Live Darts on New Year’s Day | World Darts Championship Quarter-Finals Preview and Order of Play
The curtain is raised on the new darting year with the quarter-finals of the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace on New Year’s Day.
An unmissable start to 2026 sees the four quarter-final ties held across two sessions as the eight remaining hopefuls bid to remain on course for the Sid Waddell Trophy and record £1m top prize.
After 17 days of drama, upsets and unforgettable moments, four of the world’s top ten players plus a further quartet of in-form hopefuls are left standing in pursuit of the sport’s ultimate prize.
Afternoon Session
Gary Anderson is the first of three former World Champions in action on New Year’s Day as he looks to end the remarkable debut run of world number 86 Justin Hood.
Anderson has rolled back the years to recapture his vintage best form on the sport’s most iconic stage booking his place in a tenth Ally Pally quarter-final.
Back-to-back World Champion in 2015 and 2016, Anderson is out to emulate that success a decade later, just days on from his 55th birthday.
The Flying Scotsman, whose best results had come away from the major stages in 2025 with a European Tour and a ProTour title, has racked up a tournament-high 40 maximums during his blistering run so far.
After atoning for last year’s shock opening round exit by battling back from 2-1 down to edge out his former protégé Adam Hunt, Anderson then recovered from dropping the first set to reel off three in a row for victory over Connor Scutt with a 105.4 average.
The eight-time major winner came through an epic tie break to deny Jermaine Wattimena with a 102.2 average, firing in 14 maximums and missing double 12 for a nine-darter in the process, before punishing costly missed doubles from Michael van Gerwen to seal a 4-1 win over his great rival in the Last 16.
Standing in the way of Anderson and a place in the Last Four is rank outsider Hood – who has probed arguably the stand-out story of the tournament so far.
Hood came into the event on the back of 16 first round exits in his first season as a Tour Card holder and with his major tournament appearances only coming in Minehead at the UK Open and Players Championship Finals.
The diminutive left-hander began his fairy-tale run by defeating Nick Kenny in straight sets before pulling off a breath-taking tie break scalp of Danny Noppert with a 103 average.
Hood then swept aside Ryan Meikle 4-1 in the Last 32 before producing a display of finishing seldom seen in World Championship history, hitting his first 11 darts at doubles en route to a 4-0 rout of Josh Rock with a 101.2 average.
Hood is now at least £100,000 richer and guaranteed to rock a minimum of 36 places to 5oth in the provisional Order of Merit, but will have his sights set on becoming undoubtedly the most unlikely World Champion in PDC history.
The opening tie of the afternoon sees fifth seed Jonny Clayton take on 20th seed Ryan Searle as both bid to break new ground.
Clayton is appearing in his second World Championship quarter-final, three years on from his first, and has continued his superb run of consistency on major stages this season by reaching his fifth televised ranking quarter-final of the campaign.
The four-time major winner has played a game less in doing so, having received a bye in the second round following Dom Taylor’s failed drugs test.
Following a 3-1 victory over Adam Lipscombe, the Welsh number one then held firm in a seven-set epic to edge out Niels Zonneveld before surviving another scare to deny Swedish debutant Andreas Harrysson 4-2 in the Last 16.
Searle has progressed to the quarter-finals for the first time in eight attempts at Ally Pally, surging into the provisional top 16 as a result.
Twice a Players Championship event winner this season, Searle is remarkably yet to drop a set en route to this stage, whitewashing Chris Landman, Brendan Dolan, Martin Schindler and James Hurrell, with ton-plus averages in the latter two matches.
The laidback 38-year-old is now vying to reach a first major ranking semi-final since his landmark run to the final of the 2021 Players Championship Finals.
Evening Session
Reigning champion Luke Littler steps up the defence of his crown with a clash against Polish number one Krzysztof Ratajski.
Littler is bidding 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.
The teenage sensation 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 and going on to whitewash Mensur Suljovic 4-0 with a 107 average.
His first real test came against 2018 World Champion Rob Cross in the Last 16, but the 18-year-old averted the need for a last-set decider by sealing a 4-2 victory with a 106.5 average to take his unbeaten run to 16 matches in major ranking competition.
Ratajski finds himself through to a second PDC World Championship quarter-final, having initially reached this stage behind closed doors in 2020/21.
The former World Master benefitted from the shock early exit of Gerwyn Price by coming through a wide open section of the draw courtesy of wins over Alexis Toylo, Ryan Joyce, Wesley Plaisier and Luke Woodhouse.
The 48-year-old boasts an impressive tournament average of 97 and is out to make history by registering his first-ever win over Littler and dethroning the reigning champion.
Arguably the stand-out fixture of the quarter-finals sees 2024 World Champion Luke Humphries come up against reigning European Champion Gian van Veen.
The latest instalment of their fascinating developing rivalry sees Humphries looking to end a run of three consecutive defeats to the Dutchman in major competition this season.
Van Veen prevailed 10-8 in the opening round of the World Matchplay before a fairy-tale 11-10 success in the final to clinch his first major title at the European Championship.
The back-to-back World Youth champion then added a 6-5 victory in Round One of the Players Championship Finals but now faces a much sterner test over the longer sets format.
Champion here two years ago, Humphries is defending £500,000 in prize money against his Order of Merit tally and began in commanding fashion by defeating Ted Evetts 3-1 with a 98.5 average.
The reigning Premier League champion then powered past 71-year-old Paul Lim for the loss of just one leg before fending off a gallant test from a resurgent Gabriel Clemens to prevail 4-2 with a 100 average and going on to recover from a set down to reel off four in a row to dispatch Kevin Doets in the final televised match of 2025.
Van Veen could end the day ranked inside the world’s top four for the first time defending on Clayton’s result earlier in the day as he seeks to secure an automatic spot in this year’s Premier League.
The 23-year-old registered the highest average of the tournament so far (108.28) in a 3-1 win over Alan Soutar to back up a 98.3 average in his opening round win over Spain’s Cristo Reyes by the same scoreline.
He has since gone on to record commanding 4-1 wins over Madars Razma and Charlie Manby with successive 98 averages for a place in his sixth major ranking quarter-final since 2023.
The action gets under way from 12.30pm GMT, with Quarter-Final ties to be contested over the best of nine 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 Quarter-Finals Schedule
Thursday January 1
Afternoon Session (12.30pm-4.30pm)
Ryan Searle v Jonny Clayton
Gary Anderson v Justin Hood
Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Luke Littler v Krzysztof Ratajski
Luke Humphries v Gian van Veen
