Paddy Power World Darts Championship format for the final at Alexandra Palace

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Luke Humphries

By / Darts / 11 months ago

The Paddy Power World Darts Championship is one of the biggest events on the sporting calendar – but how exactly does the tournament work?

It has been an annual event since 1994 and Alexandra Palace has once again played host to the festive fiesta from Friday, December 15 to Wednesday, January 3.

Darts has become big business as the tournament prize fund stands at a cool £2.5million, with the winner bagging £500,000, but plenty of arrows need to be thrown to come out on top.

Paddy Power World Darts Championship odds can be found on the Paddy Power website and Paddy Power app, otherwise all the information you need about the tournament format is below.

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Paddy Power World Darts Championship 2024 dates

A total of 96 players take part in the Paddy Power World Darts Championship – and it is a knockout tournament from the first round to the final.

The 64 qualifiers – 32 from the ProTour Order of Merit Qualifiers and 32 from International Qualifiers – take part in the first round for the chance to face one of the 32 leading players on the PDC Order of Merit in the second round.

Round One and Round Two: Friday, December 15 to Saturday, December 23
Round Three: Wednesday, December 27 to Friday, December 29
Round Four: Friday, December 29 to Saturday, December 30
Quarter-Finals: Monday, January 1
Semi-Finals: Tuesday, January 2
Final: Wednesday, January 3

Paddy Power World Darts Championship 2024 format

The Paddy Power World Darts Championship uses the set-play format. Matches in the first and second round are played as a best-of-five sets. A player needs to win three legs to claim the set. The number of sets per match gradually increases throughout the tournament.

A tie-break is required in the second round onwards, which means the deciding set needs to be won by two clear legs.

That means the final – Luke Litter v Luke Humphries – will require a tie-break if the two players are deadlocked at two legs each in the 13th and final set. If it reaches 5-5 in legs then a sudden-death leg will take place.

First Round: Best-of-five sets
Second Round: Best-of-five sets
Third Round: Best-of-seven sets
Fourth Round: Best-of-seven sets
Quarter-Finals: Best-of-nine sets
Semi-Finals: Best-of-11 sets
Final: Best-of-13 sets

Paddy Power World Darts Championship 2024 draw

The 96 players in the Paddy Power World Championship Draw are split into two halves of the draw and the winners from the top and bottom half face off in the final.

TOP HALF

Section 1

Kevin Doets v Stowe Buntz (R1)
Michael Smith v Doets/Buntz (R2)

Mike De Decker v Dragutin Horvat (R1)
Madars Razman v De Decker or Horvat (R2)

Niels Zonneveld or Darren Webster (R1)
Ross Smith v Zonneveld or Webster (R2)

William O’Connor v Bhav Patel (R1)
Chris Dobey v O’Connor or Patel (R2)

Mario Vandenbogaerde v Thibault Tricole (R1)
Rob Cross v Vandenbogaerde or Tricole (R2)

Richie Edhouse v Jeffrey De Graaf (R1)
Jose De Sousa v Edhouse or De Graaf (R2)

Steve Lennon v Owen Bates (R1)
Jonny Clayton v Lennon or Bates (R2)

Jamie Hughes v David Cameron (R1)
Krzysztof Ratajski v Hughes or Cameron (R2)

Section 2

Jim Williams v Norman Madhoo (R1)
Peter Wright v Williams or Madhoo (R2)

Radek Szaganski v Marko Kantele (R1)
Raymond van Barneveld v Szaganski or Kantele (R2)

Matt Campbell v Lourence Ilagan (R1)
James Wade v Campbell or Ilagan (R2)

Christian Kist v Luke Littler (R1)
Andrew Gilding v Kist or Littler (R2)

Connor Scutt v Krzystof Kcuik (R1)
Gerwyn Price v Scutt or Kcuik (R2)

Mickey Mansell v Xiaochen Zong (R1)
Brendan Dolan v Mansell or Zong (R2)

Keegan Brown v Boris Krcmar (R1)
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Brown or Krcmar (R2)

Simon Whitlock v Paolo Nebrida (R1)
Gary Anderson v Whitlock or Nebrida (R2)

BOTTOM HALF

Section 3

Keane Barry v Reynaldo Rivera (R1)
Michael van Gerwen v Barry or Rivera (R2)

Richard Veenstra v Ben Robb (R1)
Kim Huybrechts v Veenstra or Robb (R2)

Dylan Slevin v Florian Hempel (R1)
Dimitri van den Bergh v Slevin or Hempel (R2)

Ryan Joyce v Alex Spellman (R1)
Stephen Bunting v Joyce or Spellman (R2)

Scott Williams v Haruki Muramatsu (R1)
Danny Noppert v Williams or Muramatsu (R2)

Jermaine Wattimena v Fallon Sherrock (R1)
Martin Schindler v Wattimena or Sherrock (R2)

Martin Lukeman v Haupai Puha (R1)
Damon Heta v Lukeman or Puha (R2)

Luke Woodhouse v Berry van Peer (R1)
Josh Rock v Woodhouse or van Peer (R2)

Section 4

Lee Evans v Sandro Eric Sosing (R1)
Luke Humphries v Evans or Eric Sosing (R2)

Ricardo Pietreczko v Mikuru Suzuki (R1)
Callan Rydz v Pietreczko or Suzuki (R2)

Jules van Dongen v Darren Penhall (R1)
Joe Cullen v van Dongen or Penhall (R2)

Ian White v Tomoya Goto (R1)
Ryan Searle v White or Goto (R2)

Ricky Evans v Simon Adams (R1)
Nathan Aspinall v Evans or Adams (R2)

Steve Beaton v Wessel Nijman (R1)
Daryl Gurney v Beaton or Nijman (R2)

Cameron Menzies v Rusty-Jake Rodriguez (R1)
Davie Chisnall v Menzies or Rodriguez (R2)

Gian van Veen v Man Lok Leung (R1)
Gabriel Clemens v van Veen or Lok Leung (R2)

Paddy Power World Darts Championship winners

1994: Dennis Priestley
1995: Phil Taylor
1996: Phil Taylor
1997: Phil Taylor
1998: Phil Taylor
1999: Phil Taylor
2000: Phil Taylor
2001: Phil Taylor
2002: Phil Taylor
2003: John Part
2004: Phil Taylor
2005: Phil Taylor
2006: Phil Taylor
2007: Raymond van Barneveld
2008: John Part
2009: Phil Taylor
2010: Phil Taylor
2011: Adrian Lewis
2012: Adrian Lewis
2013: Phil Taylor
2014: Michael van Gerwen
2015: Gary Anderson
2016: Gary Anderson
2017: Michael van Gerwen
2018: Rob Cross
2019: Michael van Gerwen
2020: Peter Wright
2021: Gerwyn Price
2022: Peter Wright
2023: Michael Smith

Paddy Power World Darts Championship final tips

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