Luke Littler will begin his World Darts Championship defence against Darius Labanauskas, with Beau Greaves facing Daryl Gurney and Fallon Sherrock taking on Dave Chisnall in the first round at Alexandra Palace.
World No 1 Littler is the player to beat when the annual festival of darts returns to Ally Pally from December 11 to January 3, live on Sky Sports Darts.
Lithuania’s Labanauskas will be the first to try and halt Littler’s bid to defend the title – something no player has achieved in a decade.
Women’s Series champion Greaves meets world No 22 Gurney, who was one half of the Northern Ireland team that won this year’s World Cup of Darts, in one of the standout first-round ties, while Sherrock takes on former semi-finalist Chisnall.
Luke Humphries begins his campaign to reclaim the world crown from Littler against Ted Evetts. Elsewhere, three-time champion Michael van Gerwen opens against Japan’s Mitsuhiko Tatsunami, and 2021 winner Gerwyn Price faces Czech talent Adam Gawlas.
Gary Anderson, the last man to successfully defend the title back in 2016, starts his quest for a third world championship against qualifier Adam Hunt.
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Highlights of the Grand Slam of Darts match between Michael van Gerwen and Beau Greaves
“I’m very happy [with the draw],” reigning champion Littler told Sky Sports. “Darius is not the quickest player but it’s all about getting past that first round. It won’t be easy!
“If there are nerves then I know how to cope with them. Last year I didn’t have a clue how to cope with them but this year I know what to expect. If nerves come then I’ll know how to deal with it.
“I’ve won the last three majors now but now the big one is around the corner. I’m just looking forward to it. Gary Anderson was the last person to go back-to-back and that was 10 years ago so that’s what I’m looking forward to. I’m just excited about getting back on that stage.”
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Watch as Luke Littler’s first-round opponent Darius Labanauskas hit a nine-darter in the World Darts Championship in 2021
A bumper £5m prize pot is on offer at Alexandra Palace, with £1m going to the winner – the biggest payday in darts history. Yet Littler insists his focus is firmly on making history, not money.
“People were saying after the Premier League defeat [to Luke Humphries] was I going to go under the radar and start losing things,” Littler added. “I won the World Matchplay and the last three majors now. I’ve not had a bad patch!
“It’s just about going back-to-back and then think about the money afterwards. I’ve still got to tick off the World Masters in Milton Keynes and the European Championship.”
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Luke Humphries says his arch-rival Luke Littler is in his own league as the world’s top two prepare for the World Darts Championships
2025/26 PDC World Darts Championship draw
Top half
Luke Littler (1) vs Darius Labanauskas
Mario Vandenbogaerde vs David Davies
Joe Cullen (32) vs Bradley Brooks
Mensur Suljovic vs David Cameron
Damon Heta (16) vs Steve Lennon
Raymond van Berneveld vs Stefan Bellmont
Rob Cross (17) vs Cor Dekker
Ian White vs Mervyn King
Chris Dobey (8) vs Xiaochen Zong
Andrew Gilding vs Cam Crabtree
Luke Woodhouse (25) vs Boris Krcmar
Martin Lukeman vs Max Hopp
Gerwyn Price (9) vs Adam Gawlas
Lukas Wenig vs Wesley Plaisier
Ryan Joyce (24) vs Owen Bates
Krzysztof Ratajski vs Alexis Toylo
Stephen Bunting (4) vs Sebastian Bialecki
Richard Veenstra vs Nitin Kumar
Dirk van Duijvenbode (29) vs Andy Baetens
James Hurrell vs Stowe Buntz
Martin Schindler (13) vs Stephen Burton
Keane Barry vs Tim Pusey
Ryan Searle (20) vs Chris Landman
Brendan Dolan vs Travis Dudeney
Jonny Clayton (5) vs Adam Lipscombe
Dom Taylor vs Oskar Lukasiak
Michael Smith (28) vs Lisa Ashton
Niels Zonneveld vs Haupai Puha
Ross Smith (12) vs Andreas Harrysson
Thibault Tricole vs Motomu Sakai
Dave Chisnall (21) vs Fallon Sherrock
Ricardo Pietreczko vs Jose De Sousa
Bottom half
Luke Humphries (2) vs Ted Evetts
Jeffrey de Graaf vs Paul Lim
Wessel Nijman (31) vs Karel Sedlacek
Gabriel Clemens vs Alex Spellman
Nathan Aspinall (15) vs Lourence Ilagan
Mickey Mansell vs Leonard Gates
Mike De Decker (18) vs David Munyua
Kevin Doets vs Matthew Dennant
James Wade (7) vs Ryusei Azemoto
Rickey Evans vs Man Lok Leung
Cameron Menzies (26) vs Charlie Manby
Matt Campbell vs Adam Sevada
Gian van Veen (10) vs Cristo Reyes
Alan Soutar vs Teemu Harju
Dimitri Van den Bergh (23) vs Darren Beveridge
Madars Razma vs Jamai van den Herik
Michael van Gerwen (3) vs Mitsuhiko Tatsunami
William O’Connor vs Krzysztof Kciuk
Peter Wright (30) vs Noa-Lynn van Leuven
Kim Huybrechts vs Arno Merk
Gary Anderson (14) vs Adam Hunt
Connor Scutt vs Simon Whitlock
Jermaine Wattimena (19) vs Dominik Gruellich
Scott Williams vs Paolo Nebrida
Danny Noppert (6) vs Jurjen van der Velde
Nick Kenny vs Justin Hood
Ritchie Edhouse (27) vs Jonny Tata
Ryan Meikle vs Jesus Salate
Josh Rock (11) vs Gemma Hayter
Niko Springer vs Joe Comito
Daryl Gurney (22) vs Beau Greaves
Callan Rydz vs Patrik Kovacs
When is the 2026 World Darts Championship?
An expanded 2026 tournament begins at Alexandra Palace on Thursday December 11 with four first-round matches on the opening evening.
It kick-starts 13 consecutive days of darts action, with afternoon and evening sessions taking place everyday until December 23 before the competition pauses over Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
The tournament resumes on December 27, with the third and fourth rounds completed by December 30 before another pause on New Year’s Eve.
The quarter-finals are scheduled across two sessions on New Year’s Day ahead of the semi-finals on January 2 and the final on Friday January 3.
The full day-by-day schedule for this year’s tournament can be found here.
Full schedule at Alexandra Palace from December 11 – January 3
- Thursday December 11 – 4 x Round One at 7pm
- Friday December 12 – 4 x Round One at 12.30pm
- Friday December 12 – 4 x Round One at 7pm
- Saturday December 13 – 4 x Round One at 12.30pm
- Saturday December 13 – 4 x Round One at 7pm
- Sunday December 14 – 4 x Round One at 12.30pm
- Sunday December 14 – 4 x Round One at 7pm
- Monday December 15 – 4 x Round One at 12.30pm
- Monday December 15 – 4 x Round One at 7pm
- Tuesday December 16 – 4 x Round One at 12.30pm
- Tuesday December 16 – 4 x Round One at 7pm
- Wednesday December 17 – 4 x Round One at 12.30pm
- Wednesday December 17 – 4 x Round One at 7pm
- Thursday December 18 – 4 x Round One at 12.30pm
- Thursday December 18 – 4 x Round One at 7pm
- Friday December 19 – 4 x Round One at 12.30pm
- Friday December 19 – 4 x Round One at 7pm
- Saturday December 20 – 4 x Round Two at 12.30pm
- Saturday December 20 – 4 x Round Two at 7pm
- Sunday December 21 – 4 x Round Two at 12.30pm
- Sunday December 21 – 4 x Round Two at 7pm
- Monday December 22 – 4 x Round Two at 12.30pm
- Monday December 22 – 4 x Round Two at 7pm
- Tuesday December 23 – 4 x Round Two at 12.30pm
- Tuesday December 23 – 4 x Round Two at 7pm
- Saturday December 27 – 3 x Round Three at 12.30pm
- Saturday December 27 – 3 x Round Three at 7pm
- Sunday December 28 – 3 x Round Three at 12.30pm
- Sunday December 28 – 3 x Round Three at 7pm
- Monday December 29 – 3 x Round Three at 12.30pm
- Monday December 29 – 1 x Round Three and 2 x Round Four at 7pm
- Tuesday December 30 – 3 x Round Four at 12.30pm
- Tuesday December 30 – 3 x Round Four at 7pm
- Thursday January 1 – 2 x Quarter-Finals at 12.30pm
- Thursday January 1 – 2 x Quarter-Finals at 7pm
- Friday January 2 – Semi-Finals at 7.30pm
- Saturday January 3 – Final at 8pm
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match exclusively live from December 11 to January 3 on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel (Sky channel 407 from December 10). Stream darts and more top sport with NOW.
