
Stefan Bellmont struck on Saturday night on the PDC Challenge Tour. The Swiss won the fourteenth event of the season, booking his second title of the season.
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Bellmont defeated Ricky Palmer (5-2), Andy Hamilton (5-0), Michael Huntley (5-2), Martin Thomas (5-3), Jimmy van Schie (5-2), Charlie Martin (5-1) and Jack Tweddell (5-4) for a spot in the final. Keegan Brown became the second finalist after victories over Charlie Kemp (5-0), Carl Wilson (5-3), Jarno Bottenberg (5-3), Ted Evetts (5-2), James Howard Hughes (5-1), Ron Meulenkamp (5-2) and Shaun Carroll (5-2).
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It then did not become a high-stakes final. Bellmont threw an average of 85, compared to 79 for Brown. Nevertheless, only one break fell throughout the match. In the sixth leg, Bellmont broke his English opponent with an 18-darter and then 'Belli' won the match 5-3.
The Challenge Tour circuit is open to players who participated in the Q-School but did not win a Tour Card. Through the Challenge Tour, the highest ranked players can gain entry to the Players Championship tournaments as alternates. The top two players at the end of the season receive a PDC Tour Card and may compete in the World Darts Championship.
Results PDC Challenge Tour 14
Final
Stefan Bellmont (85.07) 5 | 3 (79.52) Keegan Brown
Semi-final
Stefan Bellmont (90.93) 5 | 4 (88.99) Jack Tweddell
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Keegan Brown (83.48) 5 | 2 (75.95) Shaun Carroll
Quarterfinals
Jack Tweddell (103.25) 5 | 4 (102.02) Shane McGuirk
Stefan Bellmont (82.11) 5 | 1 (79.14) Charlie Martin
Keegan Brown (86.15) 5 | 2 (80.19) Ron Meulenkamp
Shaun Carroll (84.24) 5 | 3 (79.42) Darius Labanauskas
Last 16
Shane McGuirk (96.23) 5 | 2 (87.29) Richie Burnett
Jack Tweddell (79.32) 5 | 4 (77.69) Christian Perez
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Charlie Martin (83.07) 5 | 2 (74.11) David Davies
Stefan Bellmont (85.50) 5 | 2 (79.28) Jimmy van Schie
Ron Meulenkamp (87.41) 5 | 1 (86.52) Graham Hall
Keegan Brown (79.95) 5 | 1 (81.56) James Howard Hughes
Darius Labanauskas (93.03) 5 | 2 (88.34) John O'Shea
Shaun Carroll (90.46) 5 | 3 (85.30) Stuart Wares
Last 32
Richie Burnett (94.31) 5 | 3 (84.85) Ben Robb
Shane McGuirk (83.50) 5 | 0 (74.97) Danny van Trijp
Jack Tweddell (86.79) 5 | 1 (72.48) Tom Lonsdale
Christian Perez (88.69) 5 | 3 (81.73) Carl Sneyd
Charlie Martin (82.58) 5 | 0 (71.97) Janek Hill
David Davies (101.31) 5 | 2 (89.27) Kai Fan Leung
Jimmy van Schie (85.24) 5 | 3 (86.70) Jamie Hughes
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Stefan Bellmont (93.00) 5 | 3 (86.87) Martin Thomas
Ron Meulenkamp (80.86) 5 | 2 (75.00) Adrian Gray
Graham Hall (94.46) 5 | 3 (90.64) Oliver Mitchell
James Howard Hughes (87.66) 5 | 3 (75.36) Owen Maiden
Keegan Brown (91.03) 5 | 2 (87.53) Ted Evetts
John O'Shea (83.59) 5 | 2 (72.00) Nathan Care
Darius Labanauskas (78.20) 5 | 3 (78.81) Samuel Price
Shaun Carroll (84.59) 5 | 3 (82.40) Alexander Merkx
Stuart Wares (85.00) 5 | 2 (79.78) Keenan Thomas
Last 64
Richie Burnett (92.08) 5 | 3 (94.97) Jeffrey Sparidaans
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Ben Robb (95.15) 5 | 2 (83.70) Scott Waites
Shane McGuirk (83.53) 5 | 1 (76.68) Dylan Dowling
Danny van Trijp (83.10) 5 | 2 (78.08) Colin Gibson
Tom Lonsdale (86.28) 5 | 3 (79.63) Nathan Girvan
Jack Tweddell (87.66) 5 | 3 (81.37) Reece Colley
Carl Sneyd (91.69) 5 | 3 (86.45) Jimmy Bristow
Christian Perez (79.80) 5 | 2 (82.75) David Sharp
Charlie Martin (74.41) 5 | 0 (65.00) Liam Kitchen
Janek Hill (78.42) 5 | 3 (81.56) Matt Gallett
Kai Fan Leung (94.54) 5 | 4 (88.69) Ultan McDyer
David Davies (86.10) 5 | 3 (82.19) James Parkin
Jimmy van Schie (93.00) 5 | 2 (91.89) Steve West
Jamie Hughes (84.90) 5 | 1 (83.15) Daniel Perry
Martin Thomas (89.29) 5 | 4 (84.72) Kevin Lane
Stefan Bellmont (86.29) 5 | 2 (85.46) Michael Huntley
Ron Meulenkamp (87.66) 5 | 4 (87.79) Henry Coates
Adrian Gray (86.57) 5 | 2 (84.38) Jacques Labre
Oliver Mitchell (99.56) 5 | 3 (81.84) Dmitriy Zhukov
Graham Hall (95.42) 5 | 2 (83.37) Trevor Burkhill
James Howard Hughes (88.26) 5 | 4 (85.52) Eddie Lovely
Owen Maiden (84.26) 5 | 4 (86.44) Conor Heneghan
Ted Evetts (98.88) 5 | 0 (74.29) Kelvin O'Keefe
Keegan Brown (84.64) 5 | 3 (77.52) Jarno Bottenberg
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Nathan Care (77.08) 5 | 1 (72.80) Joe Hunt
John O'Shea (89.09) 5 | 2 (83.54) Patrick Dekker
Darius Labanauskas (88.03) 5 | 2 (84.58) David Pallett
Samuel Price (83.97) 5 | 2 (79.25) Aden Kirk
Shaun Carroll (83.80) 5 | 2 (80.58) Kevin Leadenham
Alexander Merkx (87.06) 5 | 4 (84.69) Stu Wilson
Keenan Thomas (82.92) 5 | 3 (72.81) Jimmy McKirdy
Stuart Wares (87.38) 5 | 0 (77.50) Jason Wilson
Last 128
Jeffrey Sparidaans (83.50) 5 | 0 (58.29) Ian Lever
Richie Burnett (103.58) 5 | 2 (93.97) Michael Flynn
Ben Robb (85.36) 5 | 3 (77.91) Taylor Greaves
Scott Waites (97.60) 5 | 0 (74.58) Ash Ling
Dylan Dowling (86.57) 5 | 2 (82.50) Phil Coward
Shane McGuirk (98.36) 5 | 4 (89.73) John Henderson
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Danny van Trijp (80.07) 5 | 4 (77.18) Coni Singh Nagi
Colin Gibson (86.80) 5 | 1 (79.16) Chris Hurds
Tom Lonsdale (86.19) 5 | 4 (87.00) Jamai van den Herik
Nathan Girvan (81.96) 5 | 4 (83.31) Ellis Radford
Reece Colley (86.97) 5 | 1 (85.02) Karl Williams
Jack Tweddell (87.38) 5 | 0 (84.52) Marco Jungwirth
Jimmy Bristow (79.67) 5 | 2 (74.91) Simon Stothart
Carl Sneyd (95.29) 5 | 2 (86.97) Bruno Stoeckli
Christian Perez (93.75) 5 | 3 (89.39) Lee Budgen
David Sharp (84.62) 5 | 2 (78.05) Peter Burgoyne
Liam Kitchen (74.79) 5 | 4 (72.02) Andrew Hoare
Charlie Martin (82.62) 5 | 4 (80.07) Ryan Branley
Matt Gallett (80.01) 5 | 3 (77.98) Myles Avory
Janek Hill (76.72) 5 | 3 (78.13) Callum Francis
Ultan McDyer (81.05) 5 | 2 (82.27) Lee Cocks
Kai Fan Leung (80.92) 5 | 3 (77.31) Aaron Beeney
James Parkin (79.11) 5 | 0 (67.70) Gino Vermeersch
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David Davies (90.54) 5 | 0 (79.44) Rowby-John Rodriguez
Steve West (80.75) 5 | 3 (84.23) Geert Nentjes
Jimmy van Schie (88.06) 5 | 2 (78.62) Scott Baker
Daniel Perry (75.43) 5 | 2 (74.80) Nathan Potter
Jamie Hughes (88.59) 5 | 2 (79.93) Tommy Morris
Martin Thomas (80.91) 5 | 2 (69.56) Jim Moston
Kevin Lane (81.27) 5 | 4 (85.99) Jason Heaver
Stefan Bellmont (84.44) 5 | 0 (66.96) Andy Hamilton
Michael Huntley (90.43) 5 | 1 (84.80) John Davey
Ron Meulenkamp (89.25) 5 | 2 (83.92) Mat Caste
Henry Coates (84.44) 5 | 0 (71.39) Paul Rowley
Jacques Labre (77.69) 5 | 4 (77.69) Marco Reichenpfader
Adrian Gray (74.08) 5 | 2 (75.26) Sietse Lap
Dmitriy Zhukov (83.75) 5 | 2 (69.18) Stephen Castle
Oliver Mitchell (85.51) 5 | 4 (77.34) David Sumner
Trevor Burkhill (82.33) 5 | 2 (74.23) Paul Mitchell
Graham Hall (87.42) 5 | 1 (80.33) Marcel Walpen
Eddie Lovely () 1 | F () Steven Harbert
James Howard Hughes (85.08) 5 | 2 (89.04) Graham Usher
Conor Heneghan (86.49) 5 | 3 (81.31) Neil Parry
Owen Maiden (80.57) 5 | 1 (73.61) Oliver Mueller (FfO)
Ted Evetts (92.11) 5 | 1 (82.63) Tim Scholz
Kelvin O'Keefe (96.87) 5 | 2 (93.00) Daniel Ayres
Jarno Bottenberg (74.55) 5 | 4 (75.60) Jamie Atkins
Keegan Brown (86.49) 5 | 3 (82.22) Carl Wilson
Nathan Care (76.54) 5 | 3 (77.69) Lee Barrow
Joe Hunt (81.40) 5 | 4 (78.21) John Part
Patrick Dekker (76.13) 5 | 3 (76.79) Danny Goddard
John O'Shea (88.18) 5 | 2 (82.42) Andrew Callary
Darius Labanauskas (94.07) 5 | 1 (95.97) Sam Spivey
David Pallett (86.91) 5 | 2 (86.00) Kevin Lowe
Aden Kirk (81.68) 5 | 0 (55.77) Mark Boardman
Samuel Price (94.04) 5 | 3 (83.04) Daniel Nicholls
Kevin Leadenham (87.30) 5 | 1 (86.05) Lee Williams
Shaun Carroll (85.16) 5 | 4 (86.80) Scott Taylor
Alexander Merkx (80.47) 5 | 4 (74.75) Sean Taylor
Stu Wilson (86.21) 5 | 3 (85.21) Ryan Palmer
Jimmy McKirdy (77.24) 5 | 1 (75.76) Tom Baughan
Keenan Thomas (76.46) 5 | 3 (75.06) Davy Robijns
Stuart Wares (92.11) 5 | 1 (81.20) Kevin Troppmann
Jason Wilson (72.64) 5 | 2 (69.95) Calvin Nicolai
Last 256
Jeffrey Sparidaans (96.35) 5 | 0 (86.83) James Waite
Richie Burnett (86.38) 5 | 0 (72.92) Sean Fisher
Michael Flynn (82.94) 5 | 1 (60.96) Serge Brisset
Ben Robb (81.68) 5 | 0 (74.10) Patrick Schwab
Ash Ling (81.07) 5 | 3 (85.84) Jarred Cole
Scott Waites (86.86) 5 | 3 (82.64) Scott Campbell
Phil Coward (87.20) 5 | 4 (83.32) Deian Roberts
Shane McGuirk (90.29) 5 | 4 (87.13) Callum Goffin
John Henderson (82.30) 5 | 1 (75.74) Andreas Harrysson
Danny van Trijp (83.90) 5 | 2 (78.93) Steve Hine
Colin Gibson (69.06) 5 | 2 (67.79) Ryan Newton
Chris Hurds (78.28) 5 | 0 (66.75) David Hill
Jamai van den Herik (97.60) 5 | 0 (86.71) Neilie Brouder
Ellis Radford (80.81) 5 | 0 (59.24) Dimitri Nees
Nathan Girvan (94.65) 5 | 2 (89.18) Charlie Manby
Karl Williams (78.02) 5 | 2 (77.03) Jonas Graversen
Marco Jungwirth (72.45) 5 | 1 (67.92) Frankie Ansell
Jack Tweddell (89.67) 5 | 3 (75.89) Charlie Symons
Jimmy Bristow (76.40) 5 | 4 (73.69) James Vanbesien
Carl Sneyd (87.33) 5 | 1 (83.66) Niels Aagaard Nielsen
Bruno Stoeckli (77.36) 5 | 2 (79.90) Colin Osborne
Lee Budgen (89.46) 5 | 0 (63.15) Andrew Cass
Christian Perez (83.48) 5 | 2 (74.66) Luke Smith
David Sharp (78.28) 5 | 0 (39.13) Jamie Foster
Peter Burgoyne (81.71) 5 | 3 (77.30) Bailey White
Liam Kitchen (70.76) 5 | 4 (70.44) Vinay Ramnath
Charlie Martin (75.19) 5 | 4 (79.47) Thomas Banks
Ryan Branley (78.57) 5 | 2 (65.50) Shane Turner
Matt Gallett (75.15) 5 | 0 (65.85) David Williams
Janek Hill (79.48) 5 | 3 (82.37) Damian Mol
Callum Francis (81.99) 5 | 2 (82.31) Dave Bayton
Ultan McDyer (72.52) 5 | 2 (70.95) Danny Trueman
Kai Fan Leung (84.17) 5 | 1 (75.52) Adam Smith-neale
Aaron Beeney (78.51) 5 | 2 (86.21) Patrick Quinn
James Parkin (91.83) 5 | 2 (89.32) Lewis Pride
David Davies (83.86) 5 | 2 (74.46) Dean Finn Forde
Rowby-John Rodriguez (86.78) 5 | 3 (81.76) Steven Watts
Steve West (90.24) 5 | 3 (85.80) Luis Camacho
Jimmy van Schie (87.73) 5 | 4 (89.74) Martin Grearson
Scott Baker (97.09) 5 | 3 (90.73) Danny Jansen
Nathan Potter (84.59) 5 | 2 (71.78) Kevin McDine
Jamie Hughes (86.38) 5 | 0 (47.04) Bradley Whitehead
Tommy Morris (87.38) 5 | 0 (57.11) Danny Moore
Martin Thomas (84.60) 5 | 4 (82.90) Matthias Ehlers
Kevin Lane (78.16) 5 | 4 (76.08) Marc Vleghert
Jason Heaver (81.68) 5 | 2 (81.25) Brian Raman
Andy Hamilton (82.35) 5 | 2 (81.10) David Evans
Stefan Bellmont (73.98) 5 | 2 (72.86) Ricky Palmer
John Davey (88.83) 5 | 3 (84.65) Adam Mould
Michael Huntley (84.44) 5 | 0 (62.56) Louis Lucas-Carter
Matt Caste (67.70) 5 | 0 (50.75) Ross Baines
Paul Rowley (84.15) 5 | 2 (76.45) Martin Tonks
Henry Coates (86.46) 5 | 2 (76.31) Jeffrey De Zwaan
Jacques Labre (88.15) 5 | 3 (76.43) Kirk De Ruyter
Adrian Gray (86.25) 5 | 1 (81.97) Derek Maclean
Sietse Lap (97.60) 5 | 0 (97.92) Beau Greaves
Stephen Castle (70.36) 5 | 4 (68.58) Jack Secular
David Sumner (78.04) 5 | 4 (74.04) Bhav Patel
Oliver Mitchell (91.96) 5 | 2 (83.45) James Green
Trevor Burkhill (82.58) 5 | 0 (78.54) Ben Adams
Graham Hall (86.53) 5 | 2 (80.61) Kyle Manton
Marcel Walpen (84.37) 5 | 3 (79.23) Ciaran Teehan
Eddie Lovely (89.94) 5 | 4 (91.84) Nicolas Thuillier
James Howard Hughes (93.13) 5 | 2 (86.92) Jonny Barnes
Graham Usher (90.54) 5 | 0 (75.04) Mervyn King
Conor Heneghan (80.90) 5 | 4 (80.31) Arno Merk
Owen Maiden (73.47) 5 | 3 (73.12) Tom Parradine
Oliver Mueller (FfO) (88.87) 5 | 2 (90.55) Ryan O'Connor
Ted Evetts (84.00) 5 | 2 (81.21) Adam Beck
Kelvin O'Keefe (68.54) 5 | 2 (61.59) Robin Bos
Daniel Ayres (86.21) 5 | 2 (80.00) Tom Sykes
Jamie Atkins (82.58) 5 | 0 (64.03) Kristian Barker
Jarno Bottenberg (72.06) 5 | 2 (69.43) Robert Nelson
Carl Wilson (95.13) 5 | 0 (75.96) Tom Riding
Keegan Brown (83.50) 5 | 0 (70.79) Charlie Kemp
Nathan Care (78.82) 5 | 3 (80.47) Steven Inkpen
John Part (71.35) 5 | 4 (75.68) Ashley Coleman
Joe Hunt (84.18) 5 | 1 (85.48) Jenson Walker
Patrick Dekker (82.58) 5 | 0 (63.73) Bruno Rangel
Andrew Callary (86.17) 5 | 1 (75.70) Remo Mandiau
John O'Shea (80.47) 5 | 4 (81.90) Jaikob Selby-Rivas
Sam Spivey (80.73) 5 | 1 (76.09) Lionel Maranhao
Kevin Lowe (74.90) 5 | 1 (71.82) Daniel Humphries
David Pallett (83.09) 5 | 3 (73.52) Geoffrey Heath
Aden Kirk (77.42) 5 | 1 (78.35) Max Baulcomb
Samuel Price (93.87) 5 | 2 (85.18) Mike Warburton
Daniel Nicholls (81.11) 5 | 1 (63.96) Tommie Coleman
Kevin Leadenham (81.68) 5 | 0 (61.14) Chi-Minh Tran
Shaun Carroll (79.27) 5 | 1 (69.71) Kevin Burness
Scott Taylor (80.07) 5 | 1 (74.31) Dan Hands
Alexander Merkx (90.65) 5 | 2 (81.36) Jurjen van der Velde
Ryan Palmer (80.46) 5 | 1 (59.83) Gary Blades
Stu Wilson (89.88) 5 | 1 (76.56) James Evans-Bradford
Tom Baughan (71.57) 5 | 0 (45.15) Laszlo B Csato
Davy Robijns (69.38) 5 | 2 (69.66) Joe Croft
Keenan Thomas (88.98) 5 | 1 (69.97) Keelan Kay
Stuart Wares (71.57) 5 | 0 (63.06) Sam Booth
Kevin Troppmann (85.40) 5 | 0 (70.52) Steve Sewell
Jason Wilson (71.62) 5 | 1 (66.07) Lee Grace
Calvin Nicolai (81.03) 5 | 1 (68.30) Paul Higgins

Samuel GillChief Content Officer
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
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.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed 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







