Category: Darts

• PDC hot favourite was jeered during quarter-final victory

• ‘It definitely fuelled me up and it made me play better’

Luke Littler admits he “lost” his head when reacting to the hostile crowd during his fourth-round World Championship win over Rob Cross and still has some learning to do.

The 18-year-old was booed and jeered as he beat Cross 4-2 to book his place in the quarter-finals at Alexandra Palace. Littler let the emotion out after throwing the winning darts, running around the stage gesturing to the crowd, who had wanted Cross to win.

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• Toby, 13, was in crowd when fourth seed lost

• ‘He has had hate from some trolls online’

Stephen Bunting has revealed his 13-year-old son has been a victim of online abuse. Toby Bunting was in the crowd at Alexandra Palace as his father, the fourth seed, was knocked out in the third round of the PDC World Championship by James Hurrell.

Bunting said in a post on X that his family have been hurt by the social media trolling. “Hi guys, sorry I’ve had a few days away from my socials, but I just needed a small bit of time after my game to recover and rest,” the 40-year-old wrote.

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• Cross beats Damon Heta 4-0 to book last-16 meeting

• Anderson holds off Wattimena, Ryan Searle through

Rob Cross thrashed Damon Heta 4-0 at the PDC World Championship to set up a last-16 clash with the reigning champion, Luke Littler.

Cross, who beat Phil Taylor in the 2018 final, lost only two legs against Australian No 1 Heta as he cruised into the fourth round.

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• Van Gerwen looked in form in win over O’Connor

• Two-time champion Wright averaged just 79.20

Michael van Gerwen showed his class as he powered into the third round of the world championship. The three-time champion struggled in his opening match but brought his best to brush past William O’Connor 3-1.

It was an impressive performance by the Dutchman, who reminded everyone of his credentials after a difficult year on and off the oche. Luke Littler and Luke Humphries are the leading contenders for the title in January but Van Gerwen is a threat playing like this.

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For many of the performers in the 12-month circus, the tour can be soul-destroying and lonely with only the promise of untold wealth to keep them chasing the dream

“It’s a lonely place,” Stephen Bunting reflected as he sat quietly in Alexandra Palace on Saturday night, the tears welling in his eyes. “If things don’t go right, you can look at your family, your management, you can look at your sponsors. But it’s down to you. And yeah, I’m getting a bit emotional, but … ”

These are stories darts is less keen on telling. Ever since this sport burst out of the smoky pubs and on to our television screens, it has possessed a kind of hedonistic, hyperreal quality, a game in which normal guys slip on their superhero suits and take a shot at unimaginable riches, unimaginable fame. The crowds dress up, get the drinks in and chase the ultimate high. The winners are brought into the press conference room to be feted; the losers slip out through the back door. From its start, darts has been conceived as a vehicle for joy and transformation.

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• Humphries beats 71-year-old Lim 3-0

• No 7 seed Wade loses 3-2 in biggest upset so far

Luke Humphries admitted he had mixed feelings about his emphatic 3-0 win against Paul Lim in the third round. The world No 3 was in ruthless form as he won the first eight legs of the match before Lim, at 71 the ­oldest player in the draw, found tops to avoid a complete shutout.

Humphries, the 2024 world champion, said he had great respect for Lim, who was roared on by the capacity crowd throughout as he tried to build on his history-making first-round win against Sweden’s Jeffrey de Graaf at Alexandra Palace.

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• Chisnall out despite hitting 11 180s in 3-2 defeat

• Dirk van Duijvenbode and Motomu Sakai bow out

Dave Chisnall was dumped out of the PDC world championship by Ricardo Pietreczko despite hitting 11 180s in an Alexandra Palace thriller. Chisnall, the No 21 seed, paid the price for double trouble and missed a match dart in the final set when it seemed the Englishman would complete a remarkable recovery.

Pietreczko capitalised on Chisnall’s poor finishing to win the first two sets, but the 2021 semi-finalist stormed back to level with some extraordinary scoring. Chisnall took a 2-1 lead in the final set with a 113 finish but then missed double 16 for a match-sealing 143 checkout.

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• Adverse finding came from test before tournament

• Player suspended in advance of disciplinary process

Britain’s Dom Taylor has been suspended from the World Darts Championship after failing a drug test, the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA) said on Friday, handing opponent Jonny Clayton a free pass to the third round.

The DRA, the governing body of the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), said Taylor returned an adverse analytical finding from a test conducted on 14 December, one day before the tournament got under way at Alexandra Palace.

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Back at the PDC world championship for the first time since 2022, the women’s world champion means business, starting on Friday against the world No 22

“When I was younger, they thought I was a mute,” Beau Greaves says with a wry smile, thinking about all the ways darts has changed her. “Never said owt in school, really shy. Didn’t really know what to say half the time. I suppose playing darts just brought me out of my shell. When you get popular, people want to meet you and talk. It’s matured me.”

Greaves was 18 the first time she won the Lakeside women’s world championship, thrusting herself firmly into the crosshairs of public adulation. And even if she played like a natural born star, with her beautiful fluid throwing arc, she didn’t always feel like one. Endless interviews, viral fame, global domination: this was never what she had craved from the sport. She was Beau, and she just wanted to throw.

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• Bellmont: ‘This is great for all Swiss people’

• James Wade cruises past Ryusei Azemoto

The five-time world champion Raymond van Barneveld was left stunned after falling to a straight-sets defeat by Switzerland’s Stefan Bellmont in their first-round clash at Alexandra Palace.

Bellmont produced the performance of his career to become the first Swiss player win a match at the World Darts Championship. The 36-year-old from Cham hopes that his success will inspire a wave of darts enthusiasts in his home country.

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• Price cruises to 3-0 victory against Adam Gawlas

• Danny Noppert rallies to beat Jurjen van der Velde

Gerwyn Price romped to a 3-0 win against Adam Gawlas to ease into the second round of the world championship on Tuesday.

Price, who was roared on by the the crowd at Alexandra Palace, bagged six 180s before closing out the win with his second 120 checkout of the evening. Despite missing 17 of his 26 attempts at doubles, he scored a 96.44 average to set up a second-round meeting with Wesley Plaisier.

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The Guardian's Jonathan Liew visits the World Darts Championships at Alexandra Palace to explore how the game went from the working men's clubs to the world stage, what the next 10 years looks like, and how it continues to have a ever-developing cultural impact around the world

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