World Darts Championship schedule: Draw, dates and when is Luke Littler playing?

Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and Michael van Gerwen are among the main contenders battling out for the £500,000 top prize at Alexandra Palace

Jack Rathborn
Sunday 15 December 2024 09:10 GMT
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Luke Littler called 'Ronaldo of darts' by boyhood coach

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The PDC Paddy Power World Darts Championship 2024/25 is almost here with the Alexandra Palace ready to deliver plenty of thrills over the festive period.

Luke Humphries is back and ready to defend his title after triumphing over teenage sensation Luke Littler in the final in January - with a potential rematch set for the semi-finals.

As the Littler effect sweeps across the sport, ‘The Nuke’ enters this year’s championship as favourite, with ‘Cool Hand Luke’ and former world champions Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson among the main contenders.

Luke Littler of England celebrates after a nine dart finish against Luke Humphries in the Premier League Darts Play-Offs
Luke Littler of England celebrates after a nine dart finish against Luke Humphries in the Premier League Darts Play-Offs (Getty Images)

Mike De Decker and Ritchie Edhouse are also ones to watch with 96 players competing for the iconic Sid Waddell Trophy and a £2.5m prize pot.

Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s championship:

Mike De Decker celebrates after winning the World Grand Prix darts final
Mike De Decker celebrates after winning the World Grand Prix darts final (Getty Images)

When is the World Darts Championship?

The tournament begins at Alexandra Palace on Sunday 15 December with three first-round matches and one second-round match.

Darts every day will follow before the usual three-day break from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day. The championship will resume with the third round and a double session on 27 December before a night off on New Year's Eve. Then the quarter-finals will take place in 2025, across two sessions on New Year's Day, before the semi-finals on 2 January and the final on Friday 3 January.

Luke Humphries defends his title after defeating Luke Littler in last year’s final
Luke Humphries defends his title after defeating Luke Littler in last year’s final (Getty Images)

How can I watch?

You can watch the PDC Paddy Power World Darts Championship 2024/25 on Sky Sports' dedicated darts channel from 15 December, with a live stream on Sky Go and Now TV.

Full schedule for World Darts Championship 2024/25

Sunday December 15 (7pm)

Thibault Tricole v Joe Comito (R1)

Jermaine Wattimena v Stefan Bellmont (R1)

Kim Huybrechts v Keane Barry (R1)

Luke Humphries v Tricole/Comito (R2)

Monday December 16

Afternoon Session (12.30pm)

Wesley Plaisier v Ryusei Azemoto (R1)

Luke Woodhouse v Lourence Ilagan (R1)

Alan Soutar v Kai Gotthardt (R1)

James Wade v Wattimena/Bellmont (R2)

Evening Session (7pm)

Niels Zonneveld v Robert Owen (R1)

Connor Scutt v Ben Robb (R1)

Cameron Menzies v Leonard Gates (R1)

Gerwyn Price v Huybrechts/Barry (R2)

Michael van Gerwen is one of the contenders for this year’s championship
Michael van Gerwen is one of the contenders for this year’s championship (Getty Images)

Tuesday December 17

Afternoon Session (12.30pm)

James Hurrell v Jim Long (R1)

Kevin Doets v Noa-Lynn van Leuven (R1)

Ryan Joyce v Darius Labanauskas (R1)

Mike De Decker v Woodhouse/Ilagan (R2)

Evening Session (7pm)

Jeffrey de Graaf v Rashad Sweeting (R1)

Ricardo Pietreczko v Xiaochen Zong (R1)

Ryan Meikle v Fallon Sherrock (R1)

Peter Wright v Plaisier/Azemoto (R2)

Wednesday December 18 (7pm)

Evening Session (7pm)

Jim Williams v Paolo Nebrida (R1)

Madars Razma v Christian Kist (R1)

Ricky Evans v Gordon Mathers (R1)

Nathan Aspinall v Menzies/Gates (R2)

Thursday December 19

Afternoon Session (12.30pm)

Chris Landman v Lok Yin Lee (R1)

Callan Rydz v Romeo Grbavac (R1)

Martin Lukeman v Nitin Kumar (R1)

Gabriel Clemens v Zonneveld/Owen (R2)

Evening Session (7pm)

Nick Kenny v Stowe Buntz (R1)

Mensur Suljovic v Matt Campbell (R1)

Scott Williams v Niko Springer (R1)

Michael Smith v Doets/Van Leuven (R2)

Friday December 20

Afternoon Session (12.30pm)

Stephen Burton v Alexander Merkx (R1)

Wessel Nijman v Cameron Carolissen (R1)

Ian White v Sandro Eric Sosing (R1)

Stephen Bunting v Soutar/Gotthardt (R2)

Evening Session (7pm)

Mickey Mansell v Tomoya Goto (R1)

Florian Hempel v Jeffrey De Zwaan (R1)

William O’Connor v Dylan Slevin (R1)

Michael van Gerwen v Hurrell/Long (R2)

Saturday December 21

Afternoon Session (12.30pm)

Karel Sedlacek v Rhys Griffin (R1)

Richard Veenstra v Alexis Toylo (R1)

Brendan Dolan v Landman/Lee (R2)

Chris Dobey v Burton/Merkx (R2)

Evening Session (7pm)

Danny Noppert v Joyce/Labanauskas (R2)

Raymond van Barneveld v Kenny/Buntz (R2)

Luke Littler v Meikle/Sherrock (R2)

Damon Heta v Scutt/Robb (R2)

Sunday December 22

Afternoon Session (12.30pm)

Ryan Searle v Suljovic/Campbell (R2)

Dirk van Duijvenbode v Razma/Kist (R2)

Joe Cullen v Nijman/Carolissen (R2)

Ritchie Edhouse v White/Sosing (R2)

Evening Session (7pm)

Martin Schindler v Rydz/Grbavac (R2)

Ross Smith v J Williams/Nebrida (R2)

Gary Anderson v De Graaf/Sweeting (R2)

Dimitri Van den Bergh v O’Connor/Slevin (R2)

Monday December 23

Afternoon Session (12.30pm)

Krzysztof Ratajski v Veenstra/Toylo (R2)

Andrew Gilding v Lukeman/Kumar (R2)

Josh Rock v Sedlacek/Griffin (R2)

Jonny Clayton v Mansell/Goto (R2)

Evening Session (7pm)

Gian van Veen v Pietreczko/Zong (R2)

Daryl Gurney v Hempel/De Zwaan (R2)

Dave Chisnall v Evans/Mathers (R2)

Rob Cross v 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

World Darts Championship Format

Final: Best of 13 sets

Semi-Final: Best of 11 sets

Quarter-Final: Best of nine sets

Fourth Round: Best of seven sets

Third Round: Best of seven sets

Second Round: Best of five sets

First Round: Best of five sets

Odds

Luke Littler 7/4

Luke Humphries 11/4

Gary Anderson 10/1

Michael van Gerwen 10/1

Mike De Decker 18/1

Gian van Veen 28/1

Michael Smith 28/1

Rob Cross 28/1

Chris Dobey 33/1

Stephen Bunting 33/1

Wessel Nijman 33/1

Gerwyn Price 40/1

Nathan Aspinall 40/1

Peter Wright 40/1

Ross Smith 40/1

Damon Heta 50/1

Dave Chisnall 50/1

Dimitri Van den Bergh 50/1

Josh Rock 50/1

Ryan Searle 50/1

World Darts Championship prize money

Winner: £500,000

Runner-Up: £200,000

Semi-Final: £100,000

Quarter-Final: £50,000

Fourth Round: £35,000

Third Round: £25,000

Second Round: £15,000

First Round: £7,500

Total: £2,500,000

Who are the top seeds?

Luke Humphries (1), Michael Smith (2), Michael van Gerwen (3), Luke Littler (4), Rob Cross (5), Dave Chisnall (6), Jonny Clayton (7), Stephen Bunting (8), Damon Heta (9), Gerwyn Price (10), Dimitri Van den Bergh (11), Nathan Aspinall (12), Danny Noppert (13), Gary Anderson (14), Chris Dobey (15), James Wade (16), Peter Wright (17), Josh Rock (18), Ross Smith (19), Ryan Searle (20), Andrew Gilding (21), Martin Schindler (22), Joe Cullen (23), Mike De Decker (24), Dirk van Duijvenbode 25), Daryl Gurney (26), Gabriel Clemens (27), Gian van Veen (28), Ritchie Edhouse (29), Brendan Dolan (30), Krzysztof Ratajski (31), Raymond van Barneveld (32).

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