The 2025 Darts World Championship begins this weekend in London’s Alexandra Palace, better known as Ally Pally. The sports show answers the most important questions in advance.
From when to when will the game be played?
It starts on Sunday, December 15th, the first two rounds will be completed up to and including December 23rd. The break is over Christmas (December 24th to 26th) and New Year’s Eve (December 31st). In the new year we will enter the decisive phase with the quarter-finals on January 1st, the semi-finals on January 2nd and the final on January 3rd. The winner is therefore world champion 2025.
What is the mode?
Knockout mode from the start. This means: Whoever loses is out. From the 1st round to the final there are a total of seven rounds. The best 32 in the world rankings initially have a bye and only enter in the 2nd round. The game is played in a set format, similar to tennis. You always have to have three Legs (one leg = one game to bring 501 points to zero) to win a set. In the first two rounds you need to win three sets to advance. The distance increases to seven winning sets until the final.
How many Germans are there?
More than ever before! Six Germans qualified. Martin Schindler (28) and Gabriel Clemens (41) are seeded, so they skip the first round. Like last year, Florian Hempel (34) and Ricardo Pietreczko (30) are also there. The first time at the start in Ally Pally is Kai Gotthardt (29), the German qualifying tournament, the so-called Super Leaguewon. And Niko Springer (24) is also a World Cup debutant; he secured his starting place on the junior tour.
What are the Germans’ chances?
After two tournament wins in 2024 on the European Tourthe second most important category, Martin Schindler is rated highest. “The Wall” seems ready for the next big step. The draw suits him; he could only meet one of the greats in Michael van Gerwen in the quarter-finals.
Is Martin Schindler ready for the next step?
Gabriel Clemens is so far the only German to make it past the round of 32 in the Ally Pally. His triumphant march to the semi-finals two years ago will never be forgotten. Clemens also has a feasible draw, a German duel with Schindler in the round of 16 is possible.
Otherwise, all Germans have the potential to win two games. One can be particularly excited about Niko Springer. It has been seen as a great promise for the future for years. If he can quickly give up his respect for the World Cup stage, a lot seems possible on his debut.
Who are the World Cup favorites?
Those who were in the final last year: world champion Luke Humphries and child prodigy Luke Littler. Humphries won two major tournaments this year and reached two more finals. He leads the world rankings, which reflect the prize money earned over the past two years, with a huge lead of almost one million British pounds.
Littler, who is only 17 years old, continues to break all records and has collected four major-Title. He is number 4 in the world after just one year and could become the youngest world champion in the history of darts. However, a final between the two is not possible this time. The seeding list wants Humphries and Littler to meet each other in the semifinals.
Luke Littler (17) could become the youngest world champion in darts history.
Who else should you have on the bill?
Of course, the name Michael van Gerwen must be mentioned here. He is the only player in the field who has already been world champion three times. But the Dutchman’s year was disappointing apart from one big finale. In the most recent four important ranking tournaments he only made it past the first round once. As number 3 on the seeding list, he is in the very balanced lower half of the tournament and would avoid Humphries and Littler until the final.
Somewhat surprisingly, old master Gary Anderson has also recently come back into the conversation. The 53-year-old Scot is clearly enjoying darts again and is having a strong autumn. He could face van Gerwen in the round of 16, whom he has recently beaten several times.
What surprises did the darts year 2024 bring?
It’s been a crazy year. There were 29 (!) different quarter-finalists in the six most important tournaments outside the World Cup. The Belgian Mike De Decker and the Englishman Ritchie Edhouse, who were previously not even in the top 30 in the world rankings, won surprising titles. They could become major stumbling blocks for Humphries and Littler.
What about other well-known names?
Michael Smith goes into the World Cup as number 2, but has only won two games in the last four majors. The Welshman Gerwyn Price failed in all relevant tournaments before the quarter-finals. He often seems quite unmotivated.
Two-time World Cup semi-finalist Nathan Aspinall is struggling to get going again after an injury to his throwing arm and has major problems with his throwing. But that’s nothing compared to Peter Wright, the popular Scot with the Mohawk hairstyle. He is playing shockingly poorly and has therefore not had any great successes this year and has now fallen to number 17 in the world rankings.
How much is the prize money?
Overall, it pours Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) A good three million euros will be spent, of which over 600,000 euros will go to the new world champion. There is still a good 9,000 euros for an exit in the first round. Anyone who throws a so-called 9-darter, i.e. brings 501 points to zero in just nine darts, receives more than 70,000 euros.