Live Darts on Sunday | World Darts Championship 2025/26 Day 11 Preview and Order of Play
A trio of World Champions return to the Alexandra Palace stage as the second round action continues at the World Darts Championship on Sunday.
A further four seeds crashed out of the competition on Saturday, taking the overall tally to nine, and a clutch of box office stars will be out to safely book their place in the post-Christmas action.
Sunday’s afternoon session features a clash between 2018 World Champion Rob Cross and multiple ranking event winner Ian White.
Cross enjoyed a spectacular debut here which culminated in victory over Phil Taylor to seal an historic triumph, but he returns ranked outside the world’s top 16 for the first time.
Cross finished second from bottom of the Premier League and suffered first round exits in four of his six major ranking tournament appearances prior to his trip to Ally Pally, where he stopped the rot by defeating Norway’s Cor Dekker in straight sets.
White, a three-time European Tour event winner, enjoyed a resurgent run to the Third Round here 12 months ago before losing out to eventual champion Luke Littler.
The 55-year-old has since reached the final of a Players Championship event but had not registered a win in a TV major since his second round success over Ritchie Edhouse here last year, before ending that run with a 3-2 victory over fellow stalwart Mervyn King nine days ago.
Former Masters champion Joe Cullen aims to follow up a clinical first round showing when he faces Austrian icon Mensur Suljovic.
Cullen, a former Premier League runner-up, has enjoyed another impressive season on the ProTour, picking up two titles and reaching the final of Event One.
However, he won just one match in televised ranking majors coming into this event, missing out on the European Championship and Grand Slam, and comes into the tournament in his lowest seeding position (28) in a decade.
The Bradford ace defied the bookmaker’s odds for the second successive year as he thrashed Bradley Brooks in straight sets with a 99.3 average in his opener.
Suljovic competed in the first PDC World Championship at Ally Pally back in 2007/08 but has never made it beyond the Third Round in 16 appearances to date.
The Gentle was part of the Austria team that finished runner-up in last year’s World Cup of Darts and eased any fears of losing his Tour Card at the end of this tournament by defeating Canada’s David Cameron 3-1 in the opening round.
The opening match of the afternoon sees former quarter-finalist Ryan Joyce take on Polish trailblazer Krzysztof Ratajski.
Joyce heads to Ally Pally with his highest seeding position (24) to date and is looking to replicate last year’s impressive display which saw him reach the Last 16 before eventually being narrowly denied by Luke Littler in a seventh set decider.
The Tyneside thrower swept aside debutant Owen Bates in straight sets with a 95 average in round one, while Ratajski also enjoyed an emphatic 3-0 win over Filipino star Alexis Toylo.
Winner of an eighth Players Championship title this year, Ratajski has reached the third round in each of his last three World Championship campaigns.
In-form Luke Woodhouse looks to secure his spot in the business end of the competition by ending the return of German icon Max Hopp.
Woodhouse enjoyed a fine run to the Last 16 here 12 months ago and has qualified for every major ranking tournament this season for the first time in his career, climbing to 25th in the Order of Merit as a result.
Hopp became the second-youngest player ever to compete at the PDC World Championship when he qualified as a 16-year-old back in 2012/13 and regained a Tour Card this season following a two-year absence.
He marked his return to the sport’s greatest stage by overcoming 2024 Grand Slam runner-up Martin Lukeman 3-1 on Monday.
Evening Session
Reigning champion Luke Littler resumes the defence of the Sid Waddell Trophy with a showdown against Welsh debutant David Davies.
The 18-year-old is bidding to join Phil Taylor, Gary Anderson and Adrian Lewis as only the fourth player to successfully retain the PDC world title and cap off an extraordinary year of dominance.
Littler achieved his darting dream on this iconic stage in January with victory over Michael van Gerwen, and the teenage trailblazer has gone on to add a further five major ranking titles, including the UK Open, World Matchplay and Players Championship Finals.
The new world number one safely saw off Lithuania’s Darius Labanauskas in straight sets on opening night with a 101.5 average and will be out to repeat the dose on another rank outsider.
Davies secured a dream debut at Ally Pally by winning the UK&IRE Tour Card Holder & Associate Member Qualifier and pulled off an impressive 3-0 win over Belgium’s Mario Vandenbogaerde to set up the biggest occasion of his career.
Meanwhile, 2021 World Champion Gerwyn Price continues his latest title tilt with a tie against two-time World Master Wesley Plaisier.
Price triumphed behind closed doors at Ally Pally five years ago but has suffered three quarter-final exits in his four subsequent appearances.
The seven-time major winner, whose last televised ranking title came in 2021, has enjoyed his best results away from the big stage in 2025, racking up four Players Championship titles and a European Tour triumph.
The Welshman powered past Czechia’s Adam Gawlas 3-0 in his opener with a 96.4 average, afterwards declaring that “nobody” will beat him in this tournament.
Plaisier picked up his first ProTour title as a non-Tour Card holder in 2024 and his first full season on the ProTour has seen him reach one Players Championship semi-final but suffer opening round exits in each of his three major tournament appearances.
The Dutchman, who lost out to Peter Wright in Round Two last year, was impressive in seeing off recent Grand Slam quarter-finalist Lukas Wenig in the first round.
German number one Martin Schindler faces a tricky test against former UK Open semi-finalist Keane Barry.
Schindler averaged 99 in a high quality 3-1 win over Stephen Burton and is now eyeing a place in the Third Round for the third time in four years at Ally Pally.
Barry hammered Australian debutant Tim Pusey in straight sets on Friday night and is now targeting a third round spot in the sport’s showpiece for the first time in seven attempts.
Damon Heta, nine-darter hero on this stage 12 months ago, takes on Swiss trailblazer Stefan Bellmont.
Heta, the number 16 seed, overcame Steve Lennon 3-1 in his opener and will be out to avoid a potential scalp at the hands of Challenge Tour winner Bellmont – who dumped out five-time World Champion Raymond van Barneveld in straight sets earlier in the week.
The action gets under way from 12.30pm GMT, with second round ties to be contested over the best of five sets, with 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 11 Schedule
Sunday December 21
Second Round
Afternoon Session (12.30pm-4.30pm)
Ryan Joyce v Krzysztof Ratajski
Joe Cullen v Mensur Suljovic
Luke Woodhouse v Max Hopp
Rob Cross v Ian White
Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Martin Schindler v Keane Barry
Gerwyn Price v Wesley Plaisier
Luke Littler v David Davies
Damon Heta v Stefan Bellmont
