WDF World Darts Championship – Who Will Win at the Lakeside?

Ever since the split in darts in 1993 there have always been two world championships to look forward to over the festive period. This event used to be known as the BDO World Championship however that organisation went bankrupt in 2020. This lead to a big gap for amateurs to bridge the gap into the professional ranks of the PDO World Tour. The World Darts Federation have managed to bridge this and set up their own tour of which this event the centrepiece of.

48 players will head to the lakeside with the top 16 from the WDF Tour qualifying direct and being seeded in the last 32. The other qualifiers will play an opening match. The defending champion is Shane McGuirk who starts in the opening round having failed to make it to the top 16 in the world rankings this year.

Let us look deeper into this upcoming championship and give you a WDF World Darts Championship prediction.

This tournament has only been running in its current format since 2022, although it is in all intents and purposes, a continuation of the old BDO World Darts Championship. There has been a different winner every year in this event; Neil Duff in 2022, Andy Baetens in 2023 and Shane McGuirk. Last year McGuirlk defeated the surprise finalist, 71-year-old veteran Paul Lim 6-3 (Lim was the first man ever to hit a televised 9-dart finish back in the 80s) Lim is not playing in this year’s tournament though, so no chance of him repeating this.

The Women’s event is held concurrently and has been won all three times by Beau Greaves. She recently beat Luke Littler in a youth championship. She will not be competing in the event this year however, so this year shall see a new women’s winner. We are going to focus on the men’s event in the upcoming article and hopefully leave you with a full impression of who will be the winner of this year’s competition.

Who are the WDF World Darts Championship players to watch out for?

Lets take some time to look at five players who we think can all make an impact at the upcoming tournament and give you some idea of WDF World Darts Championship betting tips.

Shane McGuirk

Nationality: Irish 🇮🇪

WDF World Ranking: 34th

World Championship Record: 2024: WON

The defending champion of the WDF World Darts Championship won the event on his debut appearance. He will defend his title from the opening round this year as he has failed to finish inside the top 16-ranked players to earn a seeding spot. This is because he has been playing on the PDC Challenge Tour instead, however, with mixed results. He has not made it past the last 16 in an event since May of this year. It seems unlikely he will retain his crown but having been all the way before, it may be that he has the confidence in the later stages he has recently been missing.

Jimmy van Schie

Nationality: Dutch 🇳🇱

WDF World Ranking: 1st

World Championship Record: 2024 3R

The world number one will be starting as many people’s favourite to win the WDF World Darts Championship. He has a good run of form recently, winning the World Masters and placing in the last 4 of both the Hungarian Classic and Masters. He has also been playing PDC Challenge Tour events, showing he may be one of the players in the startlist who will make an impression on the larger professional Darts setup in the near future.

Jason Brandon

Nationality: American 🇺🇸

WDF World Ranking: 3rd

World Championship Record: 2024: SF

Jason Brandon suffered a surprise 5-0 semi final loss last year to Paul Lim. However he has been in solid form this season and must be ranked as a contender to go one better this year at the WDF World Darts Championship. He won the Hungarian Classic in October and just lost out in the semi-finals of the World Classic at the start of November, so he is clearly in strong form.

Neil Duff

Nationality: Northern Irish 🇬🇧

WDF World Ranking: 5th

World Championship Record: 2022: WON, 2023: QF, 2024: QF

Neil Duff has been playing darts since 2003 and the 53 year old has already won this event once 3 years ago in the inaugural event. Since then he has made the last 8 twice and will be looking to be the first man to win twice at the Lakeside at the 2025 WDF World Darts Championship He is looking in decent form having won the England Masters in October and made it to the last 8 in a couple more events.

Mitchell Lawrie

Nationality: Scottish 🇬🇧

WDF World Ranking: 11th

World Championship Record: Debut

The 15 year old Scotish dart sensation is being whispered as having more potential than Luke Littler in some circles. He will be making his debut this year in the WDF World Darts Championship. He recently broke Littler’s record by winning three men’s senior titles whilst under 18 and is well regarded by many to make it a fourth at this event. This season he has already won the Irish Classic and British and Welsh Opens.

Where to watch the WDF World Darts Championship

You can watch the coverage of the WDF World Darts Championship live from the 2nd round on S4C the Freeview channel. Equally, you can also watch every dart thrown on the WDF Youtube Channel so as long as you have an internet setup where you are you won’t miss anything.

Prediction for the WDF World Darts Championship

This is always a difficult event to choose a winner in as the different winner every year shows. However for my WDF World Darts Championship prediction l’m going to go with youth and back Luke Littler’s friend Mitchell Lawrie. He has been in great form this season and is playing without any sense of fear. The money will not mean the same to him as some of the older players and I think this could give him the edge when the going gets tight, and he has proved he can win already with 3 senior titles before he is 16.

Mitchell Lawrie to win outright odds between 6/1 and 8/1 which should all represent value.