Sporting Life
James Hurrell beat Stephen Bunting
James Hurrell beat Stephen Bunting

Darts results: Stephen Bunting bows out at the hands of James Hurrell; Krzysztof Ratajski beats Wesley Plaisier from 3-1 down

By Sporting Life
Darts
Sun December 28, 2025 · 5h ago

James Hurrell produced one of the performances of his life to beat an under-the-weather Stephen Bunting at Alexandra Palace.

World number four Bunting was reportedly feeling less than a hundred percent and it showed at times, though he displayed enormous character to take the match the distance.

Hurrell threw for the match twice, first stalling under intense pressure before a composed second attempt saw him take out 240 in six darts, hitting double top for a 100 finish which finally ended an absorbing contest.

That it got as far as it did was all to do with Bunting's resolve, the former BDO world champion winning three sets, all of them with monster finishes: 161, 121 and 100, each in a deciding leg, were equal parts grit and class.

And when Bunting edged ahead in set seven it looked as though he might have time to recover before a last-16 game, but instead it's Hurrell who reaches that stage for the first time in his career.

After levelling at 1-1 in the decider, Hurrell broke to earn his second bite of the cherry and, somewhat fittingly, he dealt Bunting a taste of his own medicine with a three-figure outshot.

It was not the kind of medicine Bunting was looking for but Hurrell was a worthy winner, averaging close to a hundred and hitting almost 50% of his darts at double to earn a crack at either Martin Schindler or Ryan Searle in round four.

Few would've anticipated a final epic to end the day as Luke Littler made his return against Mensur Suljovic, and not even the latter's pace of play could drag this one out as Littler romped to a 4-0 win.

Nine 180s, an average of over 107, a phenomenal 70% checkout percentage and just three legs lost underline just how dominant Littler was, stepping up a level on his first two matches and making it 10 straight sets so far.

His average was the second highest of the tournament so far and in fact Littler's best at a World Championship as he rattled off seven straight legs before the Austrian finally got on the board to avoid a complete blowout.

It was the type of performance which would make a second world title feel inevitable were it sustained and Littler is just 8/13 to do just that.

“Tonight felt like a free hit, I had no nerves whatsoever and I let my darts do the talking,” said Littler, who will face either Damon Heta or Rob Cross in round four.

“I was on a 109 average after the first set, so I dropped two points in the end, but 71% on the doubling, I’m very happy with it.

“No matter how you win a game, you want to win it in style. Not losing a set at all is a good thing.

“People can say whoever plays Littler next will lose, but this is darts, anyone can win or lose. I just have to show up for my next game and hopefully put in another performance like that.”

The first game of the evening session had seen Andreas Harrysson continue his dream run by beating Ricardo Pietreczko 4-2, having won six of the final seven legs to ultimately progress with something to spare.

Harrysson will face Jonny Clayton next, knowing that a win would see him earn a PDC Tour card.

Ratajski back from the brink

Krzysztof Ratajski produced a resolute display to beat Wesley Plaisier 4-3 as the World Darts Championship made a storming return to action.

Ratajski was at the end of the road when trailing 3-1 in a race to four and needing 117 to extend the match into a fifth set, with his opponent Plaisier waiting on 40.

The Polish Eagle produced a brilliant finish, hitting treble 19 and then tops with his two remaining darts, and that would not be his last act of escapology in a thriller Plaisier will feel he should've won.

Krzysztof Ratajski (right) celebrates

The Dutchman missed three darts for the match when set six also went to a decider, two of them by a whisker, and again Ratajski was able to capitalise by hitting double eight.

And with the deciding set on throw, Ratajski stepped up for his first match-winning opportunity and took out 116 in style, his fourth 100-plus finish in a match ultimately defined by them – Plaisier's highest was 92.

With similar checkout percentages and a total legs score of 15-14 in favour of Ratajski, this was just about as close as it gets and a fitting way for the action to resume after Christmas.

Clayton keeps his cool

Jonny Clayton didn't require the same come-from-behind heroics as Ratajski but was given just as stern a test by Niels Zonneveld before eventually prevailing 4-3.

The pair combined for a whopping 18 maximums in a tight, high-quality game settled only when Clayton's ruthless finishing earned him a vital break of throw in the deciding set.

Clayton had appeared set to end the match in the previous set when doing something similar only for Zonneveld to gamely respond by breaking on double five under immense pressure with the match on the line.

But in the end it was the fifth seed who prevailed, the paper-thin margin best summed up by the fact that each man had 30 attempts at double. Clayton hit one more of his and thus survived a real test.

The middle game of the afternoon offered no such drama as Luke Woodhouse ran out a dominant 4-1 winner over Andrew Gilding.

Nine breaks of throw in the first 14 legs of the match was the most notable feature and six of them went the way of Woodhouse, who scored heavier and finished better than his opponent.

Gilding did produce a 152 finish on his way to the second set but Woodhouse won the following seven legs to set up a winning position, which he took with a rare run of holds in set five.

Saturday's World Darts results

Saturday December 27
Afternoon Session (12.30pm GMT)
Third Round (Best of 7 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

  • Wesley Plaisier 3-4 Krzysztof Ratajski
  • Andrew Gilding 1-4 Luke Woodhouse
  • Jonny Clayton 4-3 Niels Zonneveld

Evening Session (7pm GMT)
Third Round (Best of 7 sets)
TV Coverage: Sky Sports Darts

  • Andreas Harrysson 4-2 Ricardo Pietreczko
  • Stephen Bunting 3-4 James Hurrell
  • Luke Littler 4-0 Mensur Suljojvic

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