2025 World Series of Darts Finals

Last updated
2025 Jack's Casino World Series of Darts Finals
2025 WSoDF.jpg
Tournament information
Dates12–14 September 2025
Venue AFAS Live
Location Amsterdam, Netherlands
Organisation(s) Professional Darts Corporation (PDC)
Format Legs
Prize fund£400,000
Winner's share£80,000
High checkout170 Chris Dobey
Champion(s)
Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Michael van Gerwen
«2024 2026»

The 2025 World Series of Darts Finals (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2025 Jack's Casino World Series of Darts Finals) [1] was a professional darts tournament that was held at the AFAS Live in Amsterdam, Netherlands, from 12 to 14 September 2025. It was the 11th staging of the World Series of Darts Finals by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). The total prize fund was £400,000, with the winner receiving £80,000.

Contents

The tournament served as the culmination to the 2025 World Series of Darts, a collection of seven unranked events held by the PDC in seven different countries. It featured 32 players, comprising qualifiers from the World Series Order of Merit and the top four players from the PDC Order of Merit who had not already qualified, as well as six Tour Card holder qualifiers.

Luke Littler was the defending champion, having defeated Michael Smith 11–4 in the 2024 final. Michael van Gerwen won the tournament and the sixth World Series Finals title of his career by defeating Littler 11–7 in the final.

Overview

Background

The tournament will be held at the AFAS Live (pictured in 2017) in Amsterdam, Netherlands. AFAS Live voorgevel.jpg
The tournament will be held at the AFAS Live (pictured in 2017) in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The 2025 World Series of Darts Finals was the 11th edition of the tournament to be staged by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) since the 2015 event. [2] The World Series of Darts was launched by the PDC in 2013 with the aim of growing the popularity of darts around the world. [3] The inaugural year of the tour consisted of two events, the Dubai Masters and the Sydney Masters, which were won by Michael van Gerwen and Phil Taylor respectively. [4] [5] The format of World Series events pits invited PDC representatives against regional qualifiers in the opening round. [6] As the tour expanded, the World Series of Darts Finals was introduced in 2015, where the top eight players on the World Series rankings and an additional international qualifiers would compete to close out the year. [7] The first edition of the tournament was won by Michael van Gerwen. [8] In 2024, the World Series of Darts Finals expanded from 24 to 32 players. [9]

Luke Littler (pictured) was the defending champion going into the tournament. 2025-04-03 Premier League Darts Berlin 2025 by Sandro Halank-125.jpg
Luke Littler (pictured) was the defending champion going into the tournament.

The 2025 edition took place from 12 to 14 September 2025 at the AFAS Live in Amsterdam, Netherlands. [2] Dutch casino brand Jack's Casino continued its sponsorship of the event, having first acted as title sponsor for the 2019 edition. [10] Reigning world champion Luke Littler entered the tournament as defending champion after winning the title for the first time by defeating Michael Smith 11–4 in the 2024 final. [11] [12] Littler, Luke Humphries, two-time champion Gerwyn Price and Josh Rock were considered favourites to win the tournament. [13]

Format

The top eight players on the 2025 World Series of Darts Order of Merit were seeded in the first round, while the other 24 players were drawn into the bracket at random. [14] All matches were in leg play format, with the number of legs required to win increasing as the tournament progressed: [15]

Prize money

The prize fund remained at £400,000 after increasing the previous year. [15] The winner received £80,000. [2]

Position (no. of players)Prize money
(Total: £400,000)
Winner(1)£80,000
Runner-up(1)£40,000
Semi-finalists(2)£25,000
Quarter-finalists(4)£17,500
Last 16 (second round)(8)£10,000
Last 32 (first round)(16)£5,000

Broadcasts

The tournament was broadcast on ITV4 in the United Kingdom. Other broadcasters included Viaplay in the Netherlands, Iceland, Scandinavia and the Baltic states; DAZN in Germany, Austria and Switzerland; FanDuel in the United States and Canada; Fox Sports in Australia; Sky Sport in New Zealand; VTM in Belgium; Nova in Czechia and Slovakia; Pragosport in Hungary and Zonasport in Croatia. It was also available on the PDC's streaming service, PDCTV, to international subscribers. [16]

Qualification

The 2025 World Series of Darts consisted of seven events: [17]

The top eight players on the 2025 World Series Order of Merit – a ranking of players based on points earned across the seven events – qualified for the tournament as seeds, and were joined by additional qualifiers from the World Series Order of Merit and the top four players on the PDC Order of Merit who had not already qualified. Gary Anderson and Paolo Nebrida declined their invitation. [14] The remaining places went to six PDC Tour Card holders from a qualifying event held in Milton Keynes on 27 August. [18]

Seeded players
  1. Flag of England.svg   Stephen Bunting (first round)
  2. Flag of England.svg   Luke Littler (runner-up)
  3. Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg   Gerwyn Price (semi-finals)
  4. Flag of England.svg   Luke Humphries (quarter-finals)
  5. Flag of England.svg   Rob Cross (second round)
  6. Flag of England.svg   Chris Dobey (quarter-finals)
  7. Flag of England.svg   Nathan Aspinall (first round)
  8. Flag of Belgium (civil).svg   Mike De Decker (quarter-finals)
World Series Order of Merit Qualifiers
PDC Order of Merit Qualifiers
Tour Card Holder Qualifiers

Summary

First round

Top seed Stephen Bunting (pictured) was eliminated in the first round by Danny Noppert. 2025-04-03 Premier League Darts Berlin 2025 by Sandro Halank-048.jpg
Top seed Stephen Bunting (pictured) was eliminated in the first round by Danny Noppert.

The first round was played on 12 September and in the afternoon session of 13 September. [19] Top seed Stephen Bunting was eliminated in his opening match, suffering a 6–4 defeat to Danny Noppert. [20] Wessel Nijman led his match against three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen 2–0, 3–1 and 5–4 but was unable to win despite having a match dart. Van Gerwen hit double 18 to prevail in a deciding leg. He claimed the win was "one of [his] best performances in Holland for a long time". [20] World number one Luke Humphries was also brought to a decider by James Wade, who missed a dart at double 8 for the match to allow Humphries to win 6–5. [21] Kevin Doets opened the tournament with a 6–5 victory over compatriot Jermaine Wattimena, surviving four missed match darts in the process. Gabriel Clemens missed double 12 for a nine-dart finish during his 6–3 loss to Mike De Decker. Josh Rock, Damon Heta and Rob Cross progressed to the next round with wins against Krzysztof Ratajski, Joe Cullen and Haupai Puha respectively. [19]

Defending champion and reigning world champion Luke Littler began his campaign by defeating Simon Whitlock 6–4, while five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld overturned a 5–3 deficit and survived six missed match darts from Cor Dekker to win 6–5. [22] [23] American qualifiers Danny Lauby and Jason Brandon were beaten by Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton respectively. Chris Dobey, Cameron Menzies, Ross Smith and Dave Chisnall were also victorious. [22]

Second round

The second round was played in the evening session of 13 September. [24] Jonny Clayton took a 3–0 lead against Luke Littler but the defending champion proceeded to claim the next five legs, ultimately winning 6–4. "It was not easy and I can pull myself out of situations, I know I can do it," commented Littler after the match. [25] Van Gerwen advanced to the quarter-finals through another deciding leg victory against Rob Cross, securing victory with a 111 checkout. [22] Josh Rock produced a whitewash victory against Danny Noppert in nine minutes, while Mike De Decker defeated Damon Heta 6–4 and Ross Smith beat Dave Chisnall by the same scoreline. [26] Cameron Menzies registered a three-dart average of 66.85, the lowest in the history of the World Series Finals, in his 6–1 loss to Chris Dobey. [22] [27] Former world champions Luke Humphries and Gerwyn Price progressed by defeating their Dutch counterparts Kevin Doets and Raymond van Barneveld. [24]

Quarter-finals, semi-finals and final

Michael van Gerwen (pictured in 2022) won his sixth World Series of Darts Finals title. 2022-06-13 Play-offs (2022 Premier League Darts) by Sandro Halank-095.jpg
Michael van Gerwen (pictured in 2022) won his sixth World Series of Darts Finals title.

The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final were played on 14 September. [28] Michael van Gerwen continued his run on home soil by knocking out Luke Humphries, averaging 106.45 in a 10–5 victory over the world number one. [29] Luke Littler beat Ross Smith 10–8 in a high-level match, with Littler defying a 106 average from Smith to advance to the semi-finals. [28] Gerwyn Price defeated Chris Dobey by the same scoreline, while Josh Rock won 10–6 against Mike De Decker to complete the final four. [30]

In the semi-finals, Rock faced Van Gerwen and Littler faced Price. Van Gerwen progressed to the final after defeating Josh Rock 11–6 as he looked the win the World Series Finals for a sixth time. [28] In the other match, Price went two legs away from victory with a 9–5 lead over Littler, but the reigning world champion won the next five to go 10–9 ahead. Price was able to take the semi-final to a decider, but Littler sealed the win on double 5 after hitting back-to-back maximums (180s) earlier in the leg. [30]

Van Gerwen led the final 3–2 in the early stages, hitting three maximums in the opening five legs. [31] Littler levelled the match with a 10-dart leg after the first interval but Van Gerwen took command again by winning the next three, although he missed the opportunity to take a four-leg lead as Littler brought it back to 6–4. [32] Littler missed darts to make it 7–7 as the Dutch crowd appeared to put him off, allowing Van Gerwen to stay ahead and eventually go 9–6 up. [30] [31] [32] The pair exchanged holds of throw before Van Gerwen won the match 11–7, securing the final leg with a 130 checkout. [30] Van Gerwen ended the match with a three-dart average of 98.37. [31] The victory marked the Dutchman's first major title since winning the same tournament in 2023. [33] [a] He also won a record-extending sixth World Series Finals. [28] Van Gerwen celebrated on stage with his daughter and discussed his recent struggles, before adding, "To do this in front of your home crowd it means a lot to me." [30] Littler welcomed his opponent's resurgence, saying, "If he keeps playing like that, there are going to be some good battles." [32]

Draw

The draw was announced on 1 September. [35] [36] Numbers to the left of a player's name show the seedings for the top 8 in the tournament. The figures to the right of a player's name state their three-dart average in a match. Players in bold denote match winners. [37]

First round(best of 11 legs)
12–13 September
Second round(best of 11 legs)
13 September
Quarter-finals(best of 19 legs)
14 September
Semi-finals(best of 21 legs)
14 September
Final(best of 21 legs)
14 September
               
1 Flag of England.svg   Stephen Bunting 94.314
Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Danny Noppert 92.596
  Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Danny Noppert 100.190
Ulster Banner.svg   Josh Rock 107.366
  Flag of Poland.svg   Krzysztof Ratajski 95.713
Ulster Banner.svg   Josh Rock 96.506
Ulster Banner.svg   Josh Rock 95.4410
8 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg   Mike De Decker 92.756
8 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg   Mike De Decker 89.156
Flag of Germany.svg   Gabriel Clemens 92.203
8 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg   Mike De Decker 98.686
Flag of Australia (converted).svg   Damon Heta 93.874
  Flag of Australia (converted).svg   Damon Heta 96.066
Flag of England.svg   Joe Cullen 80.791
  Ulster Banner.svg   Josh Rock 99.596
Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Michael van Gerwen 102.0911
4 Flag of England.svg   Luke Humphries 99.216
Flag of England.svg   James Wade 92.895
4 Flag of England.svg   Luke Humphries 101.876
Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Kevin Doets 91.164
  Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Kevin Doets 85.116
Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Jermaine Wattimena 86.835
4 Flag of England.svg   Luke Humphries 97.735
Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Michael van Gerwen 106.4510
5 Flag of England.svg   Rob Cross 98.146
Flag of New Zealand.svg   Haupai Puha 98.933
5 Flag of England.svg   Rob Cross 96.455
Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Michael van Gerwen 98.746
  Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Wessel Nijman 101.455
Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Michael van Gerwen 104.756
Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Michael van Gerwen 98.3711
2 Flag of England.svg   Luke Littler 101.997
2 Flag of England.svg   Luke Littler 94.176
Flag of Australia (converted).svg   Simon Whitlock 88.624
2 Flag of England.svg   Luke Littler 96.616
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg   Jonny Clayton 98.814
  Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg   Jonny Clayton 101.336
Flag of the United States.svg  Jason Brandon 82.030
2 Flag of England.svg   Luke Littler 107.3110
Flag of England.svg   Ross Smith 106.128
7 Flag of England.svg   Nathan Aspinall 87.822
Flag of England.svg   Dave Chisnall 92.056
  Flag of England.svg   Dave Chisnall 94.274
  Flag of England.svg   Ross Smith 99.296
  Flag of New Zealand.svg  Jonny Tata 86.544
Flag of England.svg   Ross Smith 93.796
2 Flag of England.svg   Luke Littler 100.0811
3 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg   Gerwyn Price 99.5310
3 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg   Gerwyn Price 94.686
  Flag of the United States.svg   Danny Lauby 82.431
3 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg   Gerwyn Price 102.976
Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Raymond van Barneveld 100.734
  Flag of Norway.svg   Cor Dekker 86.915
Flag of the Netherlands.svg   Raymond van Barneveld 91.766
3 Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg   Gerwyn Price 100.2910
6 Flag of England.svg   Chris Dobey 99.258
6 Flag of England.svg   Chris Dobey 94.606
Flag of England.svg   Luke Woodhouse 88.442
6 Flag of England.svg   Chris Dobey 82.156
Flag of Scotland.svg   Cameron Menzies 66.851
  Flag of Scotland.svg   Cameron Menzies 95.366
Flag of Scotland.svg   Peter Wright 98.593

Notes

  1. Also reported as his first televised title in two years, [31] [32] despite winning the Dutch Darts Masters televised on ITV4 in January 2024 [34]

References

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