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The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
PDC World Championship schedule released as fans hail ‘mind-melting amount of darts this Christmas'
SPORTS fans are in for a very merry footballdartsmas this year after the schedule for the Darts World Championship was released. The PDC have expanded the tournament to 128 players for the 2025/26 edition of the Alexandra Palace showpiece. 2 The PDC have revealed the schedule for the 2025/26 Darts World Championship Credit: PA 2 The competition has been expanded with more players, more money and more fans Credit: Alamy This comes with a record-breaking prize pot of £5million on the line, with this year's winner set to pocket an eye-watering £1m. And the schedule for the expanded competition has now been revealed by organisers. It will be a 20-day darts bonanza held across 36 sessions which is expected to welcome more than 100,000 fans. The likes of READ MORE IN DARTS Round one will last over a week through to Friday, December 19, with every day except for the opening day and Wednesday, December 17 featuring an afternoon and evening session. Those who progress will then commence with the second round from Saturday, December 20, which will be played through to Tuesday, December 23 when the competition then takes a break for Christmas. The darts then return with round three action on Saturday, December 27. That will last through to Monday, December 29, when three round three clashes play out at the same time as two round four games. Most read in Darts BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK The remainder of round four will be played out across two sessions on Tuesday, December 30. Similarly, the quarter-finals will take place across an afternoon and evening session on New Year's Day. Darts legend Bobby George sends stark message to Luke Littler as he warns sensation he can 'go from hero to zero quick' Friday, January 2 will see the semi-finals played out, before the darts festival then concludes on Saturday, January 3. Fans have called the tournament a "a mind-melting amount of darts". However, A record 40,000 were bought by annual members in the first 30 minutes of pre-sale for the event last year. The PDC website struggled to cope with the traffic and some fans fumed as they got stuck on a "black screen". Other fans were left furious after touts got their hands on tickets before reselling them on some sites for a colossal £800. List of all-time Darts World Champions BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year. The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions. That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once - Barney also won four BDO titles - and none of Eric Bristow's five BDO titles are included. 1994 - Dennis Priestley 1995 - Phil Taylor 1996 - Phil Taylor (2) 1997 - Phil Taylor (3) 1998 - Phil Taylor (4) 1999 - Phil Taylor (5) 2000 - Phil Taylor (6) 2001 - Phil Taylor (7) 2002 - Phil Taylor (8) 2003 - John Part 2004 - Phil Taylor (9) 2005 - Phil Taylor (10) 2006 - Phil Taylor (11) 2007 - Raymond van Barneveld 2008 - John Part (2) 2009 - Phil Taylor (12) 2010 - Phil Taylor (13) 2011 - Adrian Lewis 2012 - Adrian Lewis (2) 2013 - Phil Taylor (14) 2014 - Michael van Gerwen 2015 - Gary Anderson 2016 - Gary Anderson (2) 2017 - Michael van Gerwen (2) 2018 - Rob Cross 2019 - Michael van Gerwen (3) 2020 - Peter Wright 2021 - Gerwyn Price 2022 - Peter Wright (2) 2023 - Michael Smith 2024 - Luke Humphries 2025 - Luke Littler Most World Titles 14 - Phil Taylor 3 - Michael van Gerwen 2 - John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright 1 - Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler
Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
PDC World Championship schedule released as fans hail ‘mind-melting amount of darts this Christmas'
Tickets will not be easy to come by if last year was anything to go by On the bull PDC World Championship schedule released as fans hail 'mind-melting amount of darts this Christmas' Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SPORTS fans are in for a very merry footballdartsmas this year after the schedule for the Darts World Championship was released. The PDC have expanded the tournament to 128 players for the 2025/26 edition of the Alexandra Palace showpiece. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 The PDC have revealed the schedule for the 2025/26 Darts World Championship Credit: PA 2 The competition has been expanded with more players, more money and more fans Credit: Alamy This comes with a record-breaking prize pot of £5million on the line, with this year's winner set to pocket an eye-watering £1m. And the schedule for the expanded competition has now been revealed by organisers. It will be a 20-day darts bonanza held across 36 sessions which is expected to welcome more than 100,000 fans. The likes of Luke Littler and Luke Humphries will have to wait to discover their fate in the draw, but they know the round one action will get underway from Thursday, December 11. READ MORE IN DARTS LUKE OUT Darts legend Bobby George sends stark message to Luke Littler Round one will last over a week through to Friday, December 19, with every day except for the opening day and Wednesday, December 17 featuring an afternoon and evening session. Those who progress will then commence with the second round from Saturday, December 20, which will be played through to Tuesday, December 23 when the competition then takes a break for Christmas. The darts then return with round three action on Saturday, December 27. That will last through to Monday, December 29, when three round three clashes play out at the same time as two round four games. BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK The remainder of round four will be played out across two sessions on Tuesday, December 30. Similarly, the quarter-finals will take place across an afternoon and evening session on New Year's Day. Darts legend Bobby George sends stark message to Luke Littler as he warns sensation he can 'go from hero to zero quick' Friday, January 2 will see the semi-finals played out, before the darts festival then concludes on Saturday, January 3. Fans have called the tournament a "a mind-melting amount of darts". However, fans could be hard-pressed to get tickets as the popularity of darts continues to soar. A record 40,000 were bought by annual members in the first 30 minutes of pre-sale for the event last year. The PDC website struggled to cope with the traffic and some fans fumed as they got stuck on a "black screen". Other fans were left furious after touts got their hands on tickets before reselling them on some sites for a colossal £800.
The Sun
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
PDC World Championship schedule released as fans hail ‘mind-melting amount of darts this Christmas'
SPORTS fans are in for a very merry footballdartsmas this year after the schedule for the Darts World Championship was released. The PDC have expanded the tournament to 128 players for the 2025/26 edition of the Alexandra Palace showpiece. 2 2 This comes with a record-breaking prize pot of £5million on the line, with this year's winner set to pocket an eye-watering £1m. And the schedule for the expanded competition has now been revealed by organisers. It will be a 20-day darts bonanza held across 36 sessions which is expected to welcome more than 100,000 fans. The likes of Luke Littler and Luke Humphries will have to wait to discover their fate in the draw, but they know the round one action will get underway from Thursday, December 11. Round one will last over a week through to Friday, December 19, with every day except for the opening day and Wednesday, December 17 featuring an afternoon and evening session. Those who progress will then commence with the second round from Saturday, December 20, which will be played through to Tuesday, December 23 when the competition then takes a break for Christmas. The darts then return with round three action on Saturday, December 27. That will last through to Monday, December 29, when three round three clashes play out at the same time as two round four games. The remainder of round four will be played out across two sessions on Tuesday, December 30. Similarly, the quarter-finals will take place across an afternoon and evening session on New Year's Day. Darts legend Bobby George sends stark message to Luke Littler as he warns sensation he can 'go from hero to zero quick' Friday, January 2 will see the semi-finals played out, before the darts festival then concludes on Saturday, January 3. Fans have called the tournament a "a mind-melting amount of darts". However, fans could be hard-pressed to get tickets as the popularity of darts continues to soar. A record 40,000 were bought by annual members in the first 30 minutes of pre-sale for the event last year. The PDC website struggled to cope with the traffic and some fans fumed as they got stuck on a "black screen". Other fans were left furious after touts got their hands on tickets before reselling them on some sites for a colossal £800. List of all-time Darts World Champions BELOW is a list of darts world champions by year. The list does not include winners from the pre-Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) era or BDO world champions. That means Raymond van Barneveld, for example, is only listed once - Barney also won four BDO titles - and none of Eric Bristow's five BDO titles are included. 1994 - Dennis Priestley 1995 - Phil Taylor 1996 - Phil Taylor (2) 1997 - Phil Taylor (3) 1998 - Phil Taylor (4) 1999 - Phil Taylor (5) 2000 - Phil Taylor (6) 2001 - Phil Taylor (7) 2002 - Phil Taylor (8) 2003 - John Part 2004 - Phil Taylor (9) 2005 - Phil Taylor (10) 2006 - Phil Taylor (11) 2007 - Raymond van Barneveld 2008 - John Part (2) 2009 - Phil Taylor (12) 2010 - Phil Taylor (13) 2011 - Adrian Lewis 2012 - Adrian Lewis (2) 2013 - Phil Taylor (14) 2014 - Michael van Gerwen 2015 - Gary Anderson 2016 - Gary Anderson (2) 2017 - Michael van Gerwen (2) 2018 - Rob Cross 2019 - Michael van Gerwen (3) 2020 - Peter Wright 2021 - Gerwyn Price 2022 - Peter Wright (2) 2023 - Michael Smith 2024 - Luke Humphries 2025 - Luke Littler Most World Titles 14 - Phil Taylor 3 - Michael van Gerwen 2 - John Part, Adrian Lewis, Gary Anderson, Peter Wright 1 - Dennis Priestley, Raymond van Barneveld, Rob Cross, Gerwyn Price, Michael Smith, Luke Humphries, Luke Littler
The Sun
6 hours ago
- Sport
- The Sun
World Matchplay Darts 2025: FULL schedule and results as Luke Littler and Luke Humphries headline in Blackpool
THE World Matchplay will get underway this weekend as 32 of the world's best head to Blackpool for nine thrilling days by the seaside. Reigning champion Luke Humphries returns as No1 seed as he bids to join Rod Harrington, Phil Taylor and Michael van Gerwen and become only the fourth player in history to retain the iconic trophy. 1 Cool Hand will face some fierce competition, none more so than the World Champion Luke Littler, who looks to add to the five Major titles he has already won at the age of 18. The Nuke endured a disappointing World Matchplay debut last year after he was knocked out in the first round by Van Gerwen. Littler will be hoping for a much-improved campaign at the Winter Gardens as he eyes the sport's second-biggest ranking title. The two Lukes will be joined in Blackpool by the 14 other stars in the PDC's top 16, plus 16 representatives from the ProTour. SunSport brings you the full schedule for this year's World Matchplay. When is World Matchplay Darts 2025? The World Matchplay will get underway on Saturday, July 19. The tournament will run until Sunday, July 27. Blackpool's Winter Gardens will host. World Matchplay Darts 2025 schedule All times BST Saturday, July 19 (7pm-11pm) First Round x4 James Wade v Joe Cullen Danny Noppert v Cameron Menzies Luke Humphries v Gian van Veen Nathan Aspinall v Wessel Nijman Sunday, July 20 Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm) First Round x4 Damon Heta v Andrew Gilding Rob Cross v Dirk van Duijvenbode Peter Wright v Jermaine Wattimena Dave Chisnall v Mike De Decker Evening Session (7pm-11pm) First Round x4 Gary Anderson v Luke Woodhouse Jonny Clayton v Martin Schindler Luke Littler v Ryan Searle Stephen Bunting v Ryan Joyce Monday, July 21 (7pm-12am) First Round x4 Chris Dobey v Ricardo Pietreczko Gerwyn Price v Daryl Gurney Michael van Gerwen v Raymond van Barneveld Ross Smith v Josh Rock Tuesday, July 22 (7pm-12am) Second Round x4 - Match Order TBC Humphries/Van Veen v Noppert/Menzies Aspinall/Nijman v Wade/Cullen Bunting/Joyce v Anderson/Woodhouse Clayton/Schindler v Chisnall/De Decker Wednesday, July 23 (7pm-12am) Second Round x4 - Match Order TBC Littler/Searle v Wright/Wattimena Heta/Gilding v Cross/Van Duijvenbode Van Gerwen/Van Barneveld v Smith/Rock Dobey/Pietreczko v Price/Gurney Thursday, July 24 (8pm-11pm) Quarter-Finals x2 Friday, July 25 (8pm-11pm) Quarter-Finals x2 Saturday, July 26 (8pm-11pm) Semi-Finals Sunday, July 27 Afternoon Session (1pm-5pm) Women's World Matchplay Quarter-Finals Beau Greaves v Kirsi Viinikainen Lisa Ashton v Robyn Byrne Noa-Lynn van Leuven v Lorraine Winstanley Fallon Sherrock v Gemma Hayter Semi-Finals Greaves/Viinikainen v Ashton/Byrne Van Leuven/Winstanley v Sherrock/Hayter Final TBC Evening Session (8pm-10pm) World Matchplay Men's Final World Matchplay Darts format All matches have to be won by two clear legs. Should two players be tied after the full distance and six extra legs, the match will be decided by sudden death. The number of legs required to win will increase as the tournament progresses. First Round: Best of 19 legs Second Round: Best of 21 legs Quarter-Finals: Best of 31 legs Semi-Finals: Best of 33 legs Final: Best of 35 legs How to watch World Matchplay Darts 2025 The World Matchplay will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK. Sky Sports customers can live stream the event from Blackpool via the Sky Sports app/website and on NOW. Alternatively, SunSport's live blog will bring you leg-by-leg coverage of each match as it happens.
The Independent
a day ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Michael Smith causes unwanted shock by not qualifying for World Matchplay
Michael Smith, the 2023 PDC World Champion, continued a miserable year by failing to qualify the this weekend's World Matchplay in Blackpool. It's the first time in 12 years that the 34-year-old will have failed to make it to the oche, after performing badly in the Players Championship 21. Needing to make at least the last four of that Leicester-based tournament 'Bully Boy', as he is known, went out in the first round to Thibault Tricole and misses another chance to lift the World Matchplay for the first time. Although his best finish at Blackpool was when runner-up to Rob Cross in the 2019 final, it's been taken as read that he'd be there each year, along with many of the big names from the sport. Just two years after being the world's number one player, Smith will miss out, his ranking now as low as 21. He could drop even lower than that, depending on how others perform on the west coast. Smith's fall from grace has amazed fellow archer Matt Edgar, who said on his YouTube channel Edgar TV: 'Most surprisingly, the number one seed from two years ago hasn't qualified. Crazy, I know. "I still can't believe this: two years ago, Michael Smith was the number one seed at the World Matchplay. Now, he's not even in the event. How does that happen? It's madness. "The prize money from that run – where he reached the second round – is now coming off. He beat Steve Beaton 10-2, then lost a high-quality game 11-10 to Chris Dobey. 'That means £15,000 comes off Smith's ranking, and that could drop him down to world number 23 by the end of this event. It could be even lower depending on results. Just let that sink in – from world number one to world number 23 in two years." However, Edgar did have a positive outlook for Smith, adding: '(he) could definitely turn it around – he's got the quality, a former world champion and multiple-time winner. 'He could easily get back into the top 16 next year with a form turnaround and the prize money cycle shifting."
