2025/26 PDC Paddy Power World Championship – Days 1-4

Updated: December 14, 2025

As Sunday evening draws to a close in North London, we are down to just two Americans left in the Paddy Power World Championship.

Yesterday (Saturday) saw Alex Spellman take on experienced German, Gabriel Clemens. Spellman struggled a little in Set 1, and Clemens didn’t allow the man from North Carolina a dart at a double, let alone a leg. Alex picked up his game in Set 2, and should have taken the opening leg. Sadly, he missed two darts at tops and tens from 54. He got down to 52 in the second, and 40 in the third, but again Clemens cleaned up before he got a shot.

The third set started in similar fashion, with the American being pipped before he had a chance to finish. A tidy 61 check for a 14-darter finally got Spellman on the board in the third leg, Any thoughts of a heroic fightback were quickly dispelled as Clemens responded with 100, 180, 180, 41 for an 11-darter – and the match.

So, on to Stowe Buntz today.

The “Neon Nightmare” was taking on James Hurrell. The Englishman broke serve very first leg, and then made it 2-0. Buntz pulled one back, hitting tops for a sweet 13-darter. An almost-as-quick 14-darter made it 2-2. A messy attempt at 65 for the set let Hurrell in to steal it. A brace of 18’s and one 17-darter tied the set score. In set 3, a missed attempt from 80 hurt the Virginian, as the set score would have been 2-2 instead of a 3-1 loss.

The fourth set could have been finished in great style. After racing into a 2-0 lead before Hurrell got on the board, Buntz left 170 for the set. After two perfect T20’s, the third dart found the S11. No biggie – at this point – but missing the remaining 39 next turn proved costly. Now we were in the deciding leg. Problem was, Hurrell had the darts, and 14 darts later, Stowe Buntz had joined Alex Spellman on the sidelines. A little unlucky, but that’s what missed doubles will do.

Now we have a couple of days before Leonard Gates and Adam Sevada are in action.

Elsewhere, everything has gone pretty much as expected, with Ross Smith being the main casualty. #12 Seed Smith missed 6 match darts before Swede Andreas Harrysson stepped in to seal a famous victory. 71-year-old Paul Lim won his first round tie against Harrysson’s fellow countryman, Jeffrey de Graaf.

Live scoring and updates can be found on the PDC website