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Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen safely secure Last 16 spots at the World Darts Championship

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Peter Wright sensationally ends Luke Humphries’ world title defence to storm into quarter-finals

Live Darts on December 30th | World Darts Championship 2024/25 Day 13 Preview and Order of Play

Jamie Shaw in World Darts Championship 30 Dec 2025

Luke Littler reacts (Photo by Simon O’Connor/PDC)

Six tasty Last 16 ties take centre stage on the final darting day of the year at the Paddy Power World Darts Championship on Monday.

The curtain comes down on an unforgettable year of darts, with the remaining six quarter-final places to be determined at Alexandra Palace.

Former champions Gerwyn Price and Peter have already booked their place in the Last Eight on New Year’s Day, and host of box office names aim to join them and remain in pursuit of the sport’s richest prize.

Luke Littler steps up his quest to go one better than last year and claim a crowning glory at Ally Pally when he takes on Ryan Joyce in the final match of the evening.

Littler’s landmark run to the final on debut 12 months ago catapulted him into the limelight, and the teenage sensation has not looked back, going on to enjoy a dream first season on the PDC circuit which has seen him claim the Premier League, World Series Finals and Grand Slam titles.

Provisionally ranked world number two, Littler is bidding to cap off his remarkable year by lifting the sport’s most iconic trophy and becoming its youngest ever World Champion.

The Nuke got off and running with an emotional 3-1 victory over Ryan Meikle, averaging 100.8 and landing ten 180s, before dispatching Ian White 4-1 on Saturday with the aid of 12 maximums.

He now faces arguably the most prolific finisher on the planet, with Joyce averaging more than 50% on the doubles for the tournament.

Semi-finalist in October’s World Grand Prix, Joyce backed up his 3-1 win over Darius Labanauskas by dispatching 13th seed Danny Noppert by the same scoreline, before defying a 101 average from Ryan Searle to prevail in a seventh set tie break with 62% on the outer ring.

Michael van Gerwen’s bid for a fourth world title continues with a clash against Sweden’s Jeffrey De Graaf.

Van Gerwen has competed in all 17 stagings of the World Championship since its move to Ally Pally and captured the Sid Waddell Trophy in 2014, 2017 and 2019.

A winner of more than 150 titles worldwide, including a staggering 47 majors, MVG has enjoyed more success than any other player in this competition and is vying to restore his former glories.

The Dutch icon opened up with a routine straight sets win over debutant James Hurrell, before recovering from a set down to defeat Brendan Dolan 4-2 with ten 180s and a 97 average in Round Three.

De Graaf is entering unchartered territory after bettering his run to the Third Round 12 months ago and has climbed into the world’s top 64 inside just one year as a Tour Card holder.

Having recovered from a set down to defeat Bahamas qualifier Rashad Sweeting in Round One, De Graaf pulled off a shock straight sets scalp of two-time World Champion Gary Anderson, before seeing off Filipino qualifier Paolo Nebrida 4-1 on Sunday.

Masters champion Stephen Bunting aims to reach his fourth PDC World Championship quarter-final at the expense of in-form Luke Woodhouse.

Bunting, Lakeside Champion in 2014 and a semi-finalist at Ally Pally in 2021, has finished runner-up in a staggering six Players Championship events this season.

The number eight seed came from a set down to reel off three in a row and deny German debutant Kai Gotthardt in his opener, before averaging 100 in a commanding 4-1 win over Latvia’s Madars Razma.

Woodhouse is appearing in the Last 16 of the World Championship for the first time after seeing off Lourence Ilagan in straight sets, before knocking out World Grand Prix champion Mike De Decker 3-1.

European Championship semi-finalist in October, Woodhouse then battled back from 3-1 down with nine legs on the spin to defeat nine-dart hero Damon Heta.

The afternoon session kicks off with a showdown between former Masters champion Chris Dobey and Dutch ace Kevin Doets.

Dobey is vying to reach a third consecutive quarter-final in the sport’s showpiece event and is on a redemption mission after remarkably squandering a four-set lead against Rob Cross on New Year’s Day in 2024.

The former Premier League star has claimed three Players Championship titles this season, while also reaching a further two finals, and has so far seen off Alexander Merkx and Josh Rock with averages of 95 and 97 respectively.

Having suffered opening night heartbreak at the hands of Michael Smith 12 months ago, Doets gained his revenge by defeating the 2023 World Champion in a deciding set in Round Two, having opened up with a 3-1 win over Noa-Lynn van Leuven.

The heavy-scoring Dutchman then recovered from 2-0 and 3-2 down to edge out 31st seed Krzysztof Ratajski in a deciding set to extend his landmark run.

Meanwhile, two-time major winner Nathan Aspinall takes on German star Ricardo Pietreczko.

Semi-finalist in each of his first two World Championship appearances, Aspinall has progressed beyond the Third Round for the first time since 2020, having headed into the event on the back of a turbulent season in which he has continued to battle with injury.

The Stockport star has so far failed to reach the quarter-finals of a televised ranking tournament for the first time since 2018 but will be determined to rectify that on the biggest stage of all, having overcome Leonard Gates and Andrew Gilding for the combined loss of just one set so far.

Pietreczko came close to pulling off a huge upset at this stage of the tournament last year when he led Luke Humphries 3-1, before eventually going down in a deciding set.

Runner-up in this season’s Flanders Darts Trophy, ‘Pikachu’ brushed aside China’s Xiaochen Zong in straight sets in Round One, before knocking out 28th seed Gian van Veen 3-1 and last year’s semi-finalist Scott Williams 4-1 to maintain German hopes in the competition.

Callan Rydz has lit up the tournament with a series of spell-binding displays, and the Bedlington thrower looks to continue his blistering form when he faces an inspired Robert Owen.

Rydz produced the stand-out performance of the First Round as he thrashed Croatia’s Romeo Grbavac 3-0 with a 107 average, before repeating that scoreline against German number one Martin Schindler in Round Two despite averaging 16 points fewer.

Quarter-finalist here three years ago, ‘The Riot’ averaged 105.3 in a 4-0 whitewash of Dimitri van den Bergh on Sunday and is now ranked back inside the world’s top 40.

Owen received an unexpected call-up to compete at Ally Pally following the suspension of Dom Taylor, and has taken full advantage by defeating Niels Zonneveld, Gabriel Clemens and Ricky Evans to break new ground.

In doing so, the proud Welshman has also retained his Tour Card, climbing a minimum of 18 places in the Order of Merit to 59th as a result of his run here.

The action gets under way from 12.30pm GMT, with Last 16 matches to be contested over the best of seven sets, best of five legs per set.

The final set must be won by two clear legs, unless the score reaches 5-5, in which case a sudden death leg will be played.

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World Darts Championship 2024/25 Day 13 Schedule

Monday December 30

Last 16

Afternoon Session (12.30pm-4.30pm)
Kevin Doets v Chris Dobey
Robert Owen v Callan Rydz
Nathan Aspinall v Ricardo Pietreczko

Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Stephen Bunting v Luke Woodhouse
Michael van Gerwen v Jeffrey De Graaf
Luke Littler v Ryan Joyce

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