From December 15 2011 to January 2, 2012, the 19th edition of the PDC World Championship was held at the Alexandra Palace in London. Adrian Lewis was the defending champion and he would successfully defend his title by defeating Andy Hamilton in the final.
In the first round, the biggest surprise was the elimination of Raymond van Barneveld. The Dutchman lost to Englishman James Richardson 0-3 in sets. Richardson would lose a round later to the Belgian Kim Huybrechts. Besides Van Barneveld, who was ranked eighth, the number six in the world rankings, Mark Webster also lost in this round. The Spider lost a deciding set to fellow countryman Richie Burnett. Burnett would however also lose a round later, the Welshman was knocked out by Canadian John Part.
However, the biggest upset came in the second round when Dave Chisnall defeats the number 1 seed Phil Taylor. It is the first time in the career of Taylor that he does not reach the quarterfinals of the PDC World Championship. Chisnall reaches the third round, where Andy Hamilton proves too strong.
The big surprise in the quarterfinals is the Belgian ace Kim Huybrechts, who also beats Paul Nicholson after he had taken Richardson out. In the quarterfinals however Hamilton, who goes on to beat Simon Whitlock in the semi-finals, defeats Huybrechts. Both semi-finals are full of tension because a deciding set is needed twice to get a winner. In the other semi-final James Wade goes 5-1 up in sets against Lewis, but Wade still loses the semi-final including a missed match darts.
In the final Adrian Lewis is stronger than Andy Hamilton, he wins 7-3 in sets. Lewis thus retaining his title, Hamilton gets rewarded with a place in the Premier League in 2013.