Schedule Tuesday night at 2025 PDC World Darts Championship: Fallon Sherrock battles Ryan Meikle as Peter Wright begins quest for 3rd world title
PDC
This Tuesday night has a mouthwatering menu of darts on offer. Among the players in action are Fallon Sherrock, who faces Ryan Meikle with a second round clash against Luke Littler on offer for the winner, plus two-time world champion Peter Wright begins his 2025 PDC World Darts Championship campaign.
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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.
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Jeffrey de Graaf v Rashad Sweeting (R1)
The opening match of the evening pits Jeffrey de Graaf against Rashad Sweeting, a duel with a historic twist. De Graaf is a familiar name at world championships, but his path to success has been bumpy. In his first six appearances, he failed to survive the first round. Last year, however, he broke through that barrier and cleverly made it to the third round. At that edition, De Graaf played for the first time under the Swedish flag at the World Darts Championship after moving to Sweden in 2018.
Sweeting is making history by becoming the first player from the Bahamas to debut at the World Darts Championship. Although his annual average on the Championship Darts Latin America and Caribbean Tour at 75 is not impressive, he does bring a breath of fresh air to the tournament. For De Graaf, with his experience and better performance, this seems like an ideal draw. But as we have seen in the past, debutants at Alexandra Palace can come out surprising. The stakes? A second-round spot against two-time world champion Gary Anderson.
Ricardo Pietreczko v Xiaochen Zong (R1)
We continue the program with a meeting between Ricardo Pietreczko and Xiaochen Zong. Pietreczko, a rising star from Germany, has had a solid season, despite disappointment at missing out on a spot in the top-32. 'Pikachu' appeared to qualify for the World Darts Championship as a series leader, but after surprising major titles for Mike de Decker and Ritchie Edhouse, he still fell out of the race.
On the other side is Zong, who is once again defending the Chinese flag at Alexandra Palace. Although he failed to cash in on his previous three World Cup appearances with a victory, no other darter is yet to rise in China to knock Zong off his throne. The winner will get a chance to face Gian van Veen in the second round.
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Xiaochen Zong is by far the best dart player from China, but so far, competing with the world's best has been another story
Ryan Meikle v Fallon Sherrock (R1)
One of the most talked-about matches of the first round is the clash between Ryan Meikle and Fallon Sherrock. Sherrock made history in 2020 by becoming the first woman to win a match at the World Darts Championship, and her name has been inextricably linked to the tournament ever since. This season she had an erratic run at the Women's Series, but during the final weekend in October, the "Queen of the Palace" showed some form again.
Meikle is no stranger to such situations. Two years ago, he faced Lisa Ashton on the same stage and emerged victorious. His recent victory over Gary Anderson at the Players Championship Finals shows that he has the skills to beat big names.
The winner of this match will also get an exciting poster against teen sensation Luke Littler in the second round. The English press would no doubt feast on a possible encounter between poster boy Littler and poster girl Sherrock.
Peter Wright v Wesley Plaisier (R2)
The evening's closing match is between Scottish legend Peter Wright and Wesley Plaisier. Wright is known for his spectacular outfits during his opening World Championship matches, and fans are eagerly awaiting to see what he will wear this year. But behind his colourful appearance is a darter in a form crisis. Although he managed to win a Euro Tour in 2024, his performances at major tournaments have been downright disappointing.
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Wesley Plaisier started his Worlds campaign with difficulty, but showed resilience by turning a 1-2 deficit against Ryusei Azemoto into a 3-2 victory. At the end of October the two players met at the last Players Championship tournament of the season. Then the Dutchman won 6-4. Should Plaisier win the match, a Dutch clash with Jermaine Wattimena awaits in the third round.
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 Cup 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
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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.
World Darts Championship 2025 playing schedule
Tuesday, Dec. 17
Evening session (from 7 p.m.)
Jeffrey de Graaf v Rashad Sweeting (R1)
Ricardo Pietreczko v Xiaochen Zong (R1)
Ryan Meikle v Fallon Sherrock (R1)
Peter Wright v Wesley Plaisier (R2)
Can Peter Wright still save his season with a good performance at the World Darts Championship?
Kieran WoodDarts Journalist
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He contributes to DartsNews.com, where he covers professional darts through news, match reports, analysis, and live coverage across the PDC calendar and major tournaments.
A key part of his work is on-site reporting from leading events. Kieran has covered the PDC World Darts Championship in person, reporting daily from the venue and providing first-hand insight from the tournament. During his coverage, he has conducted interviews with leading players including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries, and Gerwyn Price.
He is also one of the leading voices of the English-language Dartsnews Podcast, contributing regular analysis and discussion on developments across the professional darts circuit.
In his reporting, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles when new, verified information becomes available.
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- And why should he listen to you?Deduce635807-11-2026
- 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