2038 IDF World Championship
| 2038 IDF World Championship | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament information | |||
| Dates | 6–23 January 2038 | ||
| Venue | Alexandra Palace | ||
| Location | London | ||
| Country | Template:ENG | ||
| Organisation(s) | International Darts Federation (IDF) | ||
| Format | Legs only Final – first to 36 legs (must win by 2 clear legs, sudden-death at 41–41) | ||
| Prize fund | $7,500,000 | ||
| Winner's share | $1,500,000 | ||
| Nine-dart finish | None | ||
| High checkout | 167 (Hayden Beck) | ||
| Champion(s) | |||
| Rico Tanaka | |||
| |||
The 2038 IDF World Championship was a professional darts tournament organised by the International Darts Federation (IDF). It took place from 6 to 23 January 2038 at Alexandra Palace in London, England. It was the fifteenth edition of the tournament and the fourth to use the revised 16-player, legs-only format.
This edition saw the implementation of a formal sudden-death rule: from the quarter-finals onwards, players had to win by two clear legs, with a maximum of six extra legs. If still tied, a single sudden-death leg would decide the match.
Theo Bartlett entered as the defending champion and top seed but suffered a stunning quarter-final exit to Hayden Beck in a deciding leg. Rico Tanaka, a player long known for inconsistency in major finals, produced a career-defining run, culminating in a 38–36 win over Beck in the longest IDF final ever played. The final lasted over three hours and featured four ton-plus checkouts and a 110+ average from both players.
Format[edit | edit source]
Sixteen players competed: eight top-ranked professionals and eight global qualifiers. All matches were played as legs only (no sets), with escalating leg targets each round:
- First round: first to 18 legs
- Quarter-finals: first to 24 legs (must win by two, sudden-death at 29–29)
- Semi-finals: first to 30 legs (two clear legs, sudden-death at 35–35)
- Final: first to 36 legs (two clear legs, sudden-death at 41–41)
Prize money[edit | edit source]
The prize fund remained unchanged from previous years.
| Position | Prize Money |
|---|---|
| Winner | $1,500,000 |
| Runner-up | $750,000 |
| Semi-finalists | $375,000 |
| Quarter-finalists | $200,000 |
| First round | $100,000 |
Results[edit | edit source]
| First round (First to 18 legs) | Quarter-finals (First to 24 legs, win by 2) | Semi-finals (First to 30 legs, win by 2) | Final (First to 36 legs, win by 2) | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Theo Bartlett | 18 | |||||||||||||||||
| Martin Okoro (Q) | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Theo Bartlett | 23 | |||||||||||||||||
| Hayden Beck | 24 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Rico Tanaka | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Adrian Song (Q) | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hayden Beck | 30 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Colby Smith | 27 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Elias Storm | 18 | |||||||||||||||||
| Daniel Vos (Q) | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Rico Tanaka | 24 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Elias Storm | 22 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Hayden Beck | 18 | |||||||||||||||||
| Erik Blomqvist (Q) | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Rico Tanaka | 38 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hayden Beck | 36 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Tyler Brooks | 18 | |||||||||||||||||
| Lee Seong-woo (Q) | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Tyler Brooks | 21 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Colby Smith | 24 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Bentley Quade | 18 | |||||||||||||||||
| Felix Kraus (Q) | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Rico Tanaka | 30 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Bentley Quade | 28 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Colby Smith | 16 | |||||||||||||||||
| Zane Holloway | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Bentley Quade | 24 | |||||||||||||||||
| Sebastian Droz | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Kai Bergström | 17 | |||||||||||||||||
| Sebastian Droz (Q) | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||
High checkouts[edit | edit source]
- 167 – Hayden Beck (Quarter-final vs Bartlett)
- 161 – Rico Tanaka (Semi-final vs Quade)
- 156 – Bentley Quade (Semi-final vs Tanaka)