World Darts Championship draw: Luke Littler begins title defence against Darius Labanauskas

Luke Littler is the defending champion this year
Luke Littler is the defending champion this yearTaylor Lanning / PDC

Reigning world champion Luke Littler will begin his title defence against 95-ranked Darius Labanauskas on the opening night of the 2026 World Darts Championship on December 11th, 2025, at London's famous Alexandra Palace.

Other eye-catching match-ups from the first round draw include World Cup winner Daryl Gurney facing a tricky test against dominant women's champion Beau Greaves, while Nathan Aspinall faces Lourence Ilagan and Stephen Bunting - impressive this season - taking on Poland's former UK Open quarter-finalist Sebastian Bialecki.

Luke Humphries, champion in 2024, will be up against Ted Evetts, a returning Simon Whitlock faces Connor Scutt, and Queen of the Palace Fallon Sherrock will look to upset the odds against Dave Chisnall.

Newly anointed world number one Littler heads the list of 40 top-seeded qualifiers who have booked their ticket courtesy of their position on the PDC Order of Merit, with the remaining players a mix of the next top 40-ranked names as well as regional qualifiers.

An expanded field of 128 players will head to Ally Pally in December for the biggest darts accolade available, competing for the Sid Waddell Trophy and a share of the £5 million prize fund. 

Another first for the event sees all players entering the tournament at the first round stage, whereas top-ranked players previously entered in round two.

All first-round matches are contested over five sets.

The action begins on Thursday, December 11th, with Littler and Labanauskas headlining the night, with the traditional reigning champion rounding off the first night.

The tournament will then reach its climax on January 3rd, 2026, with the winner receiving a healthy £1,000,000.

PDC World Darts Championship draw in full:

(1) Luke Littler v Darius Labanauskas

Mario Vandenbogaerde v David Davies

(32) Joe Cullen v Bradley Brooks

Mensur Suljovic v David Cameron

(16) Damon Heta v Steve Lennon

Raymond van Barneveld v Stefan Bellmont

(17) Rob Cross v Cor Dekker

Ian White v Mervyn King

(8) Chris Dobey v Xiaochen Zong

Andrew Gilding v Cam Crabtree

(25) Luke Woodhouse v Boris Krcmar

Martin Lukeman v Max Hopp

(9) Gerwyn Price v Adam Gawlas

Lukas Wenig v Wesley Plaisier

(24) Ryan Joyce v Owen Bates

Krzysztof Ratajski v Alexis Toylo

(4) Stephen Bunting v Sebastian Bialecki

Richard Veenstra v Nitin Kumar

(29) Dirk van Duijvenbode v Andy Baetens

James Hurrell v Stowe Buntz

(13) Martin Schindler v Stephen Burton

Keane Barry v Tim Pusey

(20) Ryan Searle v Chris Landman

Brendan Dolan v Tavis Dudeney

(5) Jonny Clayton v Adam Lipscombe

Dom Taylor v Oskar Lukasiak

(28) Michael Smith v Lisa Ashton

Niels Zonneveld v Haupai Puha

(12) Ross Smith v Andreas Harrysson

Thibault Tricole v Motomu Sakai

(21) Dave Chisnall v Fallon Sherrock

Ricardo Pietreczko v Jose de Sousa

(2) Luke Humphries v Ted Evetts

Jeffrey de Graaf v Paul Lim

(31) Wessel Nijman v Karel Sedlacek

Gabriel Clemens v Alex Spellman

(15) Nathan Aspinall v Lourence Ilagan

Mickey Mansell v Leonard Gates

(18) Mike De Decker v David Munyua

Kevin Doets v Matthew Dennant

(7) James Wade v Ryusei Azemoto

Ricky Evans v Man Lok Leung

(26) Cameron Menzies v Charlie Manby

Matt Campbell v Adam Sevada

(10) Gian van Veen v Cristo Reyes

Alan Soutar v Teemu Harju

(23) Dimitri Van den Bergh v Darren Beveridge

Madars Razma v Jamai van den Herik

(3) Michael van Gerwen v Mitsuhiko Tatsunami

William O'Connor v Krzysztof Kciuk

(30) Peter Wright v Noa-Lynn van Leuven

Kim Huybrechts v Arno Merk

(14) Gary Anderson v Adam Hunt

Connor Scutt v Simon Whitlock

(19) Jermaine Wattimena v Dominik Gruellich

Scott Williams v Paolo Nebrida

(6) Danny Noppert v Jurjen van der Velde

Nick Kenny v Justin Hood

(27) Ritchie Edhouse v Jonny Tata

Ryan Meikle v Jesus Salate

(11) Josh Rock v Gemma Hayter

Niko Springer v Joe Comito

(22) Daryl Gurney v Beau Greaves

Callan Rydz v Patrik Kovacs

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