Schedule PDC World Darts Championship 2025 on Friday afternoon with Stephen Bunting as highlight

On Friday afternoon there are four matches on the program again at the World Darts Championship. Stephen Bunting will make his first appearance in the main highlight.

The first three matches of the afternoon will be first-round ties. The afternoon 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.

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Stephen Burton v Alexander Merkx (R1)

Stephen Burton may be one of the somewhat unknown players who has qualified through the Pro Tour. He did so as the number nineteen seed in the Pro Tour qualifying race. What Burton did especially well is often rack up pounds. In only nine of thirty Players Championship tournaments was Burton eliminated in the first round. At the same time, Burton never really got very far either, as only three times did he make it to at least the last sixteen. Burton already has some World Cup experience behind him, because six years ago he was allowed to compete. Then the Englishman lost in the first round to Ryan Searle (3-0).

Alexander Merkx surprisingly managed to qualify for the World Darts Championship via the Challenge Tour. 'Alexander The Great,' as his nickname goes, had not really entered the qualifying race for the World Cup via the Challenge Tour, but earned a spot anyway after an excellent final weekend. Merkx then finished fourth on the Challenge Tour Order of Merit. Normally that is not enough for a World Cup ticket, but the Dutchman still got a World Cup spot because Connor Scutt and Wesley Plaisier qualified via the Pro Tour. In 2023, Merkx did compete in the WDF World Championship, where he reached the third round.

Wessel Nijman v Cameron Carolissen (R1)

A lot is expected of Wessel Nijman at the World Darts Championship. With the bookmakers, the Dutchman is considered the seventh (!) favorite for the world title. Perhaps a bit optimistic for a player who in his previous World Cup appearance and at the Grand Slam of Darts and Players Championship Finals this year failed to win a match. However, Nijman did show how much talent he has, especially on the Pro Tour and the Grand Slam of Darts. Although he lost all his matches at the Grand Slam of Darts, he did so with a tournament average of 111. Moreover, in his first year as a Tour Card holder, Nijman also managed to win a Players Championship tournament.

The first round should normally be a breeze for the Dutchman. With Cameron Carolissen, on paper he meets one of the easiest possible options. Carolissen forced participation by winning the World Cup qualifying tournament for African darts. Four years ago, Carolissen also participated in the World Darts Championship. Then he advanced to the second round without playing after Martijn Kleermaker was eliminated from the tournament due to a positive coronas test. Danny Noppert was then too strong for the South African with 3-1 in sets.

Can Wessel Nijman live up to the bookmakers' high expectations at this world championship?

Ian White v Sandro Eric Sosing (R1)

Ian White will be at Alexandra Palace for the thirteenth time in his career. On his third appearance in 2014, 'The Diamond' made it to the quarter-finals, but since then he has only managed to reach the quarter-finals twice. Last year, White even sat out the first round after a surprising 3-1 defeat to Tomoya Goto. White managed to qualify for the World Darts Championship this year via the Pro Tour. However, his Pro Tour season was nothing special, with three finishes in the last sixteen and one quarterfinal.

Like last year, White once again faces an Asian player. This time Sandro Eric Sosing is the opponent. The Filipino dart player qualified for this tournament as a losing finalist of the PDC Asian Championship. Sosing already made his debut in Alexandra Palace last year. Then Lee Evans was too strong in the first round with 3-0 in sets.

Stephen Bunting v Kai Gotthardt (R2)

Stephen Bunting's tournament kicks off Friday afternoon with a tie against Kai Gotthardt. At this edition, Bunting will be heralded as a major winner at the PDC for the first time at the World Darts Championship, as earlier this season Bunting surprisingly won the Masters. That also caused Bunting to be mentioned emphatically for the Premier League Darts in 2025. A good result at Alexandra Palace will further underscore Bunting's candidacy. For the 2014 Lakeside champion, it will be his 11th participation in the PDC's World Darts Championship. In recent years, 'The Bullet' has been performing quite well in London. In four of the last five editions, Bunting reached at least the last sixteen, culminating in a semifinal in 2021.

It would have been expected that Bunting would face Alan Soutar in the second round, but the Scot was surprisingly beaten by Kai Gotthardt. A broken dart did not let him off the hook and the German PDC Europe Super League winner triumphed 3-1 in sets. Gotthardt threw an average of 89 in that match, but will presumably have to play a lot better to stand a chance against Bunting.

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.

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.

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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 last set becomes 5-5, a sudden-death leg will still be played.

World Darts Championship 2025 playing schedule

Friday, Dec. 20

Afternoon session (from 12:30 p.m.)

Stephen Burton v Alexander Merkx (R1)

Wessel Nijman v Cameron Carolissen (R1)

Ian White v Sandro Eric Sosing (R1)

Stephen Bunting v Kai Gotthardt (R2)

Stephen Bunting is looking to make a final appearance at the World Darts Championship for the 2025 Premier League Darts