VIDEO | “I was going to quit darts at the start of last year, but my wife said no”

Martin Lukeman has qualified for the second round of the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship. The 39-year-old Englishman recovered from a set down to defeat Indian qualifier Nitin Kumar 3-1 in his opening match and will now face 21st seed Andrew Gilding.

Lukeman still lost the first set, but then won three sets in a row to finally win quite comfortably 3-1. “I’m done, that’s the main goal. I just need to get through,” Lukeman said as he addressed the assembled darts media afterwards. “I wasn’t feeling good last week, I was depressed. But look, I did the work today, so I can train now.”

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Lukeman reached the Grand Slam of Darts final a month ago. As such, he naturally comes to Ally Pally with complete confidence. “How many underdogs have there been this year? Or how many underdogs have gone far? Jermaine Wattimena, myself, Ritchie Edhouse, Mike de Decker, so why not? (Going deep at the World Championship , editor’s note),” asks Lukeman. “It’s open game now. If both Lukes come out, it’s game on!”

However, outside the boardroom, Lukeman had more serious things to worry about, almost driving the Englishman into early retirement. “The woman is going to have a massive operation tomorrow. So I will have to take care of her, prepare her dinner. But we will get through it,” he explains. “I was going to quit darts at the start of last year, but my wife said no.”

Lukeman will face Andrew Gilding in the second round. “I know what to expect, he’s methodical, but he’s a quality player,” predicts Lukeman. “But I’m going to beat Gilding and come back after Christmas.”