WDF World Darts Championship

The **WDF World Darts Championship** is a world championship competition held annually in the sport of darts and is organised by the World Darts Federation. The WDF World Darts Championship began in 2022 after the collapse of the British Darts Organisation in 2020.

## History

The original World Darts Championship ran from 1978 to 2020 and was organised by the British Darts Organisation. The  tournament was the last edition to be organised by the BDO before the collapse of the company. In September 2020, World Darts Federation announced the launch of the new WDF World Championship. The first edition took place in , but was delayed until April due to concerns and government restrictions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023 the tournament started in December. From 2024 onwards the tournament started in November and ended in December. In July 2025, the WDF announced that for all tournaments, cups and ranking tables, the "men's" and "boys" categories were renamed to "open" and "youth" following a change in the WDF's eligibility criteria that saw participation in women's and girls' events restricted to those born as female.

## Venue

The first World Darts Championship organised by the BDO was played at the  in Nottingham in 1978. Between 1979 and 1985 the tournanment was held at  in Stoke-on-Trent. From 1986 to 2019 the tournament was held at the  in , Surrey. The last tournament organised by the BDO was played at the  in London. Since 2022, the WDF World Darts Championship has been held at the Lakeside Country Club.

### Open (Men's)

In   became the first player from Northern Ireland and  the first player from France to reach the final of a World Darts Championship, Neil Duff won the first men's title. In   became the first player from Belgium to win the men's title, he defeated  6–1 in the final. In   won the men's title to become the first World Darts Champion from the Republic of Ireland, he defeated  in the final 6–3. Lim also became the oldest darts player to reach a World Championship final at 70 years old. In , , who qualified for both the open and youth tournaments, became the youngest player to compete in a senior WDF World Championship at 15 years old, beating the record previously held by Luke Littler. He reached the final of the open tournament, becoming the youngest finalist in either WDF/BDO or PDC World Darts Championship and first teenager to reach WDF final, losing to  in the final.
|rowspan="2"|Year|rowspan="2" style="width:12em;"|Champion|rowspan="2"||rowspan="2"|Score|rowspan="2" style="width:12em;"|Runner-Up|rowspan="2"||colspan="3"|Prize Money|rowspan="2"|Venue|rowspan="2" class="unsortable"|Ref.||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|||align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">87.73</span></small>|align=center|6–5||align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">86.95</span></small>|align=center|£200,000|align=center|£50,000|align=center|£25,000|rowspan="4"|, , Surrey|align=center||
|||align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">93.69</span></small>|align=center|6–1||align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">86.47</span></small>|align=center|£170,000|align=center|£50,000|align=center|£20,000|align=center||||
|||align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">90.31</span></small>|align=center|6–3||align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">83.76</span></small>|align=center|£146,000|align=center|£50,000|align=center|£16,000|align=center||||
|||align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">93.21</span></small>|align=center|6–3||align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">93.18</span></small>|align=center|£146,000|align=center|£50,000|align=center|£16,000|align=center||||

### Women's

In   became the youngest ever winner of a world championship at 18 years old, defeating Kirsty Hutchinson in the final 4–0, and produced an average of 92.05. She went on to defend her title in the next two editions, beating  and Sophie McKinlay in 2023 and 2024. In ,  beat Lerena Rietbergen 4–1 to win her first world title and become the oldest world champion in darts history.
|rowspan="2"|Year|rowspan="2" style="width:12em;"|Champion|rowspan="2"||rowspan="2"|Score|rowspan="2" style="width:12em;"|Runner-Up|rowspan="2"||colspan="3"|Prize Money|rowspan="2"|Venue|rowspan="2" class="unsortable"|Ref.||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|||align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">92.05</span></small>|align=center|4–0||align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">72.53</span></small>|align=center|£87,500|align=center|£25,000|align=center|£12,500|rowspan="4"|, , Surrey|align=center||
|||align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">84.64</span></small>|align=center|4–1||align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">77.69</span></small>|align=center|£75,000|align=center|£25,000|align=center|£10,000|align=center||||
|||align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">83.92</span></small>|align=center|4–1|Sophie McKinlay|align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">73.81</span></small>|align=center|£63,000|align=center|£25,000|align=center|£8,000|align=center||||
|||align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">72.01</span></small>|align=center|4–1|Lerena Rietbergen|align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">70.07</span></small>|align=center|£63,000|align=center|£25,000|align=center|£8,000|align=center||||

### Youth (Boys')

|rowspan="2"|Year|rowspan="2" style="width:12em;"|Champion|rowspan="2"||rowspan="2"|Score|rowspan="2" style="width:12em;"|Runner-Up|rowspan="2"||colspan="3"|Prize Money|rowspan="2"|Venue|rowspan="2" class="unsortable"|Ref.||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
||Bradly Roes|align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">71.34</span></small>|align=center|3–1|Charlie Large|align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">71.56</span></small>|align=center|£9,500|align=center|£5,000|align=center|£2,500|rowspan="4"|, , Surrey|align=center||
||Bradley van der Velden|align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">69.93</span></small>|align=center|3–0|Adam Dee|align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">66.68</span></small>|align=center|£9,000|align=center|£5,000|align=center|£2,000|align=center||||
||Archie Self|align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">81.34</span></small>|align=center|3–2|Jenson Walker|align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">84.76</span></small>|align=center|£8,500|align=center|£3,000|align=center|£1,500|align=center||||
|||align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">89.35</span></small>|align=center|4–2|Florian Preis|align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">88.45</span></small>|align=center|£8,500|align=center|£3,000|align=center|£1,500|align=center||||

### Girls'

|rowspan="2"|Year|rowspan="2" style="width:12em;"|Champion|rowspan="2"||rowspan="2"|Score|rowspan="2" style="width:12em;"|Runner-Up|rowspan="2"||colspan="3"|Prize Money|rowspan="2"|Venue|rowspan="2" class="unsortable"|Ref.||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
||Eleanor Cairns|align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">52.45</span></small>|align=center|2–0|Wibke Riemann|align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">52.22</span></small>|align=center|£3,000|align=center|£2,000|align=center|£1,000|rowspan="4"|, , Surrey|align=center||
|||align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">59.43</span></small>|align=center|2–0|Krisztina Turai|align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">51.07</span></small>|align=center|£3,000|align=center|£2,000|align=center|£1,000|align=center||||
||Paige Pauling|align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">73.88</span></small>|align=center|2–0|Sophie McKinlay|align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">71.92</span></small>|align=center|£2,500|align=center|£1,500|align=center|£1,000|align=center||||
||Zehra Gemi|align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">77.07</span></small>|align=center|3–0|Rebecca Allen|align=center|<small><span style="color:dimgray;">65.54</span></small>|align=center|£3,500|align=center|£1,500|align=center|£1,000|align=center||||

### Finalists

|colspan="5"|List of Men's (Open) World Championship finalists.||||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
||style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
||style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
||style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
||style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
||style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
||style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
||style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
||style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||

|colspan="5"|List of Women's World Championship finalists.||||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
||style="text-align:center"|3|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
||style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
||style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
||style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
|Sophie McKinlay|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
|Lerena Rietbergen|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||

|colspan="5"|List of Boys (Youth) World Championship finalists.||||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Bradly Roes|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
|Bradley van der Velden|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
|Archie Self|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
||style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
|Charlie Large|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
|Adam Dee|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
|Jenson Walker|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
|Florian Preis|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||

|colspan="5"|List of Girls World Championship finalists.||||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Eleanor Cairns|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
||style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
|Paige Pauling|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
|Zehra Gemi|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
|Wibke Riemann|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
|Krisztina Turai|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
|Sophie McKinlay|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||
|Rebecca Allen|style="text-align:center"|0|style="text-align:center"|1|style="text-align:center"||style="text-align:center"||

### Averages

|colspan="5"|Ten highest Men's (Open) World Championship one-match averages||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="text-align:center"|104.91||, Third round|Luke Littler|style="text-align:center"|3–0|
|style="text-align:center"|102.79||, Third round|Scott Marsh|style="text-align:center"|3–0|
|style="text-align:center"|101.32|Jim McEwan|, First round|Landon Gardiner|style="text-align:center"|2–0|
|style="text-align:center"|98.98||, Second round|Björn Lejon|style="text-align:center"|3–0|
|style="text-align:center"|97.47||, Third round||style="text-align:center"|3–0|
|style="text-align:center"|97.44||, Quarter-final||style="text-align:center"|4–1|
|style="text-align:center"|97.36||, Quarter-final||style="text-align:center"|4–1|
|style="text-align:center"|97.21||, Second round|Jason Brandon|style="text-align:center"|3–0|
|style="text-align:center"|96.33||, Semi-final|Jenson Walker|style="text-align:center"|5–2|
|style="text-align:center"|96.29||, Second round||style="text-align:center"|3–1|

|colspan="5"|Ten highest Women's World Championship one-match averages||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="text-align:center"|92.05||, Final||style="text-align:center"|4–0|
|style="text-align:center"|90.77||, Semi-final||style="text-align:center"|3–0|
|style="text-align:center"|89.21||, Quarter-final||style="text-align:center"|2–0|
|style="text-align:center"|88.79||, Second round||style="text-align:center"|2–0|
|style="text-align:center"|88.41||, Quarter-final|Paula Murphy|style="text-align:center"|2–0|
|style="text-align:center"|86.16||, Semi-final||style="text-align:center"|3–0|
|style="text-align:center"|85.89||, First round||style="text-align:center"|2–0|
|style="text-align:center"|85.84||, Quarter-final||style="text-align:center"|2–0|
|style="text-align:center"|84.64||, Final||style="text-align:center"|4–1|
|style="text-align:center"|84.06||, Semi-final||style="text-align:center"|3–0|

## Television coverage

|Period|Rights holder|Ref.||
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|align=center|2022|Eurosport, ,||
|align=center|2023|Ayozat, WDF YouTube, Winmau YouTube, Tungsten Tales YouTube||
|align=center|2024|(Semi-finals and Final), GREAT! game YouTube||
|align=center|2025|S4C (Online, YouTube & TV)||

## Infobox (sports league)

- **title**: WDF World Darts Championship
- **country**: England
- **founded**: 2021
- **tournament format**: Set (darts), Sets
- **champion**: (Open)
  (Women)

(Youth)
 Zehra Gemi
(Girls)