[Stiri Sport ] 2025 PDC World Darts Championship

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The 2025 PDC World Darts Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2024/25 Paddy Power World Darts Championship) was a professional darts tournament that was held from 15 December 2024 to 3 January 2025 at Alexandra Palace in London, England. It was the 32nd World Darts Championship to be organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and the 18th to be held at Alexandra Palace. The winner received £500,000 from a total prize fund of £2,500,0

 

The tournament featured 96 players, with the top 32 highest ranked players on the PDC Order of Merit being seeded through to the second round. Luke Humphries was the defending champion, having defeated Luke Littler 7–4 in the 2024 final. However, Humphries lost 4–1 to Peter Wright in the fourth round.

In his 3–1 second-round victory over Ryan Meikle, Littler set a new record for the highest three-dart set average in a World Championship match, with 140.91 in the final set. Littler went on to beat Nathan Aspinall 5–2 in the quarter-finals and Stephen Bunting 6–1 in the semi-finals to reach a second consecutive final, where he defeated Michael van Gerwen 7–3 to win his first world title. Aged 17 years and 347 days, Littler became the youngest world champion in darts history. He also won the Ballon d'Art trophy for scoring the most 180s in the tournament, with 76.

Christian Kist and Damon Heta both hit nine-dart finishes at the tournament, with both players earning a £60,000 bonus.

The 2025 PDC World Darts Championship was the 32nd World Darts Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation, and the 18th to be held at Alexandra Palace in London, England. It took place from 15 December 2024 to 3 January 2025. The championship featured 96 participants, with the top 32 highest ranked players on the PDC Order of Merit being seeded through to the second round. The 32 qualifiers from the Pro Tour Order of Merit and the 32 other players from various qualifiers start in the first round.

Irish gambling company Paddy Power continued their sponsorship of the event, having agreed a three-year contract with the PDC ahead of the 2024 edition. As part of its promotion of the event, Paddy Power announced 'The Bigger 180' campaign, for which the bookmaker would, as last year, donate £1,000 to charity Prostate Cancer UK for every maximum score of 180 achieved during the tournament, while also introducing a £180,000 bonus for a nine-dart finish hit at the tournament, shared equally between the charity, the player, and a fan in the Alexandra Palace crowd.

Going into the event, the previous year's finalists were viewed by bookmakers as the tournament favourites with Luke Littler having won the Premier League, the World Series Finals,and the Grand Slam of Darts, and defending champion Luke Humphries having won the World Matchplay and the Players Championship Finals.

The rankings on the PDC Order of Merit are calculated on a two-year basis. Players who participated in the 2023 PDC World Darts Championship were defending their prize money from that event on their ranking. At the end of the tournament, the PDC Order of Merit prize money from that event was deleted from their ranking. After the tournament, the top 64 in the PDC Order of Merit received a one-year extension on their tour card. Players in the final year of their tour card, or that do not hold a tour card for the 2024 season, who finished the tournament outside the top 64 lost their tour card, unless players inside the top 64 resign their tour card, which Steve Beaton did when he retired from the professional game.

The total prize pool for the tournament remained at £2.5 million in total for the seventh year in a row.Tournament sponsors Paddy Power pledged a £60,000 bonus for a nine-dart finish hit during the tournament to each of the players, Prostate Cancer UK, and a fan in the Alexandra Palace crowd during the match it was hit.Christian Kist hit a nine-darter in his first round match against Madars Razma.Damon Heta hit the second nine-darter of the tournament in his third round match against Luke Woodhouse.

Sursa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_PDC_World_Darts_Championship