The World Darts Championship continues Monday night at the Alexandra Palace in London. Once again we get to see a Dutchman on stage, as well as a former world champion.
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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.
Niels Zonneveld v Robert Owen (R1)
The evening opens with Niels Zonneveld against Welsh darter Robert Owen. For Zonneveld, this is his fourth participation in the World Cup. Last year he managed to win his first match at Alexandra Palace by beating Darren Webster, although he then fell in the second round against Ross Smith. This year he qualified comfortably through the Pro Tour rankings, where he finished seventh. Zonneveld's recent form has been promising. At the Players Championship Finals, he managed strong victories over William O'Connor and former UK Open champion Nathan Aspinall, advancing to the last sixteen.
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His opponent Robert Owen had an unusual route toward this tournament. Originally he did not qualify, but the suspension of Dom Taylor due to a positive doping test gave Owen a spot at the World Darts Championship after all. It is his second participation; on his debut in 2023, he lost in the first round to Andrew Gilding. Owen has extra motivation: he must reach at least the third round to keep his Tour Card. The winner of this tie gets to face Gabriel Clemens, the 2023 semifinalist, in the second round.
Connor Scutt v Ben Robb (R1)
The second match of the evening brings Connor Scutt and Ben Robb together face each other. Scutt, 'The Sniper' is a marksman with a growing reputation, made his World Championship debut last year and reached the second round then. This season, he has impressed by dominating the Challenge Tour. Scutt also performed strongly at the regular Players Championship tournaments, culminating in a final spot. His recent quarterfinal finish at the Players Championship Finals shows he is ready to further establish his name on the big stage.
On the other side is Ben Robb, an experienced New Zealander making his fifth appearance at Alexandra Palace. So far he has had little success, with four consecutive defeats in the first round. Robb qualified through the regional tournament in New Zealand and hopes to finally break through. His physically imposing presence and calm style make him an interesting opponent, but he will have to show his best darts to beat Scutt. Whoever wins this match will have the challenging task of facing off with Damon Heta in the second round.
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If Cameron Menzies manages to keep his cool, he could make things difficult for any player
Cameron Menzies v Leonard Gates (R1)
The third match of the evening promises fireworks. Scot Cameron Menzies, a flamboyant and emotional player, will take on Leonard Gates, an American darter with flair. Menzies is enjoying his best year to date, with a Players Championship title to his name and a quarterfinal place at the prestigious Grand Slam of Darts. In this, he defeated such established names as Martin Schindler and James Wade, among others. Menzies has shown that he is a dangerous player, especially when he is able to control his emotions.
Leonard Gates, nicknamed "Soulger," is no stranger to the circuit. During his World Championship debut in 2023, he defeated Geert Nentjes and made it to the second round. This year, he earned his spot through his performance on the CDC, where he won three of 14 tournaments. Gates has been seen mostly on the senior circuit in recent years, where he managed to win three of four televised tournaments in 2023. The winner of this match will face two-time major winner Nathan Aspinall in the second round.
Gerwyn Price v Keane Barry (R2)
The final match of the evening marks the return of Gerwyn Price to Ally Pally. 'The Iceman' is the 2021 world champion, but his performance has been nowhere near what we have come to expect from him. Price has had a disappointing season. Whereas from 2020 to 2023 he reached at least the quarter-finals at the World Championship, last year he already fell in the third round. Moreover, the Welshman did not manage to reach the last eight at any major this year and remained barren on the Pro Tour, something that had not happened to him since 2017.
His opponent is young Irishman Keane Barry, who impressed in the first round by beating Kim Huybrechts 3-1. Barry's finishing percentage of 50% was particularly noteworthy in this regard and indicates that he is ready to battle his Welsh opponent. This is Barry's sixth participation in the World Championship, and although he has never advanced beyond the second round, he seems stronger than ever this year.
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Price and Barry have a history: they met four times before and each time Price won through. Their most recent meeting was at the 2023 European Darts Championship, where Price won convincingly, 6-1.
TV Guide during World Darts Championship
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
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Prize money
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 World Championship 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.
Format
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
In the first round, there will be no tiebreak if it is 2-2 after four legs in the fifth set. In that case, the fifth leg will be sudden-death. Starting from the second round, a tie-break rule will be applied in all matches; a deciding set must be won with a difference of two legs. If the score in the final set becomes 5-5, a sudden-death leg will still be played.
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World Darts Championship 2025 Schedule
Monday, Dec. 16
Evening session (from 7 p.m.)
Niels Zonneveld v Robert Owen (R1)
Connor Scutt v Ben Robb (R1)
Cameron Menzies v Leonard Gates (R1)
Gerwyn Price v Keane Barry (R2)
Gerwyn Price hopes to salvage his disappointing season with a good performance at the World Darts Championships
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Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
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- 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
- Not even slightly interestedrick6730-10-2026
- And yet the PDC has decided to aggravate this problem by doubling the Players Championship Finals field from 2027. I can't imagine there will be fewer withdrawals next year with even less reason to turn up. I can only hope that a whole slew of Challenge Tour top-up players receive enough prize money in the absence of much of the elite, that some of the more complacent among them struggle to scrape into even a heavily diluted field! More semi-pro players will get to test their mettle, but the standard of competition will be much inferior. It could hardly be said that the Players Championship series will provide an opportunity for darts' second string to test their Tour Card credentials anymore, but at least it will underscore the achievements of those Challenge Tour players of current and previous years, who were able to prove themselves as more than capable of competing with, and beating, the elite of the sport on a consistent basis, and reaping the due rewards.Deduce635828-10-2026
- No point in being there? Champions want to win.Deduce635828-10-2026