Quest joins Eurosport and discovery+ to deliver live free-to-air coverage to UK viewers
The World Darts Federation (WDF) welcomes the return of televised darts to the Lakeside Country Club, with Discovery screening comprehensive live coverage across its multi-platform network. Viewers can access the coverage across multiple territories via Eurosport and discovery+*, with UK fans now also able to enjoy live free-to-air action via channel Quest. All afternoon sessions plus all competition finals will be broadcast live, available to view across Freeview (Channel 12), Freesat (Channel 167), Sky (Channel 144) and Virgin TV (Channel 169).
Coverage gets underway on Saturday 2nd April and concludes on Sunday 10th April.
Eurosport will deliver wide-ranging digital content to serve fans across web and all major social platforms, featuring match clips and all the latest results, news and reaction.
Lynsey Hipgrave will front the coverage with three-time Lakeside finalist Tony O’Shea and Players Championship Finals winner Paul Nicholson among the studio guests providing expert analysis and co-commentary. Well-known voices of darts Chris Murphy and John Rawling will lead commentary taking viewers through all the action throughout the week.
This is the inaugural edition of the tournament and is one of the marquee events staged by the WDF this year alongside the Winmau World Masters.
There will be 48 men and 24 women competing in two different events, as well as junior competitions. Lakeside legend Martin ‘Wolfie’ Adams will be making his 27th World Championship appearance since his debut in 1994. The three-time champion takes on young debutant Jarred Cole to open the tournament. Two-time reigning women’s champion Mikuru Suzuki faces England’s Laura Turner in the first round.
The seeded players enter the tournament in the second round, which starts on Monday April 4th. Brian Raman is the men’s top seed while Deta Hedman heads the women’s field. 2019 Lakeside World Youth champion Leighton Bennett also returns in the boys’ competition.
The full tournament schedule can be viewed here.
Jamie Steward, Senior Director Production and Broadcast, Discovery Eurosport UK said:
“We’re delighted to broadcast the first edition of one of the stand-out events on the darts calendar. There’re few places better to host this than at the Lakeside – which holds such significant heritage in the sport.
It’s essential Discovery leverages its vast scale to make the event as accessible to fans as possible by delivering live coverage to pay, free-to-air and direct-to-consumer audiences in the UK.
We have no doubt the event will serve-up plenty of drama and excitement and we want to make sure it’s captured in the most comprehensive way possible.”
Richard Ashdown, WDF Chief Development Officer, said:
“The World Darts Federation have made every effort to restore the confidence of its member nations and their players in stabilising the WDF system across the world.
This has been a transitional period within the amateur game, with inevitable complications and worldwide restrictions over the past two years. One of our key objectives throughout has been to return the WDF’s most prestigious event to its spiritual home, the Lakeside. This wouldn’t have been possible without the continued support of Discovery.”
Event tickets are available to purchase here
Subscribe to discovery+ here
*discovery+ is available to watch in Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Eurosport territories
Albania - Andorra - Armenia - Austria - Azerbaijan - Belarus - Belgium - Bosnia-Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Croatia - Czech Republic - Cyprus - Denmark - Estonia - Finland - France - Georgia - Germany - Greece - Hungary - Iceland - Ireland - Israel - Italy - Kosovo - Kazakhstan - Kyrgyzstan - Latvia - Liechtenstein - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Macedonia - Malta - Moldova - Monaco - Montenegro - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Portugal - Romania - San Marino - Serbia - Slovakia - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - Syria - Tajikistan - Turkmenistan - Turkey - United Kingdom - Ukraine - Uzbekistan - Vatican State
WDF YouTube
Nations outside of the Eurosport territories listed can watch live coverage via the WDF's YouTube channel.
