6 players to look out for at the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship Christmas just isn’t Christmas without the darts and Darts Corner! The PDC World Darts Championship kicks off at London’s Alexandra Palace this upcoming Sunday (December 15), with a star-studded field of 96 players from around the world competing for a slice of the £2.5 million prize fund over the next three weeks. World number one Luke Humphries returns to Ally Pally as the defending champion after beating Luke Littler in a record-breaking final last time out. ‘The Nuke’ grabbed the headlines with his run to the final on debut at just 16 years of age, and the teenage sensation heads into this year’s World Championship as the pre-tournament favourite after picking up an impressive 10 titles during 2024. Ahead of the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship, Darts Corner has picked out six players to watch out for at Ally Pally. And don’t forget to shop our PDC World Championship collection for the signature darts and accessories of many of the top players competing in the tournament, including Michael Smith, Gary Anderson and Josh Rock! Chris Dobey First match: v Stephen Burton or Alexander Merkx (in R2 on December 21) | PDC World Championship best performance: Quarter-Finals (2023 and 2024) | Title odds: 33/1 Chris Dobey was my official pick on this week’s episode of the Weekly Dartscast podcast to win the PDC World Darts Championship on January 3 (sorry Chris!). ‘Hollywood’ may not have hit the same heights in front of the television cameras this year as he did in 2023, when he lifted his first major at the Masters and made regular deep runs, but he has still performed at a consistently high level this term. Dobey topped the Players Championship Order of Merit this year, picking up three titles and reaching another two finals during the 30-event season. Given the strength in depth on the ProTour, that is quite some feat and I think Dobey is due another run on the big stage. Now ranked inside the world’s top 16, and notably in the bottom half of the draw away from ‘the two Lukes’, this could be Dobey’s time to light up Ally Pally once again. He’s made the quarter-finals in each of the last two years and looked a champion in waiting last time, knocking out the then defending champion Michael Smith before blowing a 4-0 set lead to lose 5-4 to Rob Cross in the last eight. Dobey will be desperate to right the wrongs of that defeat and go even further this time round. Gian van Veen First match: v Ricardo Pietreczko or Xiaochen Zong (in R2 on December 23) | PDC World Championship best performance: First Round (2024) | Title odds: 40/1 It was an Ally Pally debut to forget for the prodigiously-talented Gian Van Veen 12 months ago. Leading 2-0 in sets against Hong Kong’s Man Lok Leung, van Veen was powerless to stop his opponent from winning the next three sets to cut short his first World Championship campaign. Van Veen has put that defeat behind him and returns to the sport’s biggest stage having had plenty of success on the oche during 2024. The Dutchman narrowly missed out on a first PDC senior title on the European Tour, losing out in a last-leg decider to his fellow compatriot Michael van Gerwen in the final of the Hungarian Darts Trophy in September. At the Grand Slam of Darts last month, van Veen produced a flurry of eye-catching performances including 110 and 114 averages in the group stages as he finished top of a Group H widely considered to be the group of death. A 10-2 demolition of Ryan Joyce followed in the last 16, before the 22-year-old was edged out in a high-quality quarter-final 16-14 by Gary Anderson. A week later van Veen survived match darts to win the PDC World Youth Championship, becoming the first Dutch player to win the title. Martin Lukeman First match: v Nitin Kumar (in R1 on December 19) | PDC World Championship best performance: Second Round (2023 and 2024) | Title odds: 200/1 The build-up to this year’s PDC World Darts Championship has been dominated by a number of surprise major winners and finalists. Mike De Decker and Ritchie Edhouse upset the odds to win their first major titles at the World Grand Prix and European Championship, whilst Martin Lukeman caught the eye with a run to the final of the Grand Slam of Darts last month. ‘Smash’ was making his debut in the Grand Slam, having stormed through the last chance tour card holder qualifiers to earn a spot in the 32-player field in Wolverhampton. The 39-year-old made the most of the opportunity, finishing top of a Group C that also included two former world champions in Rob Cross and Peter Wright. Lukeman’s career-best major run continued with further wins against Ross Smith, Cross (for a second time) and Mickey Mansell, to progress through to the final. A one-sided defeat to Luke Littler in the final brought an end to a memorable week for Lukeman, but he goes to Ally Pally for a third consecutive year with a lot more belief and confidence behind him. A first-round clash with the Indian qualifier Nitin Kumar, with the winner to play Andrew Gilding, perhaps represents Lukeman’s best chance yet to advance to the third round for the first time. Wessel Nijman First match: v Cameron Carolissen (in R1 on December 20) | PDC World Championship best performance: First Round (2024) | Title odds: 28/1 Wessel Nijman is one of the hottest young properties in the world of darts right now. The 24-year-old won a PDC tour card for the first time via the Development Tour at the end of last year and has hit the ground running in his first campaign on the professional circuit in 2024. The Dutchman reached his first PDC senior final at Players Championship 15, losing out to Luke Littler in a close final, before going one better and beating Stephen Bunting to win Players Championship 24 in October. In his final year on the Development Tour, Nijman finished as the runaway leader at the top of the Order of Merit after winning an incredible seven titles over the course of the 24-event season. Topping the Development Tour earned Nijman a debut at the Grand Slam of Darts last month, where he finished with a tournament average of 107 but somehow ended up bottom of his group without a point. Even in those defeats at the Grand Slam, Nijman’s high-level of performances saw him gain a lot of new fans and if he reproduces anywhere near that frightening standard at Ally Pally then surely the results will follow. Niko Springer First match: v Scott Williams (in R1 on December 19) | PDC World Championship best performance: Debut | Title odds: 1000/1 With a PDC tour card already in the bag for 2025 and a World Championship debut on the horizon, things are certainly looking up for Niko Springer. The 24-year-old German, who goes by the nickname of ‘Meenzer Bub’ has been on the scene for the last five years but now looks ready to mark his mark in a big way. Springer opened his PDC title account this year with a trio of Development Tour event wins, which helped him finish second on the final Order of Merit to earn his first tour card along with an Ally Pally debut this month. Whilst the previously-mentioned Wessel Nijman was the dominant force on this year’s Development Tour winning seven titles, Springer was the best of the rest with his haul of three titles backed up by another three finals during the season. Germany continues to be a growing market in the world of darts, not just with more fans getting into the game but the conveyor belt of talented players emerging onto the professional circuit. Springer will be the next German to showcase his talents on the PDC tour in 2025, but before then he has the chance to make a name for himself in his World Championship debut campaign. Alexis Toylo First match: v Richard Veenstra (in R1 on December 21) | PDC World Championship best performance: Debut | Title odds: 1000/1 Another debutant in this year’s PDC World Championship, Alexis Toylo will be the latest player from the crop of exciting talent from the Philippines to make their debut in the sport’s biggest tournament. The 32-year-old finished top of this year’s PDC Asian Tour rankings to earn a first appearance at Ally Pally next week. The Asian Tour returned last year following a three-year break due to the pandemic, with the 24-event season in 2024 seeing tournament triple-headers held in China, Singapore, Japan, Mongolia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Toylo set his stall out from the start winning the first two events of the year to take an early lead at the top of the rankings. The Filipino ended up with five titles and three more finals over the course of the season to keep his place at the summit. The last of those five tournament wins saw Toylo average 99 in the final to beat Paolo Nebrida, showing the high levels he can reach. He also partnered up with Christian Perez at the PDC World Cup of Darts in the summer, where the duo beat Singapore before losing to Belgium. *** Check out our PDC World Championship collection which includes the signature darts and accessories of many of the top players competing at the Ally Pally this year! Pictures: PDC/Jonas Hunold/PDC Europe Alex Moss is a content creator for Darts Corner and the co-host of the Weekly Dartscast podcast. Alex co-founded the Weekly Dartscast in 2017 and has helped produce 350+ episodes of the podcast, with their list of previous guests on the show a who’s who in the world of darts. Alex also writes content for the Darts Corner blog, including the weekly darts news round-ups and how-to guides.
