World Series of Darts Finals: All you need to know as Littler aims for glory
A host of big names from the darts world are set to feature, including young prodigy Luke Littler, reigning world champion Luke Humphries and defending title holder Michael van Gerwen.
What are the World Series of Darts Finals?
The World Series of Darts Finals are the seventh major tournament of the year.
They conclude the World Series of Darts, but are also an invitational event and therefore have no influence on the Order of Merit.
What is the World Series of Darts?
The World Series of Darts is a series of invitational tournaments in which the PDC travels the world with eight representatives and competes against the best players in the region.
In seven tournaments, Luke Littler and co travelled to Oceania, the USA and Bahrain.
All tournaments were won by the PDC representatives.
What format will be used?
For the first time, the finals will be played with 32 participants.
All participants have to win five rounds to be crowned the winner.
Thanks to the seeding list, the top 8 of the World Series Order of Merit will avoid each other until the quarter-finals.
The first two rounds - up to and including the round of 16 - are played in best of 11 legs.
In the quarter-finals, the format is increased to 19 legs before a best of 21 legs is played in the last two rounds.
Who takes part?
There are numerous ways to qualify for the World Series of Darts Finals. Firstly, the top 8 players in the World Series Order of Merit are seeded.
All other PDC representatives of the eight tournaments were also invited - Nathan Aspinall had to cancel at short notice due to injury.
He was replaced by Andrew Gilding, the highest ranked player to lose a final of the Tour Card Holder Qualifiers.
These eleven players will be joined by the four best players on the Order of Merit who have not yet qualified.
Eight other players, including Gabriel Clemens, had to go through the Tour Card Holder Qualifier.
The field of 32 players was filled from the World Series Order of Merit.
Qualifiers via the World Series Order of Merit
PDC representatives at the World Series of Darts 2024
Qualifiers via the Order of Merit
Tour Card Holder Qualifier
Qualifiers via the World Series Order of Merit
Replacement
Andrew Gilding - replacement for Nathan Aspinall
Who are the favourites?
The dominator of the World Series of Darts goes by the name of Luke Littler.
The young Englishman has reached the final four times, and "The Nuke" won two of these finals.
Gerwyn Price also won two tournaments, but seems to be in too deep a hole in his form to play for the tournament win.
Looking at his current form, Dave Chisnall should not be ignored either. "Chizzy" recently won the Flanders Darts Trophy and only lost to the eventual winner Peter Wright in the semi-finals in Hildesheim a week earlier.
In front of a home crowd in the Netherlands, Michael van Gerwen should not be ignored either.
How does the seeding list work?
The top eight players in the World Series Order of Merit are seeded. Luke Littler will therefore start the tournament as the number 1 seed.
He will be followed by Gerwyn Price (2), Rob Cross (3), Luke Humphries (4), Michael van Gerwen (5), Michael Smith (6), Peter Wright (7) and Dimitri Van den Bergh (8).
When will the tournament be played?
The tournament will take place over three days, with the kick-off on 13 September and the winner being crowned on 15 September.
Friday, 13 September: 1st round - Evening: From 19:00
Saturday, 14 September: 1st round - afternoon: from 12:45, round of 16 - evening: from 19:00
Sunday, 15 September: Quarter-finals - afternoon: from 12:45 p.m., semi-finals and final - evening: from 7:00 p.m.
What do the players earn?
Winner: £80,000
Final: £40,000
Semi-final: £25,000
Quarter-final: £17,500
Round of 16: £10,000
1st round: £5,000
Who has won the World Series of Darts in the past?
As so often, one name towers above all others: Michael van Gerwen.
Since the inaugural event in 2015, the Dutchman has won five of the nine tournaments.
He also won last year thanks to an 11:4 win over Nathan Aspinall in the final and will therefore go into the weekend as the defending champion.
With Gerwyn Price (2x) and Jonny Clayton, a third of the tournaments went to Wales.
James Wade was the only Englishman to win in 2018.
Where does the tournament take place?
After being held in Scotland and Austria, AFAS Live in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, has been a permanent fixture since 2021 (and before that in 2019).
The multi-purpose hall near the Johan Cruyff Arena is mainly used for music events such as concerts.
World Series of Darts Finals: LIVE on TV & stream
In the UK, the World Series of Darts Finals will be broadcast live on ITV4 in the UK.
You can live steam all the action via the ITVX app/website.
Flashscore UK will also be across the entire event with regular round-ups and coverage.
