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5 Biggest Shocks in the history of the PDC World Darts Championship

17 December 2025
Olly Powell

With the 2026 PDC World Darts Championships underway, and a record-breaking 128 players taking the stage at Alexandra Palace, the threat of giant killings and upsets has never been stronger.

For Luke Littler and the top seeds at this year’s tournament, they’ll have their eyes on the prize as they look to fight through players of all levels of experience and quality.

However, here are five occasions the Ally Pally has been stunned by upsets in darts’ premier competition.

1. Rob Cross wins on debut

Now an established member of the darting top table, back in 2018 a 27-year-old Rob Cross sprung onto the Ally Pally stage as a debutant and went all the way to lift the Sid Waddell Trophy, beating the greatest of all time in his final ever match.

Not only did Voltage crash the farewell party of Phil Taylor in the final, but Cross was also the only man to survive match darts in two separate rounds yet still go on to win the title, becoming the second man to do so on debut after Raymond Van Barneveld in 2007.

Surviving matches against both Michael Smith and reigning champion Michael Van Gerwen (who missed SIX match darts), Cross not only crashed The Power’s grand finale, he burned the party to the ground winning 7-2 in sets against a 16-time world champion.

Cross flew from 20th to 3rd in the order of merit after his unlikely title win, and whilst he hasn’t recaptured the trophy, the victory on debut and scalps he took along the way have etched his title run in darting folklore.

2. The ‘Queen of the Palace’ is born

Fallon Sherrock’s 2020 World Championship campaign will be immortalised as a piece of darts history, becoming the first woman to win a match in the competition.

A 3-2 victory over Ted Evetts in the first round saw Sherrock smash any glass ceilings in the sport, but her matchup with Mensur Suljovic was the biggest shock.

A 3-1 victory over the man ranked number 11 in the world was monumental, and whilst her run ended in the third round at the hands of Chris Dobey, Sherrock had already become both a cult hero and pioneer in the sport.

Whilst Sherrock and Beau Greaves will look to add more success to women’s entries in the world champs this year, the ‘Queen of the Palace’ will live on as a figurehead for women in darts.

Bully Boy rocks The Power

In 2014, a baby-faced Michael Smith burst onto the Ally Pally stage as a world youth champion, running into Phil Taylor in a second-round matchup written off as a formality.

23-year-old Smith beat the reigning and 16-time champion 4-3 to stun the darts world and signify the end of Taylor’s prominence on the biggest stage, failing to reclaim the trophy in the remaining years of his career.

Taylor pinned a 156 checkout in the opening leg against the throw as business was expected to be resumed as usual, before Smith fought back and forth before prevailing in a deciding set.

Smith’s run was ended in the quarter-finals by Peter Wright, but nine years later Bully Boy fulfilled his dream of becoming world champion.

Kirk Shepherd’s miracle run

In 2008, a player ranked 173rd in the world did the unthinkable and found himself in the final of the World Darts Championship.

Kirk Shepherd, a 1000/1 outsider to win the competition, saw off established players Terry Jenkins, Mick McGowan and Peter Manley in a fairytale run to the semi-final.

He met a now familiar voice to darts fans, Wayne Mardle, in the semi-final, who was fresh off a win against Phil Taylor.

Shepherd stunned Mardle and won 6-4 in sets to reach the final of the biggest competition on the calendar, before failing at the final hurdle at the hands of Canadian John Part who won his third title 7-2 against Shepherd.

The run to the final has been made even more bewildering as Shepherd failed to reach any heights close to the 2008 run, last seen on the Ally Pally stage in 2011 and handing in his tour card in 2022 after struggling with ‘dartitis’.

Snakebite’s 103 average not enough

Peter Wright was on the end of a once in a lifetime performance from Welshman Jamie Lewis, who delivered a 107.27 average to thump the world number two 4-1 in 2018.

Wright was yet to win his first of two world titles, however still ranked second in the world and averaging 103.44 Snakebite would’ve thought his place in Round Three of the 2018 event would be sealed.

Lewis delivered an incredible showing to dump out Wright, before going on to reach the semi-finals, becoming the first player to ever reach the last four having started in the preliminary round.

Phil Taylor ended Lewis’ title hopes 6-1in the semis, in what was The Power’s final win in competitive darts, but a run that featured a staggering domination of Peter Wright justifies his inclusion as one of the biggest shock the world championships has seen.

AS IT HAPPENS: 2025/26 PDC WORLD DARTS CHAMPIONSHIPS

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