Darts World Championship: The story so far

We’re getting towards the business end of the PDC World Darts Championship 2024/25 and after a short pause for Christmas, we reflect on a fair share of shocks and surprises so far, from underdog wins to giant-killings.

We review all the talking points so far in the PDC World Darts Championship below.

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Record-breaking seeds defeated

Round Two of the Worlds saw a record-breaking 14 seeds knocked out of the competition. Second-highest ranked seed Michael Smith was sent packing by Kevin Doets in a 3-2 defeat, adding to Bully Boy’s poor run of form. Two-time World Champion Gary Anderson was a surprise exit from the competition, coming in at 10/1 to be the outright winner before Round One. Jeffery de Graaf dispatched the Flying Scotsman 3-0 in a convincing win, with Anderson throwing far from his best darts.

Five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld couldn’t find his rhythm against Welshman Nick Kenny and endured a 3-1 loss. Fifth and sixth seeds Rob Cross and Dave Chisnall suffered the same fate and exited the competition earlier than they would’ve hoped. Chisnall will perhaps look back at his miscounted checkout of 131, instead of 139, as a contributing factor to his defeat.

The early exits of these players reinforce this year’s narrative of ‘anyone can beat anyone’ – a testament to the quality of the field in this Championship.

That theme was typified in the fourth round as Peter Wright dumped out reigning and defending champion Luke Humphries. Humphries seemed his unstoppable self, winning his first two matches without dropping a set, but a vintage performance from ‘Snakebite’ saw him crash out earlier than expected. Subsequently, Wright is now one of the leading contenders for the tournament which he has already won twice, and if he continues to play like we know he can then there’s no reason why he can’t land a third.

Luke Littler starts strong

Luke Littler has his eyes fixed on becoming the World Champion this year, demonstrated through his concentration and firing form so far. The Nuke fired a record-breaking set average in his bout against Ryan Meikle, who could do little to compete against Littler’s 140+ average in the fourth and final set. Littler was visibly emotional after his breathtaking performance and continues to break record after record.

The Englishman came agonisingly close to his fifth nine-darter of the year, missing double-12 by the smallest of margins in the first leg of the fourth set. Littler would close out the set with 11, 10 and 11 dart legs to secure his place in Round Three against Ian White. That match followed suit as he brushed White aside by four legs to one to breeze into a fourth round matchup against Ryan Joyce.

Who will snatch the vacant crown?

With the defending champion eliminated the crown must go to someone new in 2025, but who will that be? We currently have two confirmed quarter-finalists in Peter Wright and Gerwyn Price, both of whom have already lifted the trophy in previous years. Michael van Gerwen also remains in contention for his fourth PDC World Championship title.

Among those who have never won it the leading hope is current tournament favourite and last year’s runner-up, Luke Littler. ‘The Nuke’ has been in flying form and looks set to go far in the tournament once again.

Fan favourite and eighth seed Stephen Bunting is still in the mix and would be an incredibly popular winner if he is to add to his WDF World Championship, but he’d still have to get past Wright and Littler en route to the final.

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