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World Darts Championship 2024/25: All you need to know about the main event

Luke Humphries won his maiden world championship title at last year's event
Luke Humphries won his maiden world championship title at last year's eventPDC Darts
It's December, which means one thing and one thing only: the World Darts Championship is right around the corner, baby!

Move over Santa and Boxing Day fixture frenzies, the PDC Paddy Power World Darts Championship 2024/25 is almost upon us, with the Mecca of the sport, Alexandra Palace, being readied to host arguably the biggest version of the event in its rich and storied history.

When is the Paddy Power World Darts Championship?

The tournament begins at Alexandra Palace on Sunday, December 15th. The north London venue has hosted the event every year since 2008.

Three first-round matches and one second-round match will open up the tournament - with last year's champion Luke Humphries the standout name to take to the oche on day one.

The competition then kicks into overdrive with matches played across afternoon and evening sessions up until a three-day break from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day.

The championship will then resume on December 27th before a night off on New Year's Eve.

The quarter-finals will occur across two New Year's Day sessions before the semi-finals on January 2nd.

The final takes place on Friday, January 3rd.

How much is the prize money?

A star-studded field of 96 players from around the world will take part in this edition of the PDC World Darts Championship in London, all competing for a slice of a huge prize pot worth £2.5 million.

Semi-finalists claim £100,000 each, with the runner-up taking home £200,000 and the winner earning a mega £500,000.

And on top of all that, any player that hits a nine-dart finish will pocket a £60,000 bonus.

Who are the favourites?

Defending world champion Luke Humphries is back and ready to fight his title after toppling teenage sensation Luke Littler in the final last January - with a potential rematch between the pair in the semi-finals should both players make it through as expected.

However, unlike last year, The Nuke enters this year's championship as the bookies' favourite, with 'Cool Hand Luke' and former world champions Michael van Gerwen and Gary Anderson among the other top contenders for the crown.

Other outside bets include the likes of Wessel Nijman, Mike De Decker, Michael Smith and Gerwyn Price.

How to follow the World Darts Championship

The tournament will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK.

Flashscore will have daily live coverage throughout the tournament.

Follow every match from Ally Pally right here.

2024/25 Paddy Power World Darts Championship full schedule:

Sunday, December 15th (19:00 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round

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 16th

Afternoon Session (12:30 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round

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 (19:00 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round

Niels Zonneveld v Robert Owen (R1)

Connor Scutt v Ben Robb (R1)

Cameron Menzies v Leonard Gates (R1)

Gerwyn Price v Huybrechts/Barry (R2)

Tuesday, December 17th

Afternoon Session (12:30 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round

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 (19:00 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round

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 18th (19:00 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round

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 19th

Afternoon Session (12:30 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round

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 (19:00 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round

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 20th

Afternoon Session (12:30 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round

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 (19:00 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round

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 21st

Afternoon Session (12:30 GMT)

2x First Round, 2x Second Round

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 (19:00 GMT)

4x Second Round

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 22nd

Afternoon Session (12:30 GMT)

4x Second Round

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 (19:00 GMT)

4x Second Round

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 23rd

Afternoon Session (12:30 GMT)

4x Second Round

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 (19:00 GMT)

4x Second Round

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 27th

Afternoon Session (12:30 GMT)

3x Third Round

Evening Session (19:00 GMT)

3x Third Round

Saturday, December 28th

Afternoon Session (12:30 GMT)

3x Third Round

Evening Session (19:00 GMT)

3x Third Round

Sunday, December 29th

Afternoon Session (12:30 GMT)

3x Third Round

Evening Session (19:00 GMT)

1x Third Round, 2x Fourth Round

Monday, December 30th

Afternoon Session (12:30 GMT)

3x Fourth Round

Evening Session (19:30 GMT)

3x Fourth Round

Wednesday, January 1st

Afternoon Session (12:30 GMT)

2x Quarter-Finals

Evening Session (19:00 GMT)

2x Quarter-Finals

Thursday, January 2nd (19:30 GMT)

Semi-Finals

Friday, January 3rd (20:00 GMT)

Final

Follow all the action from the 2024/25 Paddy Power World Darts Championship with Flashscore