By The Canadian Press

Canada’s Matt (Ginja Ninja) Campbell beaten at world darts championships in London

Dec 17, 2025 | 2:24 PM

LONDON — American Adam Sevada, in his tournament debut, defeated Canadian Matt (Ginja Ninja) Campbell in first-round play Wednesday at the five-million-pound ($9.22-million) Paddy Power World Darts Championship.

Sevada won 3-1, with Campbell tying the match at one set apiece — scoring 96 with a triple-20 and double-18 to take the set three legs to two — before the American pulled away.

“It feels amazing,” said Sevada, who qualified for the tournament in August by winning his fifth CDC ProTour title of 2025.

Hamilton’s Campbell, ranked 59th on the Professional Darts Corporation’s Order of Merit, had a chance to to extend the match when Sevada failed to end it by missing double-six twice. Campbell needed to score 144 with three darts to win the leg but missed, allowing the American to end it with his fourth attempt at double-six.

David (Excalibur) Cameron, the other Canadian in the field, lost his first-round match 3-1 to Serbian-born Austrian Mensur (The Gentle) Suljovic on Monday.

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The 53-year-old Suljovic is ranked No. 60. The unranked Cameron, a 56-year-old from Fall River, N.S., qualified as the top-ranked Canadian on the Championship Darts Corporation (CDC) circuit.

The 33rd edition of the world championship, which runs through Jan. 3 at London’s Alexandra Palace, features an expanded 128-player field in search of the Sid Waddell Trophy and the one-million-pound ($1.84-million) winner’s purse.

Cameron and Campbell each earned 15,000 pounds ($27,670) as a first-round losers.

The 36-year-old Campbell was making his seventh trip to the darts showcase.

Campbell defeated Lourence Ilagan of the Philippines in first-round play in December 2023, marking his first win at the world championship in five tries. He then upset 13th-seeded James (The Machine) Wade of England before losing to English teenager Luke (The Nuke) Littler, who finished runner-up that year.

Littler won the world championship last tine out — in January 2025 at the tender age of 17 years 347 days — defeating Michael van Gerwen of the Netherlands 7-3.

Campbell opened with a win over Suljovic at last year’s tournament before losing to 20th seed Ryan (Heavy Metal) Searle of England.

Cameron, a former world senior darts masters champion, qualified for the tournament by finishing as the top-ranked Canadian on the Championship Darts Corporation ProTour season.

Canadian John (Darth Maple) Part won the world darts championship in 2003, beating English legend Phil (The Power) Taylor to end his run of eight victories. Taylor bounced back to win the next three years before Part, now a well-known TV darts pundit, won again in 2008.

Part was runner-up in 2001

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2025.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press