THE post-Christmas schedule of play for the 2024/25 Paddy Power World Darts Championship third round has been finalised.

And it confirms that Warrington's Luke Littler will next be in action on Saturday night.

The remaining 32 players will continue their pursuit of the iconic Sid Waddell Trophy over three days of third-round action, with play recommencing on Friday after the Christmas break.

Reigning champion Luke Humphries will continue his title quest against Nick Kenny on Friday evening, as former winners Gerwyn Price and Peter Wright take on Joe Cullen and Jermaine Wattimena respectively.

Masters champion Stephen Bunting will headline the afternoon’s action against Latvia’s Madars Razma, as former quarter-finalists Jonny Clayton and Daryl Gurney also go head-to-head.

Australian number one Damon Heta will play Luke Woodhouse in the afternoon’s other tie, before Luke Littler and Michael van Gerwen resume their title challenges on Saturday.

Teenage sensation Littler will play Ian White for a place in the last 16, while three-time World Champion Van Gerwen faces Brendan Dolan in a battle of last year’s quarter-finalists.

Chris Dobey and Josh Rock collide in another captivating tussle, while last year's semi-finalist Scott Williams takes on Ricardo Pietreczko - the last German representative left in the tournament.

The third round will conclude on Sunday, December 29, as UK Open champion Dimitri Van den Bergh plays a resurgent Callan Rydz, while Kevin Doets goes head-to-head with Poland's number one Krzysztof Ratajski.

The fourth round will then conclude on December 30, while the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will take place from January 1-3.

The Paddy Power World Darts Championship is being broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK.

2024/25 Paddy Power World Darts Championship schedule

Friday December 27
Third Round
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
Damon Heta v Luke Woodhouse
Jonny Clayton v Daryl Gurney
Stephen Bunting v Madars Razma

Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Gerwyn Price v Joe Cullen
Jermaine Wattimena v Peter Wright
Luke Humphries v Nick Kenny

Saturday December 28
Third Round
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
Ryan Joyce v Ryan Searle
Scott Williams v Ricardo Pietreczko
Nathan Aspinall v Andrew Gilding

Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Chris Dobey v Josh Rock
Michael van Gerwen v Brendan Dolan
Luke Littler v Ian White

Sunday December 29
Third Round
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
Jeffrey de Graaf v Paolo Nebrida
Kevin Doets v Krzysztof Ratajski
Dimitri Van den Bergh v Callan Rydz

Sunday December 29 (1900 GMT)
Third Round
Ricky Evans v Robert Owen
2x Fourth Round - TBC

Monday December 30
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
3x Fourth Round

Evening Session (1900 GMT)
3x Fourth Round

Wednesday January 1
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals

Evening Session (1900 GMT)
2x Quarter-Finals

Thursday January 2 (1930 GMT)
Semi-Finals

Friday January 3 (2000 GMT)
Final

PADDY POWER WORLD DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP FACTS CHECK:

The Paddy Power World Darts Championship will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK

32nd staging of the World Darts Championship

96 players from around the globe competing for the coveted Sid Waddell Trophy

14 debutants and 28 countries represented in the £2.5 million showpiece

No1 seed Humphries aims to emulate Phil Taylor, Adrian Lewis and Gary Anderson by winning back-to-back titles.

PADDY POWER WORLD DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP PRIZE FUND:

Winner - £500,000

Runner-Up - £200,000

Semi-Finalists - £100,000

Quarter-Finalists - £50,000

Fourth Round - £35,000

Third Round - £25,000

Second Round - £15,000

First Round - £7,500

Total - £2,500,000

Players will also be competing for the Ballon d’Art trophy – created by title sponsor Paddy Power for the player who hits the most 180s during the event.

The award - won by Humphries last year - is an addition to The BIGGER 180 Campaign, which will again see Paddy Power donate £1,000 to Prostate Cancer UK for every maximum scored during the 2024/25 World Darts Championship.

In addition, a £180,000 bonus will be paid out for every nine-darter achieved during the tournament, to be split equally with £60,000 each to Prostate Cancer UK, the player who hits the perfect leg and one lucky fan in the crowd.

PADDY POWER WORLD DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP FORMAT:

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

TIE-BREAKS:

First Round matches will not have a tie-break; if the fifth set reaches two-all in legs, then the fifth leg will be sudden-death.

From the Second Round onwards, there will be a tie-break rule employed in all matches; where a deciding set must be won by two clear legs. If the score in the final set reaches 5-5 then a sudden-death leg will be played.

There would be no throw for the bull in any sudden-death legs.

2024/25 PADDY POWER WORLD DARTS CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS:

Sunday December 15 (1900 GMT)

Thibault Tricole 3 Joe Comito 1 (R1)

Jermaine Wattimena 3 Stefan Bellmont 0 (R1)

Kim Huybrechts 1 Keane Barry 3 (R1)

Luke Humphries 3 Tricole/Comito 0 (R2)

Monday December 16

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

Wesley Plaisier 3 Ryusei Azemoto 2 (R1)

Luke Woodhouse 3 Lourence Ilagan 0 (R1)

Alan Soutar 1 Kai Gotthardt 3 (R1)

James Wade 0 Wattimena 3 (R2)

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

Niels Zonneveld 1 Robert Owen 3 (R1)

Connor Scutt 3 Ben Robb 0 (R1)

Cameron Menzies 1 Leonard Gates 3 (R1)

Gerwyn Price 3 Barry 0 (R2)

Tuesday December 17

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round

James Hurrell 3 Jim Long 0 (R1)

Kevin Doets 3 Noa-Lynn van Leuven 0 (R1)

Ryan Joyce 3 Darius Labanauskas 1 (R1)

Mike De Decker 1 Woodhouse 3 (R2)

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round

Jeffrey de Graaf 3 Rashad Sweeting 1 (R1)

Ricardo Pietreczko 3 Xiaochen Zong 0 (R1)

Ryan Meikle 3 Fallon Sherrock 2 (R1)

Peter Wright 3 Wesley Plaisier 1 (R2)

Wednesday December 18 (1900 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round

Jim Williams 2 Paolo Nebrida 3 (R1)

Madars Razma 3 Christian Kist 1 (R1)

Ricky Evans 3 Gordon Mathers 2 (R1)

Nathan Aspinall 3 Leonard Gates 1 (R2)

Thursday December 19

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round

Chris Landman 1 Lok Yin Lee 3 (R1)

Callan Rydz 3 Romeo Grbavac 0 (R1)

Martin Lukeman 3 Nitin Kumar 1 (R1)

Gabriel Clemens 1 Robert Owen 3 (R2)

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round

Nick Kenny 3 Stowe Buntz 0 (R1)

Mensur Suljovic 2 Matt Campbell 3 (R1)

Scott Williams 3 Niko Springer 1 (R1)

Michael Smith 2 Kevin Doets 3 (R2)

Friday December 20

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round

Stephen Burton 0 Alexander Merkx 3 (R1)

Wessel Nijman 3 Cameron Carolissen 2 (R1)

Ian White walkover v Sandro Eric Sosing (R1)

Stephen Bunting 3 Kai Gotthardt 1 (R2)

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

3x First Round, 1x Second Round

Mickey Mansell 3 Tomoya Goto 1 (R1)

Florian Hempel 3 Jeffrey De Zwaan 1 (R1)

William O’Connor 1 Dylan Slevin 3 (R1)

Michael van Gerwen 3 James Hurrell 0 (R2)

Saturday December 21

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

2x First Round, 2x Second Round

Karel Sedlacek 0 Rhys Griffin 3 (R1)

Richard Veenstra 0 Alexis Toylo 3 (R1)

Brendan Dolan 3 Lok Yin Lee 0 (R2)

Chris Dobey 3 Alexander Merkx 1 (R2)

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

4x Second Round

Danny Noppert 1 Ryan Joyce 3 (R2)

Raymond van Barneveld 1 Nick Kenny 3 (R2)

Luke Littler 3 Ryan Meikle 1 (R2)

Damon Heta 3 Connor Scutt 1 (R2)

Sunday December 22

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

4x Second Round

Ryan Searle 3 Matt Campbell 0 (R2)

Dirk van Duijvenbode 1 Madars Razma 3 (R2)

Joe Cullen 3 Nijman/Carolissen 0 (R2)

Ritchie Edhouse 1 Ian White 3 (R2)

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

4x Second Round

Martin Schindler 0 Callan Rydz 3 (R2)

Ross Smith 0 Paolo Nebrida 3(R2)

Gary Anderson 0 Jeffrey de Graaf 3 (R2)

Dimitri Van den Bergh v Dylan Slevin (R2)

Monday December 23

Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)

4x Second Round

Krzysztof Ratajski 3 Alexis Toylo 1 (R2)

Andrew Gilding 3 Martin Lukeman 1 (R2)

Josh Rock 3 Rhys Griffin 0 (R2)

Jonny Clayton 3 Mickey Mansell 2 (R2)

Evening Session (1900 GMT)

4x Second Round

Gian van Veen 1 Ricardo Pietreczko 3 (R2)

Daryl Gurney 3 Hempel/De Zwaan 2 (R2)

Dave Chisnall 2 Ricky Evans 3 (R2)

Rob Cross 1 Scott Williams 3 (R2)