World Darts Championship 2025 results: Luke Humphries beats Thibault Tricole to reach third round
Luke Humphries started his world title defense with a 3-0 victory over Thibault Tricole in his first match.
The world number one averaged 90.79 points in all nine games of the second round of the PDC World Championships at London’s Alexandra Palace.
Terry Cole was the first Frenchman to compete in the tournament last year after beating Australian qualifier Joe Comito 3-1 in the opener.
Darts’ popularity has surged after teenager Luke Littler reached the 2024 final in January but was beaten 7-4 by Humphries, with the tournament on the rise Start in anticipation.
Brit Humphries, 29, has had a stellar year and will return after the Christmas break, with 2007 PDC world champion Raymond van Barneveld in the mix should the Dutchman advance. Three rounds to wait.
As well as winning the world title, Humphreys also won the Darts World Cup and World Matchplay titles for the first time and defended his Players Championship final crown at Minehead last month.
European Championship finalist Jermaine Wattimena sets up a match against 16th seed James Wade on Monday afternoon after beating Swiss debutant Stefan 3-0 · Stefan Bellmont, who averaged 98.54 points per game.
Ireland’s Keane Barry defeated Belgium’s Kim Huybrechts and will face 2021 world champion Gerwyn Price in Monday night’s second round Price).
The 22-year-old Barry lost the first set and withstood his opponent’s shots for 10,180 seconds to seal the victory.
In sad news ahead of the game, Sky Sports pundit Wayne Mader’s wife Donna passed away after a brief illness earlier this week.
Mader, a five-time World Championship semifinalist, was absent from television coverage.
