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DARTS fans are in for an exciting conclusion to 2024 as the World Championship begins TODAY – with top players competing once again for the coveted title!
Luke Humphries made history in darts by defeating up-and-coming player Luke Littler to secure the 2023/24 championship and attain World No 1 status for the first time in his career.
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The match rightfully earned the title of main event, with Humphries narrowly taking the victory 7-4 after initially trailing 4-2.
This tournament set new records, achieving the highest number of 180s (914) and raising £914,000 for various charities, ultimately adjusted to £1 million.
With intense competition, particularly between the two Lukes, spectators can anticipate another thrilling display at Alexandra Palace.
Humphries will start his title defense on the inaugural night of the event against the winner of Thibault Tricole vs. Joe Comito, while Littler’s first match is set for December 21 – coinciding with Tyson Fury‘s rematch against Oleksandr Usyk.
Discover more about Luke Littler
Other names such as Stephen Bunting, Nathan Aspinall, and Michael van Gerwen are also set to compete.
Unfortunately, darts legend Steve Beaton will not receive a grand farewell at Ally Pally, as the Bronzed Adonis failed to clear the initial qualifying round for Tour Card Holders.
When will the World Darts Championship 2024/25 occur?
- The 2024/25 World Darts Championship is scheduled to commence on Sunday, December 15 and conclude on Friday, January 3, 2025.
- Afternoon sessions will start at 12:30pm GMT, while evening sessions will begin at 7pm GMT.
- The competition’s first day will feature only an evening session, and no matches will take place from December 24-26.
- The event will be held at the iconic Alexandra Palace in North London.
- Luke Humphries defeated Luke Littler to win the 2023/24 title with a scoreline of 7-4.
Which TV channel will broadcast the World Darts Championship 2024/25 and will it be available for live streaming?
- The 2024/25 World Darts Championship will be broadcast LIVE on Sky Sports in the UK.
- Fans in the UK can stream all the action on NOW TV.
- Matches will also be available on PDCTV or through various international broadcasting partners such as DAZN and Viaplay.
- SunSport will maintain a continuous LIVE BLOG featuring every match and the latest tournament updates.
What is the format of the World Darts Championship 2024/25?
The tournament will adopt a best of five sets format during the first and second rounds.
As the tournament advances, matches will switch to a best of seven, then nine sets, culminating in a best of 11.
The final will be played in a best of 13 sets format.
The top 32 ranked darts players have already secured their spots in the second round.
List of all-time Darts World Champions
BELOW is a list of Darts World Champions organized by year.
The list excludes winners from the era before the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) and BDO champions.
This means that, for instance, Raymond van Barneveld appears only once – he also won four BDO titles – while none of Eric Bristow’s five BDO championships 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
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
World Darts Championship 2024/25 Schedule
Sunday, December 15
Evening Session (7pm)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
- Thibault Tricole vs Joe Comito (R1)
- Jermaine Wattimena vs Stefan Bellmont (R1)
- Kim Huybrechts vs Keane Barry (R1)
- Luke Humphries vs Tricole/Comito (R2)
Monday, December 16
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
- Wesley Plaisier vs Ryusei Azemoto (R1)
- Luke Woodhouse vs Lourence Ilagan (R1)
- Alan Soutar vs Kai Gotthardt (R1)
- James Wade vs Wattimena/Bellmont (R2)
Evening Session (7pm)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
- Niels Zonneveld vs Robert Owen (R1)
- Connor Scutt vs Ben Robb (R1)
- Cameron Menzies vs Leonard Gates (R1)
- Gerwyn Price vs Huybrechts/Barry (R2)
Tuesday, December 17
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
- James Hurrell vs Jim Long (R1)
- Kevin Doets vs Noa-Lynn van Leuven (R1)
- Ryan Joyce vs Darius Labanauskas (R1)
- Mike De Decker vs Woodhouse/Ilagan (R2)
Evening Session (7pm)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
- Jeffrey de Graaf vs Rashad Sweeting (R1)
- Ricardo Pietreczko vs Xiaochen Zong (R1)
- Ryan Meikle vs Fallon Sherrock (R1)
- Peter Wright vs Plaisier/Azemoto (R2)
Wednesday, December 18 (7pm)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
- Jim Williams vs Paolo Nebrida (R1)
- Madars Razma vs Christian Kist (R1)
- Ricky Evans vs Gordon Mathers (R1)
- Nathan Aspinall vs Menzies/Gates (R2)
Thursday, December 19
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
- Chris Landman vs Lok Yin Lee (R1)
- Callan Rydz vs Romeo Grbavac (R1)
- Martin Lukeman vs Nitin Kumar (R1)
- Gabriel Clemens vs Zonneveld/Owen (R2)
Evening Session (7pm)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
- Nick Kenny vs Stowe Buntz (R1)
- Mensur Suljovic vs Matt Campbell (R1)
- Scott Williams vs Niko Springer (R1)
- Michael Smith vs Doets/Van Leuven (R2)
Friday, December 20
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
3x First Round, 1x Second Round
- Stephen Burton vs Alexander Merkx (R1)
- Wessel Nijman vs Cameron Carolissen (R1)
- Ian White vs Sandro Eric Sosing (R1)
- Stephen Bunting vs Soutar/Gotthardt (R2)
Evening Session (7pm)
2x First Round, 2x Second Round
- Mickey Mansell vs Tomoya Goto (R1)
- Florian Hempel vs Jeffrey De Zwaan (R1)
- William O’Connor vs Dylan Slevin (R1)
- Michael van Gerwen vs Hurrell/Long (R2)
Saturday, December 21
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
4x Second Round
- Karel Sedlacek vs Rhys Griffin (R1)
- Richard Veenstra vs Alexis Toylo (R1)
- Brendan Dolan vs Landman/Lee (R2)
- Chris Dobey vs Burton/Merkx (R2)
Evening Session (7pm)
4x Second Round
- Danny Noppert vs Joyce/Labanauskas (R2)
- Raymond van Barneveld vs Kenny/Buntz (R2)
- Luke Littler vs Meikle/Sherrock (R2)
- Damon Heta vs Scutt/Robb (R2)
Sunday, December 22
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
4x Second Round
- Ryan Searle vs Suljovic/Campbell (R2)
- Dirk van Duijvenbode vs Razma/Kist (R2)
- Joe Cullen vs Nijman/Carolissen (R2)
- Ritchie Edhouse vs White/Sosing (R2)
Evening Session (7pm)
4x Second Round
- Martin Schindler vs Rydz/Grbavac (R2)
- Ross Smith vs J Williams/Nebrida (R2)
- Gary Anderson vs De Graaf/Sweeting (R2)
- Dimitri van den Bergh vs O’Connor/Slevin (R2)
Monday, December 23
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
4x Second Round
- Krzysztof Ratajski vs Veenstra/Toylo (R2)
- Andrew Gilding vs Lukeman/Kumar (R2)
- Josh Rock vs Sedlacek/Griffin (R2)
- Jonny Clayton vs Mansell/Goto (R2)
Evening Session (7pm)
4x Second Round
- Gian van Veen vs Pietreczko/Zong (R2)
- Daryl Gurney vs Hempel/De Zwaan (R2)
- Dave Chisnall vs Evans/Mathers (R2)
- Rob Cross vs S Williams/Springer (R2)
Friday, December 27
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (7pm)
3x Third Round
Saturday, December 28
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (7pm)
3x Third Round
Sunday, December 29
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
3x Third Round
Evening Session (7pm)
1x Third Round, 2x Fourth Round
Monday, December 30
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
3x Fourth Round
Evening Session (7pm)
3x Fourth Round
Wednesday, January 1
Afternoon Session (12.30pm)
2x Quarter-Finals
Evening Session (7pm)
2x Quarter-Finals
Thursday, January 2 (7.30pm)
Semi-Finals
Friday, January 3 (8pm)
Final
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