Preview of the 2025 World Darts Championship: Six Germans and one Swiss at the start

The 2025 World Darts Championship is just around the corner and promises to be an exciting tournament. The draw for the first and second rounds has already taken place and the list of participants is complete. A total of 96 players from more than 20 nations will compete for the coveted title at the legendary Alexandra Palace in London from 15 December. The final will take place on 3 January.

As in previous years, the winner will compete for half a million pounds sterling, i.e. over 600,000 euros. A total of £2.5 million in prize money will be paid out at the World Championships.

Traditionally, the reigning world champion starts the tournament on the first evening. Luke "Cool Hand" Humphries' opponent will be played beforehand between Frenchman Thibault Tricole and Australian Joe Comito. This first-round encounter is therefore also the opening match of this year's World Championship.

The first Swiss at the World Darts Championship

Swiss player Stefan "Belli" Bellmont will then make his World Championship debut. He is the first Swiss player ever to qualify for the most important darts tournament. His opponent is the experienced Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena, who surprisingly reached the final at the European Championships at the end of October and is the clear favourite going into this clash.

Six Germans: two debutants

For the first time, six German players will be competing in the World Darts Championship this year. Never before have there been so many. Firstly, there are the established names of Martin Schindler, Gabriel Clemens, Ricardo Pietreczko and Florian Hempel. In addition, 24-year-old Niko Springer and 29-year-old Kai Gotthardt have qualified for the tournament for the first time.

Gotthardt will be the first German to start the tournament on the second day against Scotland's Alan Soutar. I could imagine that Gotthardt could surprise with his passion in this match. He qualified for the World Championship by winning the PDC Europe Super League, winning the decider in four matches in the knockout round. This is the decider leg. In the second round, he would be up against #8 seed Stephen Bunting: a tough draw.

Niko Springer may make his World Championship debut against last year's surprise semi-finalist Scott Williams. Williams was unable to confirm his World Championship performance over the course of the season, even if he did deliver some good results. In my opinion, Springer only has outsider chances here. If he wins, he would be up against former world champion Rob Cross, who is seeded #6.

The four established German participants

The "Kölsche Jung" Florian Hempel will start the tournament on Friday evening, 20 December. He will face 28-year-old Dutchman Jeffrey de Zwaan, whose most successful time was a few years ago. I could imagine that Hempel could prevail on the big stage and make it through to the second round against Daryl Gurney. I also see outsider chances here, as Gurney hasn't been in great form recently.

Pietreczko's supposedly easiest draw is the Chinese Xiaochen Zong. He would then face the young Gian van Veen, who was surprisingly knocked out in the first round last year. However, he has since established himself on the Pro Tour and in other tournaments and is known for his high scoring. At the end of November this year, he won the PDC World Youth Championship 2024 in an all-Dutch final against Jurjen van der Velde with 6:5. On a good day, Pietreczko could still beat him.

Gabriel Clemens and Martin Schindler are the two seeded German players. They will therefore only enter the action in round 2. Clemens has to play the winner of the match between Niels Zonneveld and Robert Owen, Schindler against the winner of the match between Callan Rydz and Romeo Grbavac. I see both as favourites in their matches. If they play their best darts, they even have the potential to progress beyond the first rounds of the tournament. However, they could already meet in the round of 16.

The top favourites

According to the betting providers, the two top favourites are the two players who played in last year's final: Defending champion Luke Humphries and 17-year-old shooting star Luke Littler. I can only agree with the bookmakers here. The Lukes are currently the strongest players in darts. At the last World Championship, Humphries won 7:4 against Littler. You can watch the highlights from the match in the following clip:

The two opponents also faced each other in the last Major final, the Players Championship Finals. The final score was 11:7 and meant the tournament win for Humphries, who also secured two more Major successes this year: World Cup of Darts together with Michael Smith and the World Matchplay.

Littler again won the Premier League of Darts and two more majors with the World Series of Darts and the Grand Slam of Darts. An outstanding achievement at the age of just 17.

The extended circle

In addition to the established stars of Gary Anderson, Michael van Gerwen and Michael Smith, Belgian Mike De Decker and Dutchman Wessel Nijman also belong to the extended group of title contenders. The 24-year-old Nijman dominated the PDC Development Tour this year with seven wins from a total of 24 events. He only won his first tournament victory at the eighth event and put together an impressive winning streak, especially towards the end.

Although he was eliminated in the group stage of the Grand Slam of Darts, he achieved an outstanding average of 107.67. An "average" is the average number of points scored in a turn (three throws). He also secured his first Pro Tour title in October.

De Decker made a name for himself in October when he surprisingly won the World Grand Prix in the final against Luke Humphries. Prior to that, he had never reached the last 16 of a PDC Major tournament. He was then able to more or less confirm this performance. In the following major tournaments, he reached the round of 16 twice and the quarter-finals once.

The game mode

In the first round, the 32 best players on the Pro Tour and 32 international qualifiers compete against each other. The winner of this round then plays against one of the 32 best players in the world rankings, who are seeded directly for the second round. The first two rounds are played in a best-of-five format, which means that the winner must win three sets. A set is won by winning three legs. A leg is won by the player who reaches 501 points faster and finishes the leg on a double on exactly 0. The two-clear-leg rule applies in the deciding set.

The duration of the game is extended as the tournament progresses. The third and fourth rounds are played in a best-of-seven format, with the winner having to win five sets in the quarter-finals. There are six sets in the semi-finals and seven sets in the final (best-of-13 sets).

You can watch the World Darts Championship on Sport1, DAZN or with a PDC subscription.