Sky Sports are broadcasting the entire World Darts Championship in the UK with coverage throughout on a dedicated channel Sky Sports Darts.

A subscription is required to access this though which can be sought on a Sky box or through their streaming platform.

The 96 participants at the 2025 World Darts Championship may divide as much as 2.5 million pounds between them. That amount is almost forty times higher than at the very first edition of the PDC Worlds in 1994.

The 64 participants to start in the first round of the World Darts Championship will receive £7500 in prize money anyway. The top-32 of the placement list are guaranteed 15,000 pounds. These players enter the World Darts Championship from the second round. The amount then increases further each round. The new world champion will receive the top prize of 500,000 pounds.

First round: Best of 5 sets

Second round: Best of 5 sets

Third round: Best of 7 sets

Fourth round: Best of 7 sets

Quarterfinals: Best of 9 sets

Semifinals: Best of 11 sets

Final: Best of 13 sets

Mickey Mansell v Tomoya Goto (R1)

Florian Hempel v Jeffrey De Zwaan (R1)

William O'Connor v Dylan Slevin (R1)

Michael van Gerwen v James Hurrell (R2)