Live Darts on December 27th | World Darts Championship 2025/26 Day 14 Preview and Order of Play

Luke Littler continues the defence of his World Darts Championship title as the Third Round action commences at Alexandra Palace on Saturday.

The greatest show on planet darts resumes following the three-day Christmas break as the 32 remaining players bid to remain in the running for the Sid Waddell Trophy and record £1m top prize.

The afternoon’s trio of ties include fifth seed Jonny Clayton up against Dutch left-hander Niels Zonneveld.

Clayton comes into the contest after a 12-dart break between his opening match, having received an unexpected walkover in Round Two.

The former Premier League champion saw off debutant Adam Lipscombe 3-1 in the first round, before being handed a bye through to Round Three following the news of Dom Taylor’s failed drugs test.

Remarkably, Clayton is the last Welshman standing in the competition, having seen his World Cup team-mate Gerwyn Price crash out in Round Two, and he will be out to avoid an upset of his own as he aims to reach the Last 16 at Ally Pally for the fifth consecutive year.

Zonneveld, meanwhile, is appearing at this stage of the competition for the first time after thrashing New Zealand’s Haupai Puha in straight sets, before dumping out 2023 World Champion Michael Smith 3-1 in the Last 64.

The world number 44 averaged 94.5 in a high quality win over Smith and will be out to replicate that standard in an attempt to secure the biggest payday of his career so far.

The opening match of the afternoon sees Polish number one Krzysztof Ratajski take on giant-killer Wesley Plaisier.

Both players came into the tournament unseeded and are looking to take advantage of a wide open section of the draw which has already seen three seeds crash out.

Ratajski, quarter-finalist here behind closed doors in 2020/21 is appearing in Round Three for the fourth consecutive year, having dispatched Alexis Toylo and Ryan Joyce for the combined loss of just one set with a tournament average of 95.8.

Plaisier pulled off one of the most eye-catching upsets of the tournament so far as he send 2021 World Champion Gerwyn Price packing in straight sets.

The two-time World Master and former Players Championship event winner, who also overcame Lukas Wenig in Round One, is vying to reach the Last 16 of a PDC major for the first time and close in on a place in the world’s top 64 inside one year as a Tour Card holder.

Meanwhile, former UK Open champion Andrew Gilding comes up against European Tour event finalist Luke Woodhouse.

Woodhouse, the 25th seed, is looking to emulate last year’s landmark run to the Last 16 at Ally Pally and has made light work of Croatia’s Boris Krcmar and German icon Max Hopp in the opening two rounds.

Runner-up in the Swiss Trophy and Players Championship 34 this year, ‘Woody’ could move to within touching distance of a place in the world’s top 16 should be reach the quarter-finals.

Gilding has reached Round Three for the second successive year and heads into this tie in blistering form, having seen off Cam Crabtree and eighth seed Chris Dobey by 3-1 scorelines with averages of 98 and 99 respectively.

Evening Session

Top seed and reigning champion Littler puts the world title on the line once again as he comes up against Austrian stalwart Mensur Suljovic.

The 18-year-old is vying to join Phil Taylor, Gary Anderson and Adrian Lewis as only the fourth player to retain the PDC world title and cap off an extraordinary year of dominance which has seen him add a further five major ranking titles including the UK Open, World Matchplay and Players Championship Finals.

Littler put down an immediate marker and avoided a huge potential banana skin when he overcame Lithuania’s Darius Labanauskas in straight sets on opening night.

The Nuke had a ten-day break between rounds before brushing aside Welsh debutant David Davies in three sets with a 97 average in the Last 64, taking his unbeaten run to 14 matches in televised ranking competition.

Bidding to tear up the script and complete a monumental upset is veteran Suljovic – who remains Austria’s finest darting export, having won the Champions League of Darts in 2017 before finishing runner-up at the World Matchplay the following year.

He has suffered a sharp fall down the rankings in recent years but has enjoyed a welcome resurgence on the sport’s biggest stage, recording successive 3-1 wins over Canada’s David Cameron and former Premier League finalist Joe Cullen.

The 53-year-old is renowned for his unorthodox style and methodical approach to the oche, something which visibly irked Cullen in their second round contest, with ‘The Rockstar’ accusing Suljovic of “cheating”.

Elsewhere, fourth seed Stephen Bunting faces a tough test against an inspired James Hurrell.

Crowd favourite Bunting reached the semi-finals last year and began his latest campaign with a thrilling tie break win over Poland’s Sebastian Bialecki.

The former Lakeside Champion then swept aside India’s Nitin Kumar 3-0 in Round Two for the loss of just two legs and boasts a tournament average of 95.

Hurrell, meanwhile, is appearing at this stage of the tournament for the first time following impressive wins over Stowe Buntz and 29th see Dirk van Duijvenbode – which saw him land a staggering ten 180s.

The 41-year-old has never made it beyond the Last 16 stage of a PDC ranking major and is gearing up for undoubtedly the biggest match of his career to date.

The evening’s opener sees German ace Ricardo Pietreczko take on Swedish debutant Andreas Harrysson.

World Cup star Pietreczko is one of four Germans left standing in the competition and finds himself at this stage of the event for the third straight year following impressive wins over former Grand Slam champion Jose De Sousa and multiple major finalist Dave Chisnall.

Pietreczko’s win over Chisnall saw him prevail in a gripping tie break, and he now comes up against 50-year-old cool customer Harrysson – a four time PDC Nordic & Baltic Tour event winner in 2025.

Harryson announced his arrival at Ally Pally with a stunning scalp of 12th seed Ross Smith in a deciding set, before sweeping aside Japan’s Motomu Sakai in straight sets to become one of only three International Qualifiers to progress to the Last 32 this year.

The action gets under way from 12.30pm GMT, with third round ties to be contested over the best of seven sets and a tie break in operation if the score reaches 2-2 in the final set.

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World Darts Championship 2025/26 Day 14 Schedule

Saturday December 27

Third Round

Afternoon Session (12.30pm-4.30pm)
Wesley Plaisier v Krzysztof Ratajski
Andrew Gilding v Luke Woodhouse
Jonny Clayton v Niels Zonneveld

Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Andreas Harrysson v Ricardo Pietreczko
Stephen Bunting v James Hurrell
Luke Littler v Mensur Suljovic