Darts

She has informed the WDF she will not be playing in the women’s championship, which starts on 28 November

A WDF statement said: “Although Beau will no longer be competing on the Lakeside stage, we wish her all the best in the next stage of her darting career.

“She has been a fantastic ambassador for our system since we returned from the pandemic in 2021, winning every major WDF title on the way.

“It’s been fantastic to see how her game has gone from strength to strength playing in WDF events and we know that she’ll continue to make even more history on the PDC circuit.”

A minimum of four women will compete at the PDC World Championship after a new qualifying structure was announced.

This year’s event will have an expanded field of 128 players, up from 96 in 2024-25, with the winner taking home £1m of a £5m prize pot.

Fallon Sherrock, the only woman to have won matches in the tournament – in 2019 – is the only other female player to have qualified so far.

With seeded players entering the tournament in the first round, rather than the second, Greaves and Sherrock could meet one of the top men.

LUKE LITTLER is a whisker away from becoming world No.1 for the first time.

The teen sensation battered Luke Humphries in Sunday’s World Grand Prix final to slash the buffer ‘Cool Hand’ enjoyed at the top of the PDC Order of Merit.

4

4

Darts world rankings are determined by the amount of prize money a player has won in ranking tournaments over a rolling two-year period.

Littler was 16 years old and barely even on the radar two years ago.

He has racked up virtually all of his staggering £1,665,500 haul since bursting onto the scene at the 2024 World Darts Championship.

And that doesn’t even include the cash he’s banked at non-ranking events.

Humphries has been untouchable at the top of the standings for nigh on two years.

But the hiding he got from Littler in Leicester has cut the gap to just over £70,000.

Humphries will need a heroic effort to remain on top as he’s defending maximum winnings at the Grand Slam of Darts and the Players Championship Finals next month.

Josh Rock and Danny Noppert are two of the other big winners from the World Grand Prix.

SUN VEGAS WELCOME OFFER: GET £50 BONUS WHEN YOU JOIN

Rock, 24, is up from ninth to eighth in the world, having started the year 16th.

And Noppert has jumped from 13th to 10th after losing to Humphries in the semi-finals.

Damon Heta, Dave Chisnall and Peter Wright have all slipped further down the pecking order.

And there is more misery for 2023 world champion Michael Smith – who didn’t even qualify for the World Grand Prix – as he has dropped two places to 27th.

4

4

THE World Darts Championship will return for another year of thrilling action in December!

Luke Littler is back at Ally Pally to defend his World Darts Championship title – and tickets are flying off the shelf!

2

2

World Darts Championship 2025 tickets and prices

StubHub are offering tickets for sale for every session of the tournament, at the time of writing.

The cheapest tickets available are currently priced at £145 per person for the evening session on Thursday, December 18.

There are tickets on the site available at a range of prices.

Tickets for the final, for example, are priced from £380 at the time of writing – these are for seats on the outskirts rather than a table in the middle.

The cheapest table seats for the final start at £940 each.

For those looking for hospitality tickets, Seat Unique is offering packages – although is asking for those interested to register their interest.

There is no pricing available at the time of writing, with details expected soon.

Are tickets for the World Darts Championship still on sale?

Yes, tickets are available, but fans will have to buy from secondary ticketing sites.

PDCTV annual members were able to have first dibs at tickets during a pre-sale.

That took place on August 4 and August 5, 2025.

There was then the chance for others to put their name into a free-to-enter ticket ballot.

Registrations for the ballot opened on August 6 and then closed on August 15.

Tickets are now available on third-party ticketing sites, although the PDC have previously warned fans about purchasing tickets this way.

World champion Luke Littler clinically defeated world number one Luke Humphries 6-1 to win his first World Grand Prix title.

Littler, 18, was knocked out in the first round of the ‘double-in and double-out’ tournament on debut last year, but was more impressive throughout this campaign.

His average was lower than Humphries’ in the final, but he was ruthless throughout, winning five of his six sets in final-leg deciders to claim the £120,000 prize money.

It gives Littler his seventh PDC major televised title – the joint seventh-highest in history.

He has closed the gap between himself and leader Humphries to just over £70,000 at the top of the PDC’s order of merit as the two battle to arrive at December’s World Championships as world number one.

More to follow.

World champion Luke Littler hit a sensational 152 checkout in the deciding leg of a thrilling World Grand Prix quarter-final against Gerwyn Price to reach the last four in Leicester.

That wonderful finish capped the 18-year-old’s fightback from two sets down against 2020 World Grand Prix winner Price, who missed three match darts at doubles in the fourth set.

Littler had seemed poised for victory in the final set before Price took out an incredible 156 finish to send the match into a sudden-death leg, in which the Welshman had the advantage of throwing first.

Both players struggled to find an opening double in the decider and neither scored heavily, until the English teenager’s moment of magic finished the match.

After Littler found double 16 to complete his memorable win, former world champion Price smiled and applauded from the back of the stage before the pair shared a warm embrace.

Six-time champion Michael van Gerwen was beaten by a fellow Dutchman in the first round of the World Grand Prix, but Luke Littler came through a high-quality opener.

Van Gerwen won a top-level tournament for the first time in two years by beating Littler in the World Series Finals in September, but on Tuesday he produced an error-strewn performance to lose 2-0 against Dirk van Duijvenbode.

Although world number three Van Gerwen threw a stunning 171 in the first leg, he otherwise struggled and suffered first-round elimination for the second year running.

Littler, however, stormed into the second round in Leicester with an 11-minute straight-set win against another Dutchman, Gian van Veen.

Both players averaged over 100 in a superb first set as Littler came from behind to take it 3-2.

Despite Van Veen finishing with a 106.47 average – the highest average in tournament history – and Littler 105.58, it was the Briton who won through to continue his quest for a first World Grand Prix title.

“I am very happy. I don’t think I could have done a lot better there. I certainly played better than last year,” Littler told Sky Sports.

“I said I would be fiery in my pre-match interview and I showed a bit of that. Hopefully this is my next major.”

Gerwyn Price defeated Ryan Searle 2-1, before Peter Wright lost to defending champion Mike de Decker by the same scoreline.

Tuesday’s World Grand Prix results:

Dirk van Duijvenbode 2-0 Michael van Gerwen

Luke Woodhouse 2-1 Damon Heta

Daryl Gurney 2-0 Ross Smith

Jonny Clayton 2-0 Andrew Gilding

Gerwyn Price 2-1 Ryan Searle

Luke Littler 2-0 Gian van Veen

Mike de Decker 2-1 Peter Wright

Josh Rock 2-1 Ryan Joyce

Wednesday’s matches:

Cameron Menzies v Rob Cross

Stephen Bunting v Danny Noppert

Luke Humphries v Krzysztof Ratajski

Joe Cullen v Gary Anderson

Daryl Gurney beats Ross Smith 2-0

Luke Humphries turned on the style to beat Nathan Aspinall 2-0 and reach the second round of the World Grand Prix in Leicester.

Premier League champion Humphries edged a close first set 3-2, despite Aspinall recovering from a slow start to win the second leg with a ‘big fish’ finish of two treble 20s followed by a bullseye.

Aspinall struggled to start with doubles – a requirement of the double-in double-out format – as fellow Englishman Humphries took advantage and launched into the second set with a brutal 156 finish.

Humphries recovered from a wobble to see out the second set 3-0 and set up a second-round meeting with Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski, who beat Germany’s Martin Schindler 2-0.

“It was a big game. Nathan is a fantastic player,” Humphries told Sky Sports.

“He struggled to get in a few times and he let me in with that 156, which was a big shot there to take the game towards myself.

“My scoring was a bit strange, they just didn’t want to drop in.

“Hopefully on Wednesday I can come back and be better.”

England’s Stephen Bunting – who recently won the Swiss Darts Trophy for his sixth title of the season – beat Germany’s Niko Springer 2-0, and fifth seed James Wade fell to a surprise 2-0 defeat to Joe Cullen in an all-English contest.

The first round continues on Tuesday as Peter Wright takes on 2024 Grand Prix champion Mike de Decker, Luke Littler faces Gian van Veen and Michael van Gerwen plays Dirk van Duijvenbode.

Monday’s results:

Luke Humphries 2-0 Nathan Aspinall

Gary Anderson 2-1 Raymond van Barneveld

Rob Cross 2-1 Wessel Nijman

Krzysztof Ratajski 2-0 Martin Schindler

Cameron Menzies 2-0 Chris Dobey

Joe Cullen 2-0 James Wade

Danny Noppert 2-1 Jermaine Wattimena

Stephen Bunting 2-0 Niko Springer

Tuesday’s matches:

Damon Heta v Luke Woodhouse

Ross Smith v Daryl Gurney

Jonny Clayton v Andrew Gilding

Gerwyn Price v Ryan Searle

Luke Littler v Gian van Veen

Michael van Gerwen v Dirk van Duijvenbode

Peter Wright v Mike de Decker

Josh Rock v Ryan Joyce

The competition will be held at the Global Theater, Riyadh, which staged the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship in December.

That event offers a $1m (£745,000) bonus if a player pots a golden ball after a maximum 147 break, for a 167 clearance.

Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, has said he wanted to get involved in darts and introduce a “crazy concept” to the sport.

The World Series of Darts will begin with the Bahrain Darts Masters from 15-19 January.

Saudi Arabia will follow before events in Denmark, the US, New Zealand, Australia and the Finals in the Netherlands.

Saudi Arabia has been accused of ‘sportswashing’ in recent years – using its unprecedented spending on sport to improve the oil-producing kingdom’s reputation over its human rights record and environmental impact.

It has staged many major sports events, including Formula 1 and golf, and will host the men’s football World Cup in 2034.

In February Saudi’s UK ambassador Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud said alcohol would not be sold anywhere during the World Cup, including hotels.

The darts tournament will be part of Riyadh Season events in partnership with Matchroom Sport – run by Hearn’s son Eddie – which features boxing and snooker.

Other events not part of the Matchroom partnership include the ‘Six Kings’ tennis exhibition and WWE’s Royal Rumble.

PLANS for Riyadh Season 2025 have been formally announced – with WWE and darts events now on the agenda.

As part of the Middle Eastern sporting bonanza which starts this week and runs until early next year, Saudi Arabia will host the Royal Rumble, becoming the first nation outside of North America to take on a marquee WWE event.

4

4

They are also expected to stage Wrestlemania in 2027.

The Kingdom will host the Saudi Arabia Darts Masters in January as part of the World Series of Darts.

The PDC has never taken a professional darts event to Saudi before.

Chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, Turki Alalshikh, announced the plans for Riyadh Season 2025 in a press conference on Sunday.

Alalshikh has previously said he wants to try something “crazy” with darts – but it is not yet clear what he has up his sleeve.

The Riyadh Season Snooker Championship remains on the calendar, along with high-profile events in tennis and boxing.

Six Kings Slam is one of the most lucrative events on the tennis circuit, with Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz all set to feature.

Players are guaranteed £1.1million just for competing, with the winner banking an eye-watering £4.5m.

SUN VEGAS WELCOME OFFER: GET £50 BONUS WHEN YOU JOIN

Ring IV will feature boxing showdowns including David Benavidez vs Anthony Yarde and Brian Norman Jr. vs Devin Haney.

A parade in Boulevard City will kick off Riyadh Season 2025 on October 10.

The entertainment extravaganza will feature 15 global championships as well as 34 exhibitions and festivals.

And Alalshikh estimates that its brand value has reached £2.4BILLION.

Organisers said: “Riyadh Season 2025 will be a defining milestone in the history of global entertainment, emphasising that Riyadh has become the emblem of a new era of creativity, culture, and international entertainment excellence.”

4

4

STEPHEN BUNTING has completed a super-rare feat that only TWO other players have ever managed.

The Bullet has been in fantastic form in 2025 as he has won two Players Championships, two European Tour titles, and two World Series of Darts.

2

2

This effort has only been managed twice before by Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen.

Littler managed to achieve the stunning feat last year while Van Gerwen did it in 2016, 2017 and 2019.

Bunting completed the achievement with his victory over Luke Woodhouse in the Swiss Darts Trophy final.

It was the penultimate event of this year’s European Tour ahead of the German Darts Championship later this month.

Bunting put the victory down to his change in footwear as he swapped his normal shoes for some SPIKEY TRAINERS.

He said: “I’m playing the best darts of my life. I feel consistently that I’m delivering even in spiky shoes.

“I’m so happy with this win, it means a lot.

“I’m No4 in the world. It shows how consistent I’ve been.

SUN VEGAS WELCOME OFFER: GET £50 BONUS WHEN YOU JOIN

“But you can’t take anything for granted in this game. These players are hungry.

“I need to keep on my toes, keep on the practice board, make sure I stay humble.”

After beating Chris Landman on Saturday night, he explained his shoes dilemma, saying: “I was playing in expensive shoes without the spikes, and they were marking.

“So, my idea is use the spikes and they won’t touch the oche and they will last a lot longer.

“And if someone upsets me, they will get one of them in the back!”

THE world’s best will step up to the oche once again for this year’s Swiss Darts Trophy – and the action is underway!

Martin Schindler pulled off an incredible comeback against Ryan Searle to win the 2024 crown.

1

However, the German returns to Basel as a 16th seed, meaning he could face a potential banana skin in his opening encounter.

World No1 Luke Humphries is also competing in Basel and will be determined to bounce back from his shock quarter-final defeat in last weekend’s Hungarian Darts Trophy.

But teen sensation Luke Littler will not be participating in the 13th stop on the PDC European Tour.

When is the Swiss Darts Trophy 2025?

• The Swiss Darts Trophy 2025 got underway on Friday, September 26.
• It then concludes two days later – Sunday, September 28.
• Afternoon sessions take place from 12pm BST while the evening sessions start at 6pm BST.
• St.Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland is the chosen venue for the penultimate PDC European Tour event.

What TV channel is the Swiss Darts Trophy 2025 on and can I live stream it?

Swiss Darts Trophy 2025 schedule and results

Friday, September 26
First round
Afternoon sessions from 12pm

• Connor Scutt 1-6 Callan Rydz
• Niels Zonneveld 6-3 Dalibor Smolik
• Krzysztof Ratajski 6-0 Owen Bates
• Andrew Gilding 3-6 Cor Dekker
• Ryan Joyce 6-0 Rocco Fulciniti
• Luke Woodhouse 6-5 Lukas Wenig
• Ricardo Pietreczko 6-3 Oskar Lukasiak
• Mensur Suljovic 6-2 Martin Lukeman

Evening sessions from 6pm

• Chris Landman 6-3 Denis Schnetzer
• Wessel Nijman 5-6 Ritchie Edhouse
• Raymond van Barneveld 6-3 Ansh Sood
• Richard Veenstra 6-5 Niko Springer
• Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Stefan Bellmont
• Dirk van Duijvenbode 6-2 Jitse van der Wal
• Daryl Gurney 1-6 William O’Connor
• Nathan Aspinall 6-0 Andreas Toft Jorgensen

Saturday, September 27
Second round
Afternoon sessions from 12pm

• Ryan Searle 6-3 Niels Zonneveld
• Luke Woodhouse 6-2 Dave Chisnall
• Cor Dekker 6-3 Peter Wright
• Krzysztof Ratajski 6-5 Mike De Decker
• Rob Cross 6-2 Richard Veenstra
• Gian van Veen 6-0 Dirk van Duijvenbode
• Danny Noppert 6-5 William O’Connor
• Ritchie Edhouse Bye (Ross Smith withdrawn)

Evening sessions from 6pm

• Ryan Joyce 6-5 James Wade
• Martin Schindler 6-2 Ricardo Pietreczko
• Jermaine Wattimena 6-1 Josh Rock
• Luke Humphries 6-2 Callan Rydz
• Jonny Clayton 6-4 Nathan Aspinall
• Raymond van Barneveld 6-5 Damon Heta
• Stephen Bunting 6-3 Chris Landman
• Chris Dobey 6-4 Mensur Suljovic

Sunday, September 28
Third round from 12pm

• Luke Humphries v Ryan Searle
• Jermaine Wattimena v Luke Woodhouse
• Jonny Clayton v Martin Schindler
• Chris Dobey v Cor Dekker
• Stephen Bunting v Krzysztof Ratajski
• Raymond van Barneveld v Ritchie Edhouse
• Ryan Joyce v Gian van Veen
• Rob Cross v Danny Noppert

Quarter-finals, semi-finals and final from 6pm

Danny Noppert beats William O’Connor 6-5

LUKE LITTLER has revealed he has failed his driving theory test once again – and it is frustrating the hell out of him.

The Nuke is the best darts player on the planet but he is not yet ready to get on the roads by himself.

2

2

Having turned 18 last January, he is desperate to enjoy the freedom of being able to drive himself to tournaments and to see pals on his own terms.

Yet the theory test has so far proved extremely difficult for him to master – it has taken him SIX attempts and counting.

After he won the World Matchplay in Blackpool in July, Littler posted on Instagram the score sheet for his fifth test.

On the multiple choice part, he scored 41 out of 50 – the pass mark is 43 – and he got 44 out of 75 for the hazard perception part, which is barely passable.

He got questions wrong back then in relation to hazard awareness, alertness, safety, motorway rules and road and traffic signs.

When he became the sport’s youngest world champion in January after beating Michael van Gerwen 7-3 in the final, he received £500,000 for his exploits at Ally Pally.

The next day he was asked what motor he would buy with his winnings.

Other youngsters in his privileged position would eye up a flash Ferrari or Lamborghini if they were in the same position.

CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS

But he said he would like the cheapest Mercedes-Benz A Class going for about £30,000.

On Wednesday, speaking at a Target Darts pop-up shop in Manchester, he was asked about his driving plans and if he had made any progress thus far.

Littler conceded: “No, not yet. I did do a theory the other week but I didn’t put it on my Instagram.

“Oh, it was a bad one. It was a bad one. I’ll let you know that.”

Asked what exactly he was struggling with, he replied: “The hazard (perception test).

“Is that holding me back from doing my practical? Yeah. I’m trying. I just want to pass. I just want to pass.

“Like I put up on my Instagram the other week, I’ve got a car – and it’s not a Mercedes – but it’s sat there waiting.”

*World-leading darts manufacturer Target Darts opened the UK’s ultimate darting pop-up experience in Manchester to celebrate their biggest-ever product launch. For more details on the lastest darts products, please visit: www.target-darts.co.uk

THE World Grand Prix will miss a huge player this year after a former world champion has failed to make the tournament for the first time.

Michael Smith, 34, has been ever-present in the tournament since his first appearance in 2012, but will fall short of qualification for this year’s event.

2

Smith’s position at 21st in the PDC Order of Merit and 34th on the PDC Pro Tour Order of Merit means that he has been unable to qualify for the Leicester tournament.

It comes after a year of injury and struggle at the oche, which has seen Bully Boy fail to win an event on the PDC circuit.

In fact, Smith has only got past the quarter-finals on two occasions in 2025 – doing so at the Players Championship 10 and 14.

His last tournament win came back in May 2024, beating Ryan Joyce 8-6 to win last year’s Players Championship 9.

It’s a stark contrast to the year he had in 2023, a campaign in which he was crowned world champion.

Smith has been battling with arthritis in his right wrist, an issue that was caused by breaking both his wrists when he was 19.

While he also has a grade two acromioclavicular joint injury in his shoulder, leading to a host of missed tournaments that have hampered his ability to rack up enough prize money to reach the top 16 in the world rankings.

Smith isn’t the only big name star that will miss out on the World Grand Prix either.

CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS

Fellow ever-present Dimitri Van den Bergh will also be absent from the tournament.

The Belgian thrower, 31, has made the decision to focus on his life away from the oche after opening up about experiencing burnout from the intense darts schedule.

As well as taking more time to spend with family after welcoming his second daughter in July, that decision has meant Van den Bergh has missed a slew of tournaments and is all the way back at 98th on the Pro Tour Order of Merit.

He misses out on the competition for the first time since 2019.

2

BARRY HEARN reckons Luke Littler has made darts so popular that there aren’t enough days in the year to squeeze in the amount of events needed to meet fan demand.

The PDC chairman has said that “main man” Littler is one of the reasons behind darts‘ incredible growth in recent years.

2

2

Littler, 18, burst onto the scene at the 2024 World Championship and has since cemented himself as one of the best players in the world.

His meteoric rise has seen him be crowned world champion on his second attempt, pocket in excess of £1MILLION in prize money and add over 15 PDC titles to a growing trophy cabinet.

Speaking to Sky Sports about what Littler’s emergence has done for the sport, Hearn said: “It’s [darts] just getting bigger and bigger.

“I’m actually having a problem that there is only 365 days in a year!

“The demand worldwide is so huge that I could fill that twice.”

Adding: “It’s non stop. The players are responding with performances beyond what I’ve ever seen in my life, in terms of averages and checkouts.

“Led by the main man Luke Littler, who is fast becoming a phenomenon.”

The increased interest in darts has meant an increase in prize money too.

Luke Littler prize money breakdown

Here is all the prize money Luke Littler has won so far after being crowned 2025 PDC World Darts Championship winner:

World Championship 2025 – £500,000

World Championship 2024 – £200,000

Grand Slam of Darts 2024 – £150,000

European Tour – £91,000

Player Championships events – £71,500

Players Championship final runner-up – £60,000

UK Open 2023 + 2024 – £17,500

World Matchplay – £10,000

World Grand Prix – £7,500

European Championship – £7,500

(Unranked) Premier League Darts – £315,000

TOTAL: £1.43 million

This year’s World Championship will be worth an eye-watering £1MILLION to the winner – double last year’s jackpot.

While there has been a total increase of £7MILLION across the PDC calendar thanks to a historic Sky Sports £125million five-year TV deal.

Speaking on the changes, Hearn said: “This is the first year where our prize money goes past £25million, World Championship is worth £1million, more European events because of demand in Europe.

“The Premier League is heading out of the UK and going to Belgium, it’s non stop”.

Gerwyn Price beats Danny Lauby 6-1

World number one Luke Humphries defended his Czech Open title as he beat Josh Rock 8-5 in the final.

Rock, who had beaten Michael van Gerwen en route to the final, got an early break of throw to go 2-0 up but England’s Humphries broke back and then reeled off a 12-dart leg to level at 3-3.

The pair then traded legs to reach 5-5 before Humphries won the next three legs on the spin against the Northern Irishman.

Humphries sealed victory with a clinical final leg at the PVA Expo in Prague to retain the title he won a year ago and claim the £30,000 top prize.

The 30-year-old’s three-dart average of 93.89 was marginally less than Rock’s 94.1 but his checkout percentage (34.8% versus 26.3%) was superior.

Humphries has now won the tournament three times in four years following his victories in 2022 and 2024 as he earned the eighth PDC European Tour title of his career.

“If it were up to me, I’d have all 14 European Tours held here. You don’t win three times in the same place by accident and it’s clearly special to me,” Humphries said.

“Since winning the Premier League, the past three months have been tough. I’ve struggled at times, and I felt like I dragged Josh down at the start of the game. But I never give in – I always try to find a way.”

World champion Luke Littler was earlier knocked out in the third round, suffering a surprise 6-4 defeat by Dutchman Gian van Veen.