Find out which 'award' that Nathan Aspinall won in Paul Nicholson's half-term report

Who has been the darts player of the season so far? Paul Nicholson picks out his stars and highlights from the 2025 campaign

By Paul Nicholson

Darts

Sun July 06, 2025 · 6M ago

It’s been a dramatic and highly entertaining year so far in the world of PDC darts so Paul Nicholson is on hand to hand deliver his half-term report and awards.

The Asset also reveals some predictions for the rest of the 2025 season, including who will become the first player to pick up a cheque for £1million at the World Championship.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR SO FAR

It’s really difficult to pick just one player because there’s been 20 different winners on the circuit so far this season which is fantastic to see and shows the depth of talent right now.

However I’m going to have to give the nod to Luke Humphries because he ticked the Premier League title off his list by beating Luke Littler and he’s now very close to completing the full set of majors.

To get through the long campaign and have enough energy towards the end to actually get it done against such an incredible talent was really impressive, while we can’t forget he also won the Winmau World Masters back in February.

That was his only ranked title of the campaign but that’s understandable when you consider he chose to miss a lot of tournaments to stay fresh and focused on the Premier League.

His recent US Masters success added to his pot of unranked cash and was the perfect response to his World Cup of Darts disappointment with Littler that received a lot of unfair criticism.

MATCH OF THE SEASON

You can never get bored of watching the many matches we’ve seen between the two Lukes, especially when they’re both in the mood. It’s something that takes your breath away.

There was one particular night in Aberdeen this season when they produced an absolute classic of the ages and I’m sure every reader will know instantly which one I’m talking about.

Littler won it 6-3 with an average of 115.96 and five 180s while Humphries managed 110.01 and nine 180s! That’s 14 maximums in just nine legs!

I remember sitting down after and just leaning back, thinking, “What was that?”

This kind of match was never the norm but now when these two come up against each other, it’s the kind of thing we can expect. That said, it’s still no less thrilling when they do deliver.

FAIRYTALE MOMENT OF THE YEAR

Northern Ireland winning the World Cup of Darts for the first time after such a dramatic final with Wales was the perfect end to such an inspiring tournament.

To see Daryl Gurney and Josh Rock show so much emotion certainly made this the most heartwarming moment of the season so far, especially with the sportsmanship offered from both Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton.

We all know about the potential of Rock, but we’ve been saying for a good while that Gurney is showing signs of bouncing back to more successful times in his career, so it’s great to see him lifting a trophy once again.

This really could be a springboard for him to challenge for big individual honours again and the financial boost will also help ease any pressures that may have been building.

BEST NINE DARTER

There’s been 31 nine darters in the PDC this year and five of those have come in televised tournaments.

Dimitri Van den Bergh hit the first against MVG in the World Masters before Luke Humphries, Rob Cross, Luke Littler and Gerwyn Price achieved the feat during the Premier League campaign.

Price actually did it twice and it’s the second of those against Stephen Bunting which was my favourite.

It was the 15th week of the campaign and he was almost gesturing the fact that he was going to get a second set of golden darts from the title sponsor. This was another dose of the blockbuster version of Price we’ve all loved watching in recent months, even though he lost the match!

CHECKOUT OF THE SEASON

This is a one-horse race; Nathan Aspinall's 170 checkout against Gary Anderson in the semi-finals of the European Darts Trophy. That was unbelievable.

He was just about to lose the game 6-4 after Anderson previously left himself on a double but chipped in a skin-saving 170 to force a deciding leg that he inevitably went on to win.

It’s another example of why we nickname him Mr 170 and I even mentioned that on commentary when it was hit.

Aspinall’s outshot was made even sweeter by lifting the title against Ryan Joyce while he’d also previously thrashed Luke Humphries 6-1. So it’s a tournament he’ll never forget.

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER OF THE YEAR

I know it seems really weird to say someone as established as Jonny Clayton but after a relatively lean patch over the past couple of seasons, he’s enjoyed a superb resurgence in 2025 and is actually ranked second for ranked prize money behind Luke Littler.

After finishing runner-up to Humphries at the World Masters, where he lost in a deciding leg, he’s gone on to win two titles including one on the European Tour and has enjoyed a string of consistent results elsewhere.

I think there were question marks as to whether we’d seen the best of him because of his age but it really does feel like he’s been reborn and that’s tremendous to see.

YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Obviously this is effectively ‘Young Player of the Year without Luke Littler’ and I’m going to give this honour to Beau Greaves.

At one point this year she was leading the Women's Series Table, the Development Tour rankings and the Challenge Tour Order of Merit! That had everybody's attention.

We can talk about Littler, Rock and Van Veen but Greaves is also out of this world. Wherever she's gone she's won. And that's why people are starting to talk about tour cards because she's got multiple opportunities to get it.

TOURNAMENT OF THE SEASON

I know a lot of people will say the World Cup because everyone loves the novelty of the pairs but I’m picking the Winmau World Masters.

When it was rebranded with the set play format, there were question marks about expanding it to include so many players from around the world.

But I think the PDC did an amazing job in revamping what had become a rather stale tournament, which used to be unranked and focused on just the top 24 in the rankings.

It gave the start of the season a fascinating and fresh start and it was fitting to see such a thrilling finale that went right to the wire between Luke Humphries and Jonny Clayton.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

The answer most fans would give is probably England’s performance at the World Cup but the two Lukes have come in for too much unnecessary criticism as it is , so I’m going to focus on something else.

For me, I’m disappointed that this is a year where the European Tour hasn’t gone to a new country, while all the Premier League venues also stayed the same.

Maybe it’s a year of stability but I do feel we’ve been doing the same things in the last few years and if darts is going to spread its wings, we need to go a little bit further on the European Tour. This year may be a symptom of future planning, so I expect change in 2026 and 2027.

PREDICTIONS FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON

If we start with the World Championship, which is now worth £1million to the winner, it is really hard to look past the two Lukes.

Obviously the Premier League stars will be out to stop them but based on what we've seen over the last few weeks, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a massive run from Josh Rock.

His confidence continues to grow and you could say the same for Daryl Gurney if he can back up the World Cup triumph with some individual success this summer and autumn.

I’d expect Jonny Clayton to continue his resurgence but also Krzystof Ratajski, who is on the comeback trail after winning his first title since 2023 earlier this year.

I think Ratajski has got a lot of his problems behind him and it could be about time that he moves back towards where he should be.

Chris Dobey has enjoyed a superb year so far and I feel there’s more titles on the way for him while you should also keep your eyes on Ryan Joyce potentially returning to the winners’ circle.