Ricky Evans is hoping to light up the Paddy Power World Darts Championship ahead of his opening round clash against Hong Kong’s Man Lok Leung on Friday evening.
Crowd favourite Evans will make his 11th appearance in the sport’s flagship event this year, as he faces World Cup quarter-finalist Leung in what promises to be a quick-fire clash.
The 35-year-old has produced some of his best performances on the sport’s biggest stage – a pattern he’s determined to maintain on his return to the capital.
“Some of my mates have called me the Michael Bublé of darts,” joked Evans, who has beaten the likes of Nathan Aspinall, Dave Chisnall and Simon Whitlock on the iconic Alexandra Palace stage.
“You don’t see me all year, and then I just defrost in November!
“This is the big one though. It’s the one that everybody watches, and it’s going to be bigger than ever this year.
“I’m a bit of a shy showman if that makes sense. I like people to know I’m there, I like to put on a show, but I’m also quite reserved as well.
“Ally Pally is always special. I love this tournament, which is weird for a bloke who hates Christmas!
“I don’t mind the party vibes and all that, but I don’t like receiving presents, watching the King’s Speech or the EastEnders specials. I’m a right Scrooge – I only like Christmas now if I’m still in the World Championship!”
Evans sealed his qualification via the ProTour rankings, and he makes the annual pilgrimage to Alexandra Palace in confident mood, fresh from a run to last month’s Grand Slam of Darts quarter-finals.
The Kettering star claimed the scalp of Gerwyn Price in the round-robin phase, only to succumb to the Welshman in an entertaining last eight showdown.
“The standard is ridiculous these days. I’ve been playing well this year, but I’ve lost too many tight games, particularly on the ProTour.
“If you put too much pressure on yourself it can become a horrible game. I tend to overthink everything, but I’m trying to simplify things now and be more positive, because I am confident in my game.
“I’m going to give myself some credit – I do believe darts is better when I’m playing better, and I’m loving the game at the minute.”
Despite his happy-go-lucky demeanour, Evans has endured the toughest year of his career, following the heartbreaking death of his sister Elisha in March.
However, he’s determined to make his family proud as he bids to break new ground on the World Championship stage.
“Elisha was my best friend,” continued Evans.
“If I did something daft she was the first to text me, ‘What a stupid dart that was’ or ‘What a stupid walk-on’ – and I gave her plenty of opportunities to do that.
“She’s still with me, and although I don’t normally go in for the hearts and flowers stuff, I want to do well for her and I want to do well for my mum and dad because I’m all they’ve got left now. I want to make them proud.”
The 2025/26 Paddy Power World Darts Championship will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK, through the PDC’s worldwide broadcast partners including DAZN and Viaplay, and on PDCTV (excluding UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria & Switzerland based subscribers).
Friday December 12
Afternoon Session (1230 GMT)
Round One
Niels Zonneveld v Haupai Puha
Ian White v Mervyn King
Ryan Searle v Chris Landman
Rob Cross v Cor Dekker
Evening Session (1900 GMT)
Round One
Ross Smith v Andreas Harrysson
Ricky Evans v Man Lok Leung
Gian van Veen v Cristo Reyes
Damon Heta v Steve Lennon
Best of Five Sets
