Littler could face Sherrock at World Championship
Luke Littler made history as the youngest finalist, while Fallon Sherrock was the first woman to win a match at the PDC World Championship
- Published
Teenage star Luke Littler will face history-making female player Fallon Sherrock in the PDC World Championship if she beats Ryan Meikle in the first round.
Fourth seed Littler, 17, lost January's world final to Luke Humphries, while Sherrock was the first woman to win matches at the tournament five years ago.
Humphries will start his title defence against Thibault Tricole or Joe Comito.
The tournament begins on 15 December at London's Alexandra Palace.
The 2023 world champion and second seed Michael Smith will play Kevin Doets or Noa-Lynn van Leuven - the first first transgender woman to qualify for the tournament.
Three-time champion Michael van Gerwen faces the winner of James Hurrell against Jim Long.
The top 32 seeds enter in the second round, with the final taking place on Friday, 3 January 2025.
Luke Humphries has added the World Matchplay and Players Championship titles to his world crown in 2024
Peter Wright is drawn to play Wesley Plaisier or Ryusei Azemoto while Scotland's fellow two-time champion Gary Anderson will be up against Jeffrey de Graaf or Rashad Sweeting.
Nick Kenny and Stowe Buntz meet in the first round for the chance to face 2007 world champion Raymond van Barneveld in round two.
Rob Cross will play Scott Williams or Niko Springer in the second round while another former champion, Welshman Gerwyn Price, faces Kim Huybrechts or Keane Barry.
If the seeds all go through, then Humphries will meet Van Barneveld in round three while Van Gerwen is slated to face Anderson.
Humphries and Littler would potentially meet in the semi-final should they progress.
"I'm sure we'll be up for it. We have three or four matches to win before that. We bring the best out of each other - we always play well," said Littler, who has won 10 titles in a remarkable first season as a professional.
"It's been crazy, the ride I have been on."
The teenager beat Humphries to win the Premier League in May, while the 29-year-old won their final showdown in the Players Championship on Sunday.
"It is good for the sport - it is a friendly rivalry when we play each other," said Humphries.
World Darts Championship 2025 draw
(Seedings in brackets. Seeds enter in second round)
First quarter
(1) Luke Humphries (England) v Thibault Tricole/Joe Comito
(32) Raymond van Barneveld (Netherlands) v Nick Kenny/Stowe Buntz
(16) James Wade (England) v Jermaine Wattimena/Stefan Bellmont
(17) Peter Wright (Scotland) v Wesley Plaisier/Ryusei Azemoto
(8) Stephen Bunting (England) v Alan Soutar/Kai Gotthardt
(25) Dirk van Duijvenbode (Netherlands) v Madars Razma/Christian Kist
(9) Damon Heta (Australia) v Connor Scutt/Ben Robb
(24) Mike de Decker (Belgium) v Luke Woodhouse/Lourence Ilagan
Second quarter
(4) Luke Littler (England) v Ryan Meikle/Fallon Sherrock
(29) Ritchie Edhouse (England) v Ian White/Sandro Eric Sosing
(13) Danny Noppert (Netherlands) v Ryan Joyce/Darius Labanauskas
(20) Ryan Searle (England) v Mensur Suljovic/Matt Campbell
(5) Rob Cross (England) v Scott Williams/Niko Springer
(28) Gian van Veen (Netherlands) v Ricardo Pietreczko/Xiaochen Zong
(12) Nathan Aspinall (England) v Cameron Menzies/Leonard Gates
(21) Andrew Gilding (England) v Martin Lukeman/Nitin Kumar
Third quarter
(2) Michael Smith (England) v Kevin Doets/Noa-Lynn van Leuven
(31) Krzysztof Ratajski (Poland) v Richard Veenstra/Alexis Toylo
(15) Chris Dobey (England) v Stephen Burton/Alexander Merkx
(18) Josh Rock (Northern Ireland) v Karel Sedlacek/Rhys Griffin
(7) Jonny Clayton (Wales) v Mickey Mansell/Tomoya Goto
(26) Daryl Gurney (Northern Ireland) v Florian Hempel/Jeffrey de Zwaan
(10) Gerwyn Price (Wales) v Kim Huybrechts/Keane Barry
(23) Joe Cullen (England) v Wessel Nijman/Cameron Carolissen
Fourth quarter
(3) Michael van Gerwen (Netherlands) v James Hurrell/Jim Long
(30) Brendan Dolan (Northern Ireland) v Chris Landman/Lok Yin Lee
(14) Gary Anderson (Scotland) v Jeffrey de Graaf/Rashad Sweeting
(19) Ross Smith (England) v Jim Williams/Paolo Nebrida
(6) Dave Chisnall (England) v Ricky Evans/Gordon Mathers
(27) Gabriel Clemens (Germany) v Niels Zonneveld/Robert Owen
(11) Dimitri van den Bergh (Belgium) v William O'Connor/Dylan Slevin
(22) Martin Schindler (Germany) v Callan Rydz/Romeo Grbavac
Tournament schedule
First-round matches will take place 15-20 December, with each day also featuring at least one second-round tie.
All second-round matches will be completed before Christmas Day, with the third round beginning 27 December.
The quarter-finals are on New Year's Day, with the semi-finals a day later and the final on 3 January.
The winner will claim darts' biggest prize of £500,000, with the runner-up taking home £200,000.